- Freddie Mercury and Michael Jackson almost released three songs
- Their recording session stint was brought to an abrupt halt
- The reason was pretty weird
Michael Jackson and Freddie Mercury are two of rock and roll’s most iconic stars. However, we sadly missed out on an extra collaboration between the pair.
As it turns out, the reason behind this missed opportunity couldn’t be weirder. According to a newly released interview, we have a llama to thank for their ditched collab attempt.
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The news comes from The New York Post. They recently sat down with Jo Burt, a musician who played fretless bass for Mercury’s only solo album Mr Bad Guy.
During this 40th anniversary chat, Burt explained how the Queen frontman and Jackson almost laid down some new tracks during a recording studio session shortly after the latter had released Bad and Thriller and the former had delivered his iconic Live Aid performance.
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Sadly, a llama-shaped spanner was thrown in the works.
“Freddie sort of took umbrage to that.”
The pair were busy recording collaborations including tracks entitled State of Shock, Victory and There Must Be More To Life Than This before the disruption occurred.
“I think the last straw was when Michael brought his pet llama into the studio,” explained Burt, explaining how Jackson’s extravagant pet – who was named Louie – ended things before they started.
“I think Freddie sort of took umbrage to that.”
As a result, the recording session was left incomplete and the tracks went unreleased in the stars’ lifetimes.
“I’m recording with a llama”
This weird moment was echoed in an interview with Queen’s manager Jim “Miami” Beach. The chat was featured in the 2012 documentary Freddie Mercury: The Great Pretender.
“Mercury rang me and said, ‘Miami, dear, can you get over here? You’ve got to get me out of here, I’m recording with a llama,'” explained Beach.
Llamas weren’t the only exotic animal owned by Jackson. The King of Pop also famously owned a chimpanzee named Bubbles, alongside an elephant and two tigers.
