Freddie Mercury - The highest and lowest notes of his voice

[Queenrock990]

The very, very, very, very highest ones are Roger I think

[cavemanugo]

All these are wrong, high notes you didn't give them enough credit, Low notes you gave them too much credit.

[rycoys10]

the show must go on is the best ever vocal recorded !!

[centrothl]

If I recall correctly, there is an even lower part in "Bring Back That Leroy Brown".

[MrTommyhawk69]

Respect !!!!

[area428]

great voice anyway

[killdoser123]

1:32 on the lef tis brian mays daughter :P get it (the hair)

[satualm]

In "Another Bites the Dust" adjusted Freddie's voice half-a-note higher.

[mark8748]

which note does he hit when he sings the "these are the days it never rains but it pours" line in under pressure?

[lMLProductionsl]

@mark8748 A little late comment but is B5

[GoodGuitarSolos]

watch?v=R5vTjdOTMGE Updated and longer version of Mercury's range.

[BananaSandwich1]

F2 not f1

[belialah]

1:01 - 1:03..Kenny from South Park??

[firestarter199515]

@belialah Lmao

[MrPeeps25]

i like how this guy is labeling most of the notes and octave lower

[FreddieRocksTheWorld]

The Most beautiful man.

[KGuitarMan94]

I agree with wagnerlover777 those are the wrong octaves you have on there, and even on that Ab1 it should be an Ab2

[AlbieStarr]

Roger did all the falsettos in the harmonies, Freddie's are only on lead vocals.

[rekoonsghjkl]

Roger hit the falsetto he said he did.

[Wicky40097]

killer!!!

[Wagnerlover777]

Umm, just to point it out, those aren't 4th octave, but 5th octave notes on the high ones.

[mercuryforeva]

The Voice. Here's the evidence.

[mercuryforeva]

Amazing. What a pure voice he had.

[CuriosityRoads]

Overrated.

[edmame]

variety in 70s is just dazzling. how about looking to "barcelona" for some lowest registers in '82'-89? whoa lots of db4's in that period. miracle cover is just painful:P

[killdoser123]

beautiful sounding when he says life is reeeEEeEaaall

[nsav8]

He never had a singing lesson in his life. What an amazing man he was.

[Freddie1980]

@nsav8 - He must have had some kind of coaching you can here the difference and improvement in his vocals between Queen 1 and Queen 2.

[ztarrfect]

at apex 1:07 bohemian Rhapsody that Roger Taylors voice

[Dzejkop3000]

Thanks fot it!

[Boganator4]

i love how you say all his high notes are falsetto when they're obviously not.

Don't know if you sing, but if you can't do something that someone can that's high doesn't make it falsetto.

[houou100]

If we are just going to turn this into a dickwagging contest, Roger Taylor could go higher than Mercury

Fortunately, singing isn't just about the range (though Taylor has a fantastic voice)

[HumbleMoose]

there will never be another

[MissGetGold]

The best singer!

[itsbridgetlogann]

Freddie doesn't sing like an angel. He is in heaven right now giving the angels voice lessons. RIP

[danlc95]

Easily my favorite singer of all times. RockStar frontman, Kelley Huff, and OverloadeD/Tokyo Blade frontman, Chris Gillen can hit crazy notes like that too (both vocalists are from the Detroit area.).

[leonaxels]

He hit an E6 in It's Late :)

[itsbridgetlogann]

it's amazing how how he goes from an F1 straight to an Ab4 Falsetto in Bohemian Rhapsody. Ffreddie was amazing, and I don't think anyone will ever match him, he had an amazing god given voice, he was so charismatic on stage and ssuch a great performer, and He could really plau the piano, and even the guitar. He, in my opinion, was the most musically gifted person in history. RIP FREDDIE!

[rekoonsghjkl]

@itsbridgetlogann the Ab4 is meant to be Ab5 and that's Roger not Freddie. Freddie was fantastic anyway. He hits E6 and F#6 in it's late and live F6,D6,C#6,C6.........

[traguila]

@rekoonsghjkl F#6 in it´s late? I think he hits "only" E6, (which is extremly high), but I don´t hear F#6 in that song... his absolute highest note is F6 live.

