The second installment in the exclusive three-part Freddie Mercury Mr. Bad Guy YouTube mini-series has launched, celebrating the album’s 40th anniversary and its new special edition vinyl release. This episode revisits the candid 1985 interview the iconic Queen frontman gave to journalist David Wigg, offering a rare look at the man behind the legend and exploring Freddie’s emotional approach to songwriting. The clip opens with footage from the lavish, Stravinsky and Dante-inspired video for the album’s second single, “Made In Heaven,” before diving into Mercury’s creative process. He reveals that while the melody comes easily, the lyrical content is hard, candidly stating, “I’m not a poet and I hate writing lyrics anyway,” mischievously adding, “I wish I had a Bernie Taupin, but I’m not like that. I like to do it all myself, I’m a greedy bitch.”
Freddie further elaborates on his method, explaining that his songs are “all under the label emotion… emotion and feeling,” and that even though he writes about falling in and out of love, his songs always seem to end up in a “very emotional and tragic way.” This leads Wigg to ask if the diverse moods of ‘Mr. Bad Guy’ reflect his life, to which Freddie gives a revealing answer: “I’m a man of extremes, you know? I change from day to day, like a chameleon. I don’t want to be the same person every day.” David Wigg stresses today that Mercury was determined to make ‘Mr. Bad Guy’ because he had a selection of songs that he felt “wouldn’t have worked with Queen,” working just as hard on them to create songs full of both pain and beauty, like “Love Me Like There’s No Tomorrow” and “Made In Heaven.”
The episode concludes on a playful note, with Wigg asking if Freddie is “going to get to heaven,” to which Mercury categorically responds, “No, I don’t want to,” quipping, “Hell is much better. Look at the interesting people that you’re going to meet down there.” Fans can now pick up the ‘Mr. Bad Guy’ new 40th anniversary special edition vinyl reissue, available on translucent green vinyl and picture disc LP. The upcoming third and final episode will feature Freddie Mercury talking about the songs on the record that were especially personal to him
