Made in Heaven is the fifteenth and final studio album by the British rock band Queen, released on 6 November 1995 by Parlophone Records in the United Kingdom and by Hollywood Records in the United States. It was the band's first release after the death of lead singer Freddie Mercury in 1991. Following Mercury's death, guitarist Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor, and bass guitarist John Deacon worked with vocal and piano parts that Mercury recorded before his death, adding new instrumentation to the recordings. Both stages of recording, before and after Mercury's death, were completed at the band's studio in Montreux, Switzerland. The album debuted at number 1 in the UK, where it went 5× platinum (1.5m copies sold). 500,000 copies were shipped in the United States. 3 years after the album was released, Queen broke up in 1998, until 2004 when they reunited and started touring (without John Deacon who by this point had left the band) with former Bad Company frontman Paul Rodgers.
The cover for the album has two different photos: the CD cover photo was shot at dusk, depicting Irena Sedlecká's Mercury sculpture located at Lake Geneva in Montreux, Switzerland, on the front, with May, Taylor and Deacon gazing at the Alps on the rear cover; meanwhile, the LP cover photo was shot in the same spot at dawn, depicting the same statue on the front but with May, Taylor and Deacon gazing at the sunrise on the rear cover.
Track listing
The writers of tracks credited to Queen are listed in parentheses.
CD
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead Vocals | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "It's a Beautiful Day" | Queen (Freddie Mercury, John Deacon) | 2:32 | |
| 2. | "Made in Heaven" | Mercury | 5:25 | |
| 3. | "Let Me Live" | Queen | Roger Taylor, Mercury and Brian May | 4:45 |
| 4. | "Mother Love" | Mercury, Brian May | Mercury with May | 4:49 |
| 5. | "My Life Has Been Saved" | Queen (Deacon) | 3:15 | |
| 6. | "I Was Born to Love You" | Mercury | 4:49 | |
| 7. | "Heaven for Everyone" | Roger Taylor | 5:36 | |
| 8. | "Too Much Love Will Kill You" | May, Frank Musker, Elizabeth Lamers | 4:20 | |
| 9. | "You Don't Fool Me" | Queen | 5:24 | |
| 10. | "A Winter's Tale" | Queen (Mercury) | 3:49 | |
| 11. | "It's a Beautiful Day" (reprise) | Queen (Mercury, Deacon) | 3:01 | |
| 12. | "Yeah" (hidden track) | Queen | Spoken word by Mercury | 0:04 |
| 13. | "13" (hidden track) | Queen (May, Taylor, David Richards) | Instrumental | 22:32 |
| Total length: | 1:10:24 | |||
| 2011 bonus EP | ||
|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length |
| 1. | "Heaven for Everyone" (single version) | 4:39 |
| 2. | "It's a Beautiful Day" (B-side version) | 3:58 |
| 3. | "My Life Has Been Saved" (1989 B-side version) | 3:16 |
| 4. | "I Was Born to Love You" (vocal and piano version) (credited to Mercury) | 2:55 |
| 5. | "Rock in Rio Blues" (live B-side) | 4:33 |
| 6. | "A Winter's Tale" (cosy fireside mix) | 3:49 |
| Total length: | 23:10 | |
| 2011 iTunes deluxe edition bonus videos | ||
|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length |
| 7. | "Heart-ache (Too Much Love Will Kill You)" (promo video, 1995) | |
| 8. | "Heaven for Everyone" (promo video, 1995) | |
| 9. | "Outside-In (A Winter's Tale)" (promo video, 1995) | |
1995 LP
Two tracks on the vinyl version of Made in Heaven had to be edited to fit on one vinyl disc. These two tracks are "I Was Born to Love You" and "You Don't Fool Me". Also, the version of "Heaven for Everyone" included on the vinyl version is the single version.
| Side one | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
| 1. | "It's a Beautiful Day" | Queen (Mercury, Deacon) | 2:32 |
| 2. | "Made in Heaven" | Mercury | 5:25 |
| 3. | "Let Me Live" | Queen | 4:45 |
| 4. | "Mother Love" | Mercury, May | 4:49 |
| 5. | "My Life Has Been Saved" | Queen (Deacon) | 3:15 |
| Side two | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
| 1. | "I Was Born to Love You" | Mercury | 4:25 |
| 2. | "Heaven for Everyone" (single version) | Taylor | 4:43 |
| 3. | "Too Much Love Will Kill You" | May, Musker, Lamers | 4:20 |
| 4. | "You Don't Fool Me" | Queen | 4:46 |
| 5. | "A Winter's Tale" | Queen (Mercury) | 3:49 |
| 6. | "It's a Beautiful Day (Reprise)" | Queen (Mercury) | 3:01 |
| 7. | "Yeah" (unlisted) | Queen (Mercury) | 0:15 |
2015 LP
Made in Heaven was reissued on vinyl on 25 September 2015, alongside all of Queen's other studio albums. This is the first time that the complete album was released on vinyl, spread across 2 LPs. Track 13 is also presented on vinyl for the first time, listed as "13" on the artwork, and taking up all of side four.
| Side 1 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
| 1. | "It's a Beautiful Day" | Queen (Mercury, John Deacon) | 2:32 |
| 2. | "Made in Heaven" | Mercury | 5:25 |
| 3. | "Let Me Live" | Queen | 4:45 |
| 4. | "Mother Love" | Mercury, May | 4:46 |
| Side 2 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
| 1. | "My Life Has Been Saved" | Queen (Deacon) | 3:15 |
| 2. | "I Was Born to Love You" | Mercury | 4:51 |
| 3. | "Heaven for Everyone" | Taylor | 5:34 |
| Side 3 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
| 1. | "Too Much Love Will Kill You" | May, Musker, Lamers | 4:20 |
| 2. | "You Don't Fool Me" | Queen | 5:23 |
| 3. | "A Winter's Tale" | Queen (Mercury) | 3:49 |
| 4. | "It's a Beautiful Day (Reprise)" | Queen (Mercury) | 3:00 |
| 5. | "Yeah" (unlisted) | Queen (Mercury) | 0:11 |
| Side 4 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
| 1. | "13" | Queen (May, Taylor, Richards) | 22:32 |
Personnel
Track numbering refers to CD and digital releases of the album.
Queen
- Freddie Mercury – lead vocals (all tracks), keyboards (1–3, 6, 10, 11), backing vocals (2, 6, 9, 10), drum machine (4)
- Brian May – electric guitar (all tracks), backing vocals (3, 7, 8, 10, 11), keyboards (3, 4, 6, 8, 10), lead vocals (3, 4)
- Roger Taylor – drums (all but 1), backing vocals (3, 7, 9–11), percussion (1–3, 6, 9), keyboards (7, 9), lead vocals (3)
- John Deacon – bass (all tracks), keyboards (1, 5, 11), electric guitar (5)
Additional personnel
- Rebecca Leigh-White, Gary Martin, Catherine Porter, Miriam Stockley – backing vocals (3)
- David Richards – keyboards (5, 8, 13), co-production, engineering, mixing supervision
- Justin Shirley-Smith – co-production, engineering
- Josh Macrae – co-production, engineering
- Reinhold Mack – recording of additional material in the '80s
- Kevin Metcalfe – mastering
- Richard Gray – artwork, cover photograph of Irena Sedlecká's Mercury sculpture in Montreux