[rekoonsghjkl]

@traguila he hits the E6 at the end of the song but around 4:25-4:30 he hits F#6 although my friend said he did not me I'm not musically trained but he has perfect pitch.

[rekoonsghjkl]

@traguila he hits the E6 at the end of the song but around 4:25-4:30 he hits F#6 although my friend said he did not me I'm not musically trained but he has perfect pitch. I know about the F6 though during under pressure live.

[shakriviere]

@bijeleudovice2, yes, you're right! 

[shakriviere]

If I remember good it's a E5 in "It's late".

[MrSimone1381]

il più grande di tutti i tempi

[leagiar]

Is he a tenor or a baritone? Because he sounds like a tenor...but wikipedia says he's a baritone.

[Gregsynthbootlegs]

Wikipedia says he's a tenor.

"English Tenors."

[leagiar]

@Gregsynthbootlegs . For me he is a tenor but wikipedia says when he spoke he was a baritone. I wached some interviews and i don't think he is a baritone. He has lighter sound and if he sings as a tenor,he is a tenor. You are one or the other, you can't be both.

[Gregsynthbootlegs]

Well most men do speak in the baritone register. I think what Wikipedia was doing was, that the site was noting that even though Freddie is a tenor singer, he had a deep speaking voice!

[GoodGuitarSolos]

@Gregsynthbootlegs Do not trust Wikipedia, it has Prince, Axl Rose, Seal, Roger Daltrey among many others listed as tenors, really bad info there! Still, Mercury's a low tenor!

[Gregsynthbootlegs]

Hey Timitzii! LOL

[bludrugo29]

dont try so hard....the song were I think he reached the highest note.

[docweasel]

Some of those represented as being Freddie (mostly background vocal stuff) are actually Roger Taylor, who would typically hit the highest note in their ensemble harmonies (especially on Bohemian Rhapsody)

[shakriviere]

@docweasel, this isn't true for every song. In "It's late" song from "News of the world" album, he reaches his highest note during the instrumental parts. Freddie does a falsetto higher than Taylor's recorded tracks.

[OliverKahnNr1]

0:42 is actually a B5, as it's in E major!

[tdrider2008]

Wow you really dont hear these with the guitar and drums, i heard someone say that freddie's voice was done cause of improper singing by the early 80's and he couldnt hit high notes i should reference him to this and some live performances

[jbelmaestro]

the "very very frightening me" in bohemian rhapsody is done by roger not freddie

[akyled7]

u have killer queen in the wrong key, that's why it sounds so high

[rekoonsghjkl]

@akyled7 No it's in the right key my friend it's F5 in Falsetto.

[akyled7]

@rekoonsghjkl i just meant it doesn't sound like the original verson

[rekoonsghjkl]

@akyled7 Ok cool I think it's just an isolated track. When you have all the drums, guitars, bass, piano and backing vocals sometimes we don't hear how the actual vocal sounds.

[akyled7]

@rekoonsghjkl wow that's interesting

[sisisinonono]

yeah his voice is powerful and has no comparison but the feeling his voice had was the one that set him apart....love love him and miss him

[minnonikki]

His voice is so powerful. It brings tears to my eyes.

[Ic3d34rth]

is there a reason these are all put in the 4th octave? cause these all should be in the 5th octave.

[Feon2]

@Ic3d34rth I think he used a old notation or something like that. Just add "1" to the octave number ;D

[CptBGL]

God, what a voice...

[Canaveral305]

The falsettos on Bohemian Rhapsody and some other songs are Roger Taylor, not Freddie !

[queenforever14]

@Canaveral305 Yes! But in Sail Away Sweet Sister is Brian May ;D

[ElTrioDeCuatroBanda]

@Canaveral305 well, actually i thought that, untill i listened carefully.

IF YOU HEAR CAREFULLY YOU CAN HEAR A SECOND FALSETTO :P IT'S FREDDIE'S XD

[Canaveral305]

@ElTrioDeCuatroBanda I think it's more of a double-tracked Roger than Freddie, but you might have a point. Not sure.

[donaldfnmanso]

@Canaveral305 yes. Sometimes some people don´t know, but is Roger Taylor.

