Freddie Mercury<\/a> burned dazzlingly bright during his life, gifting the world epic songs like \u201cBohemian Rhapsody\u201d and \u201cWe Will Rock You.\u201d His soaring vocals and stage presence made him the consummate frontman, and Queen\u2019s performance at Live Aid in 1985 is widely regarded<\/a> as one of the greatest in rock history.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But the last song he ever recorded found him longing for a simpler kind of love. That song was called \u201cMother Love,\u201d and its place in Queen\u2019s catalog is made more tragic by the fact that Mercury wasn\u2019t able to finish recording the vocals before his death.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Mercury co-wrote the song with Brian May, Queen\u2019s lead guitarist. Mercury had been officially diagnosed <\/a>with AIDS in 1987, though he reportedly began seeking help for symptoms in 1982. By 1991, when \u201cMother Love\u201d was recorded, he was well aware that he did not have much time left.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n May reflected on the fractured songwriting process that resulted from Mercury\u2019s illness in an interview <\/a>with Times of Malta <\/em>editor Herman Grech. \u201cFreddie was really quite ill and he\u2019d have just moments where he was okay, and he could prop himself up and sing,\u201d May said. \u201cBut he was eager to work. He loved to work, as always, you know, and it was the thing that really made him smile.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The pair wrote and recorded the song in Montreux, Switzerland, where Mercury lived for the last 13 years of his life. \u201cI would demo it for him, and he would sing it, and for each line he did four takes, and then we\u2019d write another verse,\u201d May said, recalling that Mercury downed shots of vodka between recording takes. But \u201che was completely focused. He knew that he wouldn\u2019t be there that long.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Making music provided a refuge for Mercury in his final years. \u201cWe all knew there wasn\u2019t much time left,\u201d May said. \u201cFreddie wanted his life to be as normal as possible. He obviously was in a lot of pain and discomfort. For him the studio was an oasis, a place where life was just the same as it always had been. He loved making music, he lived for it.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\nHow \u201cMother Love\u201d Came to Be<\/h2>\n
Solace in Art<\/h2>\n
![\"Queen](\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_126,w_857,h_482\/c_fill,w_16,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images\/GettyImages\/mmsport\/mentalfloss\/01kx1ngwaz8744m88s3r.jpg\" "\\"Queen")
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