Queen: Freddie Mercury Gave a ‘Beautiful’ Vocal Performance on This ‘Very Different’ Christmas Song, Says Brian May
During the 1980s, Queen released a Christmas song called “Thank God It’s Christmas.” Queen’s Freddie Mercury performed vocals on the Christmas song. Brain May revealed what Mercury thought of the song.
Brian May revealed what Freddie Mercury thought of Queen’s ‘Thank God It’s Christmas’
During a 2018 interview with Ultimate Classic Rock, May discussed the origin of “Thank God It’s Christmas. “Christmas songs are always recorded in the middle of July,” May said. “You have to, to get them ready in time.”
“This was Roger [Taylor]‘s composition, mainly, except he didn’t have a chorus,” he said. “So I contributed the chorus and we worked on it together, to cut a long story short. And then, when it was almost finished, we presented it to Freddie, who loved it and did a beautiful vocal. I think it’s just the most understated vocal, and I love it, you know.”
Brian May felt the reaction to Queen’s ‘Thank God It’s Christmas’ was minimal even though it had a great Freddie Mercury vocal
May felt “Thank God It’s Christmas” went under the radar in Britain. “The funny thing is, it doesn’t get that much attention in Britain as a Christmas single, because it doesn’t have a video,” he opined. “Everything’s about video these days and we never made a video for that song.” Notably, Queen’s YouTube channel uploaded an animated video for the song in 2019.
“It’s all in your mind,” May added. “But I’m very fond of it. I think it’s a very different kind of Christmas song.” Unlike some of the cheerier Christmas songs, “Thank God It’s Christmas” is about appreciating the holiday after struggling through a difficult year.
The way the world reacted to Queen’s ‘Thank God It’s Christmas’
“Thank God It’s Christmas” was not one of Queen’s hits in the United States. The song did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100. Queen initially released “Thank God It’s Christmas” as a standalone single, but later included the song on the compilation album Greatest Hits III. Queen’s albums Greatest Hits, Greatest Hits II, and Greatest Hits III were released together as a box set called The Platinum Collection: Greatest Hits I, II & III. The Platinum Collection: Greatest Hits I, II & III hit No. 6 on the Billboard 200, staying on the chart for 150 weeks.
May said “Thank God It’s Christmas” does not receive much attention in the United Kingdom. According to The Official Charts Company, “Thank God It’s Christmas” reached No. 21 on the chart in 1984, staying on the chart for six weeks. In 2020, it reached No. 86 and stayed on the chart for one week. According to May, “Thank God It’s Christmas” is an unorthodox Christmas song and U.K. fans seemed to like it at least a little bit.
