Made In Heaven

Made in Heaven is Queen’s fifteenth (and final under the name “Queen”) studio album, released in November 1995. After Freddie Mercury’s death in 1991, the remaining band members John Deacon, Roger Taylor and Brian May worked with vocals that Mercury recorded before he died, some of which after the Innuendo album, along with newly recorded lyrics by the remaining band members. Both stages of recording, before and after Mercury’s death, were completed at the band’s studio in Montreux, Switzerland, pictured on the cover of the album behind Mercury. The album debuted at #1 in the United Kingdom, and went four times platinum there. The album peaked at #58 in the US, going gold.

History
The album was recorded in a much different way from Queen’s other studio albums. In 1991, months before his death, Freddie Mercury recorded as many vocals as he could, with the instruction to the rest of the band to complete the songs later. Put to tape during this time were primarily “A Winter’s Tale”, “Mother Love” and what would eventually become “You Don’t Fool Me”.

After his death, the band returned to the studio in 1993 to begin work finishing the tracks. Brian May has described in interviews that Taylor and Deacon had begun some work in 1992, while May was on tour promoting his Back to the Light album. Upon his return in 1993, May felt they were not on the right path with the music and that they more or less started from scratch with the three of them working together with producer David Richards.