Queen share unheard Freddie Mercury performance on lost song Face It Alone

Freddie Mercury delivers an emotional vocal performance about his struggle with HIV in rare new Queen song, recorded two years before his death. Listen to the song.

Legendary British rockers Queen have revealed a rare, unreleased track from the vaults featuring Freddie Mercury.

Face It Alone was recorded in 1988 during the sessions for the band’s 13th studio record The Miracle, but did not make the final cut when the album was released in 1989.

Mercury died two years later at the age of 45.

It features a powerfully emotional vocal performance from Mercury who had been diagnosed with HIV but had yet to share news about his illness with fans.

A new Queen song has been ripped from the vaults. Picture: Supplied.

Queen’s Brian May and Roger Taylor revealed the exciting discovery of the lost track earlier this year.

“Yes, we did find a little gem from Freddie, that we’d kind of forgotten about. It’s wonderful. Actually, it was real discovery,” May told the BBC.

“It was kind of hiding in plain sight. We looked at it many times and thought, ‘Oh no, we can’t really rescue that.’

“But in fact, we went in there again and our wonderful engineering team went, ‘Okay, we can do this and this.’ It’s like kind of stitching bits together.”

Mercury had been diagnosed with HIV when he recorded Face It Alone. Picture: Supplied.

Taylor said the song is “a very passionate piece” from Mercury.

The song opens with Mercury singing: “When something here so near/And dear to life/Explodes inside/You feel your soul/Is set on fire.”

The song will now assume its rightful place on The Miracle with the album given a revamp for its reissue on November 18.

It featured the global hit I Want It All, which peaked in the top 10 in Australia.

The reissue version will give fans six unpublished songs and another taste of the band’s songwriting process with spoken exchanges, conversations and banter between the four members, including bassist John Deacon and Mercury, captured on tape.

Originally published as Queen share unheard Freddie Mercury performance on lost song Face It Alone