Freddie Mercury was close to Michael Jackson for a brief period, even regretted not being part of Thriller album
Queen legend Freddie Mercury once opened up about the extraordinary relationship he had Michael Jackson, also expressing his regret that a track they recorded together never made it to the Thriller album.
Mercury and Jackson, two of the biggest stars in the world, apparently grew close to each other for a brief period, Express reports.
In a televised interview, originally done in 1983, that has now resurfaced, Mercury said it was his fault that their work together did not make it to the record-breaking album. He also spoke of how the Smooth Criminal hitmaker was becoming a recluse and the reasons behind.
In the interview, Mercury said Jackson was only 22 when they met. "In the early days, three, four years ago, he used to come and see our shows at the Forum in LA," Mercury recalled how they met. "I guess he likes us. So I got to meet him and he kept coming to see us. We started talking."
Jackson was intrigued by Mercury's larger-than-life persona. Jackson was spotted backstage at one of those Queen shows and asked if he was a fan of the band, according to an article in Rolling Stones magazine in 1983.
Michael Jackson (1958 - 2009) waves during the filming of the long-form music video for his song 'Bad,' directed by Martin Scorcese, New York, New York, 1987. (Photo by Vinnie Zuffante/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)"I’m a Freddie Mercury fan," he said in response. The two legends later began meeting outside the shows. "I remember going to dinner with him," Mercury said in the interview. "I think now he just stays at home. He doesn't like coming out. He says whatever he wants he can get it home... anything he wants he just buys it."
"That's not me. But I mean, you know, that's his bag. I wouldn’t do that, I’d be bored to death," the Queen frontman continued. "I have to go out every night. I hate staying in one room for too long anyway. I like to keep moving… I don't know, I guess, it's just because he started when he was very young... When you think about it, when I'm talking to him I think 'My God, he's 25 and I'm 37, yet he's been in the business almost longer than I have.'”
Mercury said Jackson's popularity and fame at such a young age was "sort of frightening." "For me, it's sort of frightening... you think, 'somebody who's 22 or 25 or just starting out or whatever and I could teach him a few tricks.' But not Michael," he said. The interview took place after Jackson became the biggest star in the world following the release of Thriller.
A lesser-known fact is that Mercury had worked on three tracks with Jackson. During the interview, he smiled at the realization he could have been a part of the biggest album of all time. "I think one of the tracks would have been on the Thriller album if I finished it but I missed out," Freddie said at the time.