"Barcelona" | ||||
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Single by Freddie Mercury & Montserrat Caballé | ||||
from the album Barcelona | ||||
B-side | "Exercises in Free Love" (3:58) | |||
Released | 26 October 1987 | |||
Format | 7", 12" vinyl records, 3", 5" CD singles | |||
Recorded | 1987 | |||
Genre | Classical crossover | |||
Length |
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Label | Polydor | |||
Songwriter(s) | Freddie Mercury, Mike Moran | |||
Producer(s) | Freddie Mercury, Mike Moran and David Richards | |||
Freddie Mercury singles chronology | ||||
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"Barcelona" is a single released by Queen vocalist Freddie Mercury and operatic soprano Montserrat Caballé. A part of their collaborative album Barcelona, it also appeared on Queen's Greatest Hits III.
The song reflects Mercury's love of opera with his high notes and Caballé's operatic vocals, backed by a full orchestra. Originally released in 1987, it was one of the biggest hits of Mercury's solo career, reaching number eight in the UK Singles Chart. After Mercury's death in 1991, it was featured at the 1992 Summer Olympics, after which the track climbed even higher, peaking at number 2 in the UK, the Netherlands and New Zealand.
In 2004, BBC Radio 2 listed Barcelona at #41 in its Sold On Song Top 100.
Mercury had been a long-time fan of opera, especially favouring Montserrat Caballé. In 1986, he mentioned on Spanish television that he would be glad to see her in person. They had a friendly initial meeting in Barcelona in February 1987. Later, when the city had been chosen for the 1992 Summer Olympics, Caballé, a native of the city, was asked to help with producing a song for the games. She summoned Mercury for the task. Mercury became enthusiastic about the project and instead of recording a single, she proposed to make an album, on which Mercury agreed. The song "Barcelona" had to be its opening song, to be completed by 1988, and to be submitted as a candidate for the 1992 Olympic theme (the selection was scheduled for 1988, 4 years before the Games). The recording was complicated by the tight schedule of Caballé. Thus to spare her time, Mercury recorded the song, also singing her part in falsetto. He would then send a tape to Caballé to prepare her for the joint studio sessions.
The song was co-written by Mercury with Mike Moran, who also appeared in the song's video and played piano and all keyboards for the studio recording. The song starts with an orchestral introduction, which fades and is followed by Mercury and Caballé singing alternately their solo lines, sometimes merging into a duet. When singing the chorus "Barcelona" and a few other parts for the studio version, Mercury dubs over his voice in his usual multi-tracking style. Mercury leads the song whereas Caballé provides a powerful "background" soprano. Since Caballé covers the soprano part, Mercury sings in his natural baritone voice rather than forced tenor, which was common in his other recordings.