"
The Show Must Go On" is a song by the British
rock band
Queen, featured as the twelfth and final track on their 1991 album
Innuendo. It is credited to Queen, but written mainly by
Brian May. The song chronicles the effort of
Freddie Mercury continuing to perform despite approaching the end of his life; he was dying from complications due to
HIV/AIDS, although his illness had not yet been made public in spite of ongoing media speculation claiming that he was seriously ill. Mercury was so ