Who Wants to Live Forever

In the 1986 film Highlander, the song is used to frame the scenes in the film where Connor MacLeod must endure his beloved wife Heather MacLeod growing old and dying while he, as an Immortal, remains forever young. Brian May wrote the song in the backseat of his car after seeing a 20-minute first cut of the scene of Heather's death.{{cite book|author=Georg Purvis|title=Queen: The Complete Works|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c084CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT935|access-date=9 August 2017|date=28 August 2012|publisher=Titan|isbn=978-1-78116-287-3|page=935}} It was later used in the Highlander television series episodes "The Gathering", "Revenge is Sweet", "The Hunters", "Line of Fire", and "Leader of the Pack".

In the film version, Freddie Mercury provides all the main vocals. On the album version, May sings lead vocals on the first verse before Mercury takes over, with May also singing "But touch my tears with your lips" during Mercury's verse and the closing line "Who waits forever anyway?". An instrumental version of the song, entitled "Forever", was included as a bonus track on the CD version of the album. This instrumental featured only a piano, with keyboard accompaniment during the chorus sections. The piano track was recorded solely by May. Queen were backed up by an orchestra arranged by Michael Kamen.

The music video for "Who Wants to Live Forever" was directed by David Mallet and filmed in a (now demolished) warehouse at Tobacco Wharf at London's East End on 16 September 1986.[http://www.ultimatequeen.co.uk/videos/queenpromo.htm Queen Promo Videos: Who Wants To Live Forever], Ultimate Queen. Retrieved 13 November 2019 It featured the National Philharmonic Orchestra with forty choirboys and several hundreds of candles which remain lit throughout filming as well as Mercury wearing a tuxedo suit.

An alternate version with clips from the film Highlander (which the song appears in) appears on the video single with "A Kind of Magic" in October 1986 and later as a hidden music video on the Queen Greatest Video Hits II DVD in November 2003.

The song was performed by Queen during the 1986 Magic Tour in a D minor key. Live, May would begin playing synthesizer (a Yamaha DX7) before moving to guitar halfway through the song.{{sfn|Dean|1986|p=90}}{{cite web|url=https://shanemcdonald.ie/queen/2020/03/11/recreating-the-yamaha-dx7-sound-of-queen-at-wembley-1986/|title=The Yamaha DX7 sound of Queen at Wembley '86|work=Shane McDonald|date=11 March 2020|accessdate=15 June 2022}} Also, the live versions feature Freddie Mercury singing the entirety of lead vocals, and John Deacon playing bass guitar (starting at the second verse)—with the song ending after the final lyrics (“Who waits forever anyway?”) without the orchestra-and-guitar flourish of the studio version.

• 7-inch single

:A1. "Who Wants to Live Forever" (Single Version) – 4:01

:B1. "Killer Queen" – 2:59{{Cite web|title=Queen "Sheer Heart Attack" album and song lyrics|url=http://www.ultimatequeen.co.uk/queen/songs/sheer-heart-attack.htm#Killer%20Queen|access-date=10 December 2020|website=www.ultimatequeen.co.uk}}

• 12-inch single

:A1. "Who Wants to Live Forever" (Single Version) – 4:01

:A2. "Killer Queen" – 2:59

:B1. "Who Wants to Live Forever" (Album Version) – 5:15

:B2. "Forever" – 3:20{{Cite web|title=Queen "A Kind Of Magic" album and song lyrics|url=http://www.ultimatequeen.co.uk/queen/songs/a-kind-of-magic.htm#Forever|access-date=10 December 2020|website=www.ultimatequeen.co.uk}}

;Queen

• Freddie Mercury – lead and backing vocals
• Brian May – lead and backing vocals, synthesiser, guitars, orchestral arrangements
• Roger Taylor – drums, drum machine, backing vocals

;Additional musicians

• Michael Kamen – orchestral arrangements, conductor
• National Philharmonic Orchestra – strings, brass and percussion

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{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Italy|title=Who Wants To Live Forever|type=single|award=Gold|relyear=1986|certyear=2020|note=sales since 2009|access-date=26 November 2020|id=6227}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|title=Who Wants To Live Forever|type=single|award=Platinum|relyear=2011|certyear=2024|note=sales since 2011|id=15235-1614-1|access-date=16 August 2024}}

