Michael Jackson got together with Queen legend Freddie Mercury to perform a duet together, but Freddie Mercury allegedly had to call it quits after he was freaked out by Michael’s relationship with his pet chimpanzee.
Jackson and Mercury were collaborating on a track, “There Must Be More To Life Than This,” nearly 30 years ago, but Mercury refused to work on the track any longer and stormed out of a recording session, according to the New York Post .
Nearly three decades later, Mercury and Jackson fans were able to purchase the collaboration, which has been brought back to life on Queen Forever . With the help of William Orbit on production, Brian May and Roger Taylor were able to bring “There Must Be More To Life Than This” out of the vault, according to Gigwise .
So what exactly kept this track hidden and unfinished for all these years?
Apparently, Michael Jackson had brought his pet chimp, Bubbles, to the recording studio. Jackson’s close relationship with Bubbles made Mercury uncomfortable, especially when Jackson would ask the creature if he was impressed by the sounds he was hearing.
Freddie’s close friend, writer David Wigg, uncovered the situation in his new book when he explained how Michael Jackson ticked Freddie Mercury off during the recording sessions.
“Freddie got very angry because Michael made Bubbles sit between them and would turn to the chimp between takes and ask, ‘Don’t you think that was lovely?’ or, ‘Do you think we should do that again?’”
The affection and attention Michael showed to Bubbles was extraordinary, and it left Freddie furious, according to Wigg.
“After a few days of this, Freddie just exploded… ‘I’m not performing with a f***ing chimp sitting next to me each night.’”
Freddie Mercury wanted nothing else to do with Michael Jackson’s chimp other than wanting to break free from it, and Mercury left the studio and beat it out of town.
“He phoned his manager and told him to ‘Get me out of this zoo.’ Freddie then flew back to London, leaving the track musically unfinished,” Wigg recalled.
Freddie Mercury may not have felt a kind of magic with a chimp in the studio, but luckily the music and magic lives on for Michael Jackson and Queen fans.
[Image via Gigwise]