Listen to a rare recording of Freddie Mercury singing heartfelt ‘White Christmas’ in 1977
9 December 2021, 12:11
The recording was filmed in 1977 when Queen played Inglewood, California just three days before Christmas and gave an impromptu performance of the holiday classic 'White Christmas'.
Freddie Mercury singing an emotional cover of 'White Christmas' is everything we didn't know we needed this festive season.
The special recording from 1977 captures the atmospheric audio of Queen's Freddie and Brian May performing an acoustic version of the festive classic to the audience in Inglewood, California.
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Taking to the stage Freddie addressed the crowd and confided that they hadn't really rehearsed their next song as a band.
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"We've come up with something in the dressing room, we've never ever done it before," Freddie can be heard saying to the excited crowd on the audio.
"As it's Christmas we're going to try something new tonight...and we really need your help. Please sing along, don't be shy!"
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Accompanied by Brian May on guitar, Freddie Mercury then starts to sing a beautiful stripped back version of 'White Christmas' as the crowd cheer and sing along.
Filmed on December 22 – the final night of the band's News Of The World tour in 1977 – 'White Christmas' is just part of the festivities Queen performed on the evening.
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Queen - White Christmas (Cover) [Inglewood 12-22-1977] #Queen #FreddieMercury #WhiteChristmas
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Earlier in the show Brian May took to the stage to give a solo performance of 'Deck The Halls' and later during the encore of 'We Will Rock You', the band's bodyguard Paul 'Big Paul' Korzilius came on stage dressed as Santa Claus carrying a huge sack.
Placing it on the floor, Freddie Mercury then emerged from it wearing his now infamous silver lurex jumpsuit and proceeded to sing the encore sitting on Big Paul's shoulders.
Alongside playing Christmas classics on the night, the band performed a selection of their greatest hits, which after such a long tour had been practised to perfection.
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Other classic performances on the night included 'Somebody To Love', 'Killer Queen', 'Bohemian Rhapsody', You're My Best Friend' and 'Love Of My Life'.
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The Californian gig was the culmination of 25 huge gigs Queen had played across North America including nights in Atlanta, Detroit, Boston and Toronto, Canada.
After the December 22 gig, the band would take a four-month break before embarking on the European leg of the News Of The World tour, which saw them perform 20 nights which included two in Paris and three in front of 77,000 people at Wembley Arena.
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