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• Seal performed a live version of this song at The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert held at Wembley Stadium in April 1992 five months after Mercury's death.{{cite news |title=Queen / Seal Who Wants To Live Forever |url=https://www.allmusic.com/song/who-wants-to-live-forever-mt0013174116 |access-date=13 March 2019 |agency=Allmusic}} He said the song made him cry when he first heard it.[http://www.ultimatequeen.co.uk/videos/fmtributedvd.htm#who The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert: Who Wants To Live Forever] Ultimate Queen. Retrieved 20 August 2011 Thomas Curtis-Horsfall of Smooth Radio stated Seal's performance of the song was "one of the standout moments" from the concert, adding "his spine-tingling rendition of the Queen classic had everyone in the arena close to tears."{{cite news |title=Watch Seal's powerful tribute to Freddie Mercury from 1992 with 'Who Wants To Live Forever' |url=https://www.smoothradio.com/artists/freddie-mercury/seal-queen-cover-tribute-live-forever-video/ |access-date=27 November 2022 |publisher=Smooth Radio}}
• The song serves as the opening track for Diana, Princess of Wales: Tribute, a double CD released on 2 December 1997 in memory of Princess Diana three months after her death.{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5wkEAAAAMBAJ&q=diana+princess+of+wales+billboard&pg=PA16|publisher=Billboard|title=Diana princess of Wales – Tribute|date=22 November 1997|access-date=3 October 2020}}
• Closing the Isle of Wight Festival in England on 12 June 2016, Queen + Adam Lambert performed the song as a tribute to the victims of the mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida earlier that day.{{cite news|title=Isle of Wight Festival: Queen pay tribute to Orlando shooting victims|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-36506969|agency=BBC|date=14 June 2016}}
• The song serves as the closing track of Episode 3 of Russell T Davies' AIDS drama It's a Sin (set in 1986).{{cite news |last1=Richardson |first1=Hollie |title=It's A Sin: all the music from the hit Channel 4 series |url=https://www.stylist.co.uk/entertainment/tv/its-a-sin-channel-4-music-playlist/478719 |work=Stylist |date=28 January 2021 |language=en}}
• The animated television series Rick and Morty uses the song during the post-credits scene for the Season 5 episode "Mortyplicity".{{cite news |last1=Bedard |first1=Mike |title=Rick And Morty: The Highlander Reference You Missed In Mortyplicity |url=https://www.looper.com/448813/rick-and-morty-the-highlander-reference-you-missed-in-mortyplicity/ |access-date=5 July 2021 |work=Looper.com |date=28 June 2021}}

In a 2005 poll conducted by digital television station Music Choice on what song Britons would most like played at their funeral, the song was voted the fifth most popular.{{cite news |title=Angels 'favourite funeral song'|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/4336113.stm |publisher=BBC News |date=10 March 2005 |access-date=24 February 2013 }}

{{Infobox song

| name = Who Wants to Live Forever

| cover = Dune - Who wants to live forever - Cover.jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Dune

| album = Forever

| released = 23 October 1996

| recorded =

| studio =

• Abbey Road Studios, London

| venue =

| genre = Classical

| length = 3:54

| label =

• Orbit
• Virgin

| writer = Brian May

| producer =

• Bernd Burhoff
• Jens Oettrich

| prev_title = Million Miles from Home

| prev_year = 1996

| next_title = Nothing Compares 2 U

| next_year = 1997

| misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|nHedI5Ky8z0|"Who Wants to Live Forever"}}}}

}}

German band Dune released their cover of "Who Wants to Live Forever" in October 1996 as the first single from their third album, Forever (1997). It is produced by Bernd Burhoff and Jens Oettrich, recorded in Abbey Road Studios in London, and features German singer Verena von Strenge and the London Session Orchestra. The single peaked at number two in Germany, receiving a platinum certification after selling more than 500,000 copies in Germany alone. It was also a top-10 hit in Austria, Hungary and Switzerland, a top-20 hit in the Netherlands and a top-60 hit in Sweden. On the Eurochart Hot 100, it reached number 13 in January 1997. "Who Wants to Live Forever" was nominated to the 1997 Echo Awards for the most successful national dance single.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/90s/1997/MM-1997-03-08.pdf|title=Congratulations to the nominees for the 1997 Echo-Award|magazine=Music & Media|volume=14|issue=10|date=8 March 1997|page=9|access-date=22 December 2019}}

The accompanying music video for "Who Wants to Live Forever" was directed by Swedish-based director Matt Broadley{{cite web|url=http://www.mattbroadley.com/credits/|title=Credits – Matt Broadley|access-date=29 January 2017|work=mattbroadley.com}} and was shot in the Scottish Highlands. The video begins in an old churchyard, where Oliver Froning of Dune plays a man standing by a grave. He then sees Verena von Strenge appearing in ghost-like form, dressed in a white dress, singing to him. When Froning leaves the graveyard, he walks into the highlands. By a river, he stops for drinking some water, and again sees von Strenge standing in front of a waterfall, singing to him. In the end, he reaches the top of the mountains, where he is united with von Strenge.

