Who Wants to Live Forever

Single cover.

Who Wants to Live Forever is a power ballad by Queen first heard in the the 1986 film Highlander, and then released as track 6 on the album A Kind of Magic on 1986-06-03. The song was later released as a single, has a music video, and several alternate versions. The song was primarily composed by Brian May and was produced by the band and David Richards.

The lyrics and primary music were composed by Brian May. On the album version, May sings the opening verse and a single line near the end of the song, provides backup vocals, plays synth-organ in the opening, plays his red special electric guitar, and some orchestral arrangements. Freddie Mercury sings primary vocals and backing vocals. Roger Taylor programmed the drum machine and sings backup vocals. John Deacon play bass guitar. Michael Kamen, who provided the film's score, composed orchestration for the song and conducted the National Philharmonic Orchestra.

The song was written by May after he saw an early cut from the scene in the film where the song would be played. In the scene, a man who has reluctantly discovered he is immortal watches his wife grow old and frail and realizes that this same fate will happen to anyone else he ever loves.

Versions

Several versions of the song have been recorded, but are all primarily based on the same studio session.

Released	Version	Notes
1986-03-07	Film version	Early version with only Freddie's vocals. Never released on an album.
1986-06-03	Album version	Track 6 on A Kind of Magic. Has Brian's vocals in a couple spots, includes a long instrumental outro.
1986-09-15	Single version	Singles and EPs were released for about a dozen countries. Cuts out the outro. Most releases include Killer Queen, Forver, Don't Lose Your Head as B-sides.
1986-??-??	Video version	Mostly the same as the single version, but with minor instrumental differences.
1991-10-28	Compilation version	Closer to the album version, but not quite as long. First heard on the CD version of Greatest Hits II.
1998-??-??	Karaoke version	Instrumental version of the video version. First released on Greatest Karaoke Hits.
2003-11-03	Surround version	The video version, but with DTS 5.1 surround sound. First seen on Greatest Video Hits 2.

There are also a couple demo recordings that have surfaced which show the song taking shape. The song was also covered by Sarah Brightman, Breaking Benjamin, Dune, After Forever, and The Tenors. It has also been performed by Seal and Adam Lambert.

Personal

I believe I first heard this song on the

Media

Covers

• 

  The single cover features a still from the film.

• 

  The single back.

• 

  A German promotional cover.

Videos

Official video.

2011 remastered version.

Album version with Highlander footage.

Live at Wembley, 1986-07-11.

Live with Adam Lambert, 2016.

Links