Queen guitarist Brian May unveiled on Monday a previously unreleased song by the legendary rock band that “no one has ever heard”.
The track formally called “Not for Sale ” was originally recorded for Queen’s 1974 album “Queen II” but failed to make the final cut.
Aired for the first time at the end of an hour-long Christmas radio special hosted by May, it features what sound like late frontman Freddie Mercury’s trademark vocals.
“It’s a song that goes back a very long way but to my knowledge, no one has ever heard this version,” May, 78, said when he played the track on Planet Rock radio.
He said it was a “work in progress” when it was first recorded in the early 1970s.
“It will appear on the forthcoming rebuild of the Queen II album next year. But I’m sneaking this in because I’m just fascinated to know what people think about it,” he told listeners.
Formed in 1970, Queen is one of the best-selling groups in pop history, shifting a reported 300 million records worldwide.
Fronted by the flamboyant Mercury, who died of AIDS-related pneumonia in 1991, it is remembered for huge hits including “We Are The Champions” , “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” and “Another One Bites the Dust” , as well as stage performances such as the 1985 Live Aid concert.
Their smash hit single “Bohemian Rhapsody” spent nine weeks at the top of the UK music charts in 1975.
“Not for Sale ” had languished in the Queen archives for decades, with references to it on Queen fan websites and elsewhere.
As May noted, a remastered version is set to feature on an upcoming 2026 re-release of the “Queen II” album.
A bootleg version of the song may already have circulated by May’s pre-Queen band, Smile, but that differs from the newly-aired track.
May and drummer and backing vocalist Roger Taylor still perform as Queen with singer Adam Lambert as lead vocalist.
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