[rosy2lee2]

@Canaveral305 On Bohemian Rhapsody it's all Freddie singing - Roger Taylor only sings the harmonies during live peformances.

[Canaveral305]

@rosy2lee2 Uh? Queen never performed any of the parts with vocal harmonies of BoRap live (introduction and opera). The introduction ("is this the real life?[...]") was all sung by Freddie, yes, but the operatic part was recorded by Brian on low notes, Freddie on the middles (and lead) and Roger on the highs. Check out interviews of Queen, they always say that it was the combination of the three voices.

[rosy2lee2]

@Canaveral305 Ohhh, my misunderstanding! Queen FTW!

[Merslikina]

@Canaveral305 But Freddy sang in these songs.. It is his voice...Listen attentively

[flamingmonkey923]

@Canaveral305

Rodger Taylor was the one hitting the E6s, not the C5s.

[mastersam23]

some of these falsettos seemed like roger

[b0nsc0ttr0ck]

Must be the greatest voice range ever. How ironic that he has taken piano lessons but not singing lessons

[OliverKahnNr1]

The thing about Queen Tribute bands is that NONE of their singers can sing Mercury's range. You show me one person out there that can even sing an F5 in full voice, and then you show me someone who can sing the F2. Basically, to get Mercury's sound, you need to genetically engineer a mix between a bass-baritone or basso cantante and a lyric tenor (leggiero tenor for the F5).

[leojerdi]

kinda sure that there wont be anyone near to Freddi

[OfekTheQueenFan2]

Freddie's voice is absolutely a legend. He was a MASTER in singing.

Rock on Freddie!! We'll never forget your amazing contribution to the world.

Rest in peace.

[joaojaneca77]

what does faltsetto means?

[RabuHina]

@joaojaneca77 Fasletto is a kind of tone to your voice when you sing or something like that.

[wwerulestna]

What about that really low note in Lap of the Gods?

[teo2712]

the final scream on It's Late is missing from the highest notes

[saaritahh]

Some of these little clips have been raised in pitch, lol what is that about

[stoprainingonme]

@saaritahh I'm not sure, I think he may have just remixed some of the multi-layered vocals so that only the falsettos are here for us to listen to, so that it sounds higher than on the record.

[TechMaven]

The Ab4 in BR was Roger.

[jbelmaestro]

@TechMaven like the "very very frighting me"

[OliverKahnNr1]

@TechMaven You must mean Bb5.

[MooseyFate100]

0:53 That's a note that I, as a Baritone, can JUST BARELY confidently hit, and it makes me feel like a damn superhero when I sing it.

[l17v04]

oh freddie i <3 u

[Julaj89]

The most beautiful voice of the world

[KrfNYC2]

@Julaj89 I disagree. That would go to Marvin Gaye for me...but Freddie is the truth.

[richardg570]

@Julaj89 are you kidding,...he cant even hold a high note,.like steve perry,...no comparison whatsoever....perry rocks

[narutoguy56]

Best singer in the whole universe

[rockinghell91]

you transcribed the octaves one too low.

[jrizle86]

steve perry of journey had a way better voice and as of high notes listen to JOURNEY the song called -LAY IT DOWN- perry has some amazing hignotes

[1970Aerosmith]

@jrizle86 Steve perry did have an incredible coice.... BUT it soooo doesnt match freddy mercury. These songs dont serve him well because some of these songs are modified. look up dont stop me now or its a hard life. in this version "its a hard life" is modified. look it up on itunes. its freakin un believable

[kingb212212]

ur a moron

[LoveYouFreddie]

Hi there!

I'm not a professional in voices, but probably every will agree that Freddie had the best voice with very wide range. :-)

Have a question about this part 2:52 from It's a hard life song. Do you know where i can find all this song or maybe which concert it was?

I'm searching for that from over 2 yrs but no result... Greetings!

[rekoonsghjkl]

It part of the song it's just been taken a part so you hear Freddie clearer I think.

[Constantijn09]

Everything has to go one octave up

[queenfreak1990]

see what a fool i´ve been sounds like the Sweet!

