Who Wants to Live Forever
Queen | Artist Essentials
First released: 1986 (year verified)
Original full-length A Kind of Magic album recording
MusicAtlas editorial note: Give the quiet opening time to settle; the sweep of the later passages depends on that restraint.
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Release evidence and recording details
First released: 1986 (year verified)
Original 1986 album presentation; film, single-edit and later concert presentations are kept separate.
Recording: Original full-length A Kind of Magic album recording
Credit: Queen
Role in this collection: Primary artist
Original album: A Kind of Magic
Queen the Greatest Live - Who Wants to Live Forever
Identifies the original Who Wants to Live Forever on A Kind of Magic (1986), separately from the much later live rendition discussed in the article. | Reviewed 2026-10-17
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About Queen
Queen formed in 1970 and released their debut album in 1973. Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon all contributed songs. Their early records combined hard rock with elaborate vocal arrangements and theatrical changes of mood, reaching a wide audience with A Night at the Opera and its 1975 single 'Bohemian Rhapsody.' The group later explored funk, disco and synthesizers alongside its guitar sound. Its catalog extends through the ambitious 1991 album Innuendo and the completed recordings released as Made in Heaven in 1995.
Artist background sources
About Queen - official band history
Formation in 1970; debut in 1973; Sheer Heart Attack in 1974, A Night at the Opera and Bohemian Rhapsody in 1975, A Day at the Races in 1976; subsequent album and film work. Used for these scoped historical facts, not superlative or chart claims. | Retrieved 2026-10-17
Queen: First Five Albums Reissued - original and bonus tracklists
Original album tracklists for Queen through A Day at the Races. Bonus demos, live recordings, the 1975 Keep Yourself Alive retake and later mixes are listed separately. | Retrieved 2026-10-17
The Platinum Collection - Queen credits and version distinctions
Names the four Queen songwriters; explicitly credits Under Pressure to Queen + David Bowie and lists later Rah Mix and guest live versions separately. Also documents the band's stylistic move into funk, disco and electronics. | Retrieved 2026-10-17
Innuendo: 35 Years On
1991 album release and original The Show Must Go On; the Innuendo single preceded the album in the same year. Sessions dated 1989-1990 do not determine the release year. | Retrieved 2026-10-17
Profile reviewed: 2026-10-17. Artist background does not establish a song's creative origin or release date.
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