1. "Who Wants to Live Forever" (Sixtysix radio mix) (3:54)
2. "Who Wants to Live Forever" (South Bound mix) (3:58)
3. Highland Trilogy: One Day in Glencoe (4:49)
4. Highland Trilogy: Valley of Tears (4:58)
5. Highland Trilogy: In the Air, Part 2 (10:29)

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{{Certification Table Entry | region=Germany | title=Who Wants to Live Forever | artist=Dune | type=single | relyear=1996 | award=Platinum | access-date=25 March 2025 | refname="germanyplatinum"}}

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{{Infobox song

| name = Who Wants to Live Forever

| cover = Brightman Who Wants to Live Forever.jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Sarah Brightman

| album = Timeless

| released = 1997

| recorded =

| studio =

| venue =

| genre = Operatic pop

| length =

| label = East West

| writer = Brian May

| producer = Frank Peterson

| prev_title = Just Show Me How to Love You

| prev_year = 1997

| next_title = Tu Quieres Volver

| next_year = 1997

}}

British soprano Sarah Brightman released her cover of "Who Wants to Live Forever" as a single by East West Records in 1997 from her fifth album, Timeless/Time to Say Goodbye (1997). It was produced by Frank Peterson and peaked at No. 45 in the UK Singles Chart.{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/sarah-brightman-who-wants-to-live-forever/|title=Sarah Brightman - Who Wants To Live Forever|publisher=Official Charts Company|access-date=25 March 2025}}

• CD single

1. "Who Wants to Live Forever" (Album version)
2. "Who Wants to Live Forever" (Xenomania club mix)

• Maxi CD single

1. "Who Wants to Live Forever"
2. "A Question of Honour"
3. "Heaven Is Here"
4. "I Loved You"

• 12" vinyl

1. "Who Wants to Live Forever (Trouser Enthusiasts 'Cybernetic Odalisque' Mix)"
2. "Who Wants to Live Forever (Xenomania Club Mix)"
3. "Who Wants to Live Forever (Xenomania Dub Mix)"
4. "Who Wants to Live Forever (X-Citing Mix)

• In 2009, Welsh singer Katherine Jenkins recorded her cover version for her studio album "Believe".

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{{refbegin}}

• {{cite book|last=Blake|first=Mark|author-link=Mark Blake (writer)|year=2010|title=Is This The Real Life? The Untold Story of Queen|publisher=Arum Press|isbn=978-1-84513-713-7}}
• {{cite book|last=Dean|first=Ken|title=Queen : A Visual Documentary|publisher=Omnibus Press|year=1986|isbn=978-0-7119-0857-4}}§

{{refend}}

• {{YouTube|_Jtpf8N5IDE|2=Who Wants to Live Forever (1986).}} A Kind of Magic [2008].
• {{YouTube|Aj2xE2mmxCg|Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert (1992)}} with Seal [2009].
• {{cite web |url= https://genius.com/Queen-who-wants-to-live-forever-lyrics |title= Who Wants to Live Forever |work= Lyrics |publisher= Genius }}

{{Spoken Wikipedia|Who_Wants_to_Live_Forever.ogg|date=24 April 2011}}

{{Queen songs}}

{{Sarah Brightman}}

{{Dune}}

{{Edyta Górniak}}

{{Highlander}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Who Wants To Live Forever}}

Category:1986 songs

Category:1986 singles

Category:1980s ballads

Category:1997 singles

Category:Queen (band) songs

Category:Dune (band) songs

Category:EMI Records singles

Category:East West Records singles

Category:Hollywood Records singles

Category:Music videos directed by David Mallet (director)

Category:Music videos directed by Matt Broadley

Category:Rock ballads

Category:Sarah Brightman songs

Category:Song recordings produced by Reinhold Mack

Category:Songs about death

Category:Songs from Highlander (franchise)

Category:Songs written by Brian May

Category:Virgin Records singles