[CAaRLiToXX]

roger was better in this, the best hight notes

[teddyqueen]

@CAaRLiToXX cause roger is tenor. and freddie was baritone. but you know freddie could sing in bass range and tenor range and sometimes counter tenor range.

[Gregsynth]

Roger and Freddie are both tenors, but there's many differences between their styles: Roger is a natural tenor who sings in the high tenor/counter-tenor region, while Freddie is a natural baritone who sings tenor. Freddie's got a lower timbre to his tone which allows him to sound like a baritone in his lower register (plus he can go lower than Roger). Roger's got a higher falsetto (in timbre), but Freddie's is stronger.

[kingb212212]

freddie was a tenor

[teddyqueen]

@kingb212212 really? i believe that freddie was a tenor-baritone.. tenor can't sing the low notes of Somebody To Love .

[stanphoenix]

@teddyqueen

wiki pedia says he was a natural barritone turned tenor....

[Gregsynth]

Wikipedia says, he spoke baritone and sung tenor.

[Gregsynth]

Tenors can sing low! Those low notes are Ab2! Most male (tenor, baritone, etc can hit that note)!

[teddyqueen]

@Gregsynth oh i didn't know that! what about Steve Perry? can he sing Ab2? steve is tenor too, right?

[Gregsynth]

Steve Perry's full voice range is F#2-A5. His falsetto goes up to B5. Steve Perry is a countertenor singer: The HIGHEST male voice!

[Thetarantinomaniac]

Ehhhh don't be so sure about that. If you listen to the A5 passage, you can hear his voice break into falsetto after the F5. So I'm afraid Perry's range is only F♯2-F5, and he's definitely not a countertenor. Spydrfish, Stageholder and I all agreed that he's a low tenor with a very thin timbre, which makes his voice sound higher than it is.

[Gregsynth]

Low tenor? Hell no!

His timbre is WAY too light, and has sung plenty of 5 octave full voice notes (live and studio), like the F5!

[Thetarantinomaniac]

Yeah, that's what I'm saying: as a tenor, he does have a light timbre, but his range itself indicates a low tenor, at least as F♯2-F5. I can clearly hear a difference between the mode that Perry starts in and ends in on that "NO! NO!" passage, so the fact that he screams it doesn't necessarily make it full voice...

[Gregsynth]

Post your thoughts on Steve's notes videos, cause I've never thought that passage was falsetto. I want to see if people agree or disagree. I'm on the fence on this one!

Plus he rarely goes into his lower range, and mostly sings in the 4th and 5th octave

[Thetarantinomaniac]

Well, that latter statement is still true about many other singers in rock, but it doesn't necessarily make them all tenors! In fact, some even turn out to be baritones...case in point: Russell Allen.

[Gregsynth]

Agree--but here's the difference, Steve never SCREAMED his 5th octave notes out. All the rock baritones (with HUGE ranges) I've heard, always yelled and screamed those notes. Steve "sang" them because they were in his natural range.

[Thetarantinomaniac]

Eh, even then it's not exactly true. Some of these baritones can still sing their fifth octave notes...just look at Allen, for example. I've only occasionally heard him resort to absolutely screaming to hit a high note. I've heard him sing melodically up to notes as high as E5.

[Gregsynth]

I'll give you that one--but look at Allen's lower register (1st octave notes): His low notes are very rich and "baritonal," while Perry's sound forced.

[Thetarantinomaniac]

Exactly, and that's why Perry's NOT a baritone, but a low tenor...or at least in my opinion.

[Gregsynth]

Wikipedia says he's a "tenor altino."

[Thetarantinomaniac]

Don't forget that Wikipedia also called Freddie Mercury a "leggiero tenor" and Axl Rose a tenor! Don't trust it just because you see it there!

[Gregsynth]

Well, morons kept changing his voice type: It was originally "tenor."

Steve's type at least has sources on it.

[Thetarantinomaniac]

Meh, I was never really one for sources...I mean all it takes for them to consider it true is to have some "verifiable source" post certain information. That's really all there is to it...I go by what I can find proof of.

[Gregsynth]

I have this thing called "One in a million." It's a COMPLETE vocal history and analysis of Steve's voice.

[Thetarantinomaniac]

Meh, even something like that has a chance of being mistaken. I once talked to a guy who claimed to have been a fan of Ronnie James Dio for his entire career, and to have heard all sorts of interviews and stuff in which he talked in detail about his voice and all that...and he concluded from this that Ronnie's a bass-baritone, with dead certainty!

[Gregsynth]

That guy's an idiot then! LOL

[Thetarantinomaniac]

Yep...when I was making my vocal range video for Ronnie, I tried coming back to ask him if he could help out with any lows if he's such an expert on the fact that Ronnie's a bass-baritone...never got a reply. Heh.

You can read the entire conversation here: /comment_servlet?all_comments&­v=63gzjoS2CJ0&fromurl=/watch%3­Fv%3D63gzjoS2CJ0

[Gregsynth]

The link doesn't work. What's the video called?

[Thetarantinomaniac]

It was on 55 Porter's "Rainbow In The Dark" video.

[Gregsynth]

Thanks!

[Gregsynth]

Plus the A5 is in head voice, not falsetto (it's screamed).

[StageHolder]

On the Perry subject, on the live NO NO NO thing he switches to falsetto after C#5(!)

[Gregsynth]

There's no C#5 in that line!

[PorterMcCartney]

YESSSSSS!!!!!! The ALMIGHTY high-note on "Hang on in there"... sends chills down my spine evry time... thank you so much for listing it!!

[NScole6407]

That's so cool! I think you should do one for Brian and Roger!

[tobyobrie]

Very true. Brian and Rog were great singers too.

[Typhoon792]

Everything you wrote in the video is actually an octave lower than what he's singing.

[AndreaGianca1]

2.53 io nn l'ho mai sentita fatta cosi'...nn c'è sul singolo o si sente poco?

[742512345689]

i thought i was a big queen fan and i havent ever heard of half these songs!

[oye2a2000]

me toooo!

[Danitovic]

That happens frecuently, these are old songs, for me the best ones. I highly recommed first queen albums...IMO are insane!!

[sprawn09]

I love Freedie! He'll always be the best.

[RobyHeart96]

Freddie is my favourite singer and I love him! thanks for all that you have done

[AZRFHj]

He sounds like the lead singer from the rolling stones sometimes with his falsetto?

[Spiripyxelo]

great great video. also watch my video : ''THE BEATLES. THE HIGHEST AND THE LOWEST NOTES''

[Gregsynth]

It's more underrated than terrible.

[MarinStoikov]

Wow! It has the most high notes on Hot Space, The Works, A Kind Of Magic - sweet!

[rekoonsghjkl]

Have you noticed that even when his voice wasn't on form like Wembley he still had that sheer power and clearness amazing. Great vocalest of all time.

[sw3210]

the fella could sing thats for sure, certainly got my attention at a time when ther rock world had only a few really great voices. his was one.

[rekoonsghjkl]

If Freddie had been trained his voice would have been even better. The smoking and drugs didn't help.

[goodboy5]

Well i don't know about the drugs but the smoking was for the husky effect for his voice.

So I think he smoked on purpose to get that husky voice.

[pakokbral2]

dammit I also thought it was the guitar but it was his voice!!! amazing!!!!!

[rekoonsghjkl]

If Freddie had his nodules move and had vocal training he would have had an even more amazing range!

[thebiggestqueenfan]

ya but you never know what would have happened if he had them removed. It could have partially damaged his voice and he didnt want to take a chance. Plus, we hardly notice the nodules in the studio versions of the songs

[reddupo]

also his nodules probably contributed to the gritty quality he had on some notes which is very cool

[rekoonsghjkl]

I thought so too. It limited his range so we will never know how high he could have gone without them.

[thebiggestqueenfan]

You forgot the E6 (falcetto) in it's late. Everyone thinks it is Brian's guitar but it is Freddie's voice

[rekoonsghjkl]

it's also his highest note!

[nhadz16]

love the pic...

[StratApple]

im quite sure the first note is by Roger Taylor

[ginazidaho]

Either way, not even Roger could beat Freddie... Freddie's got that operatic tone.

[hatewybra]

all the notes are an octave higher then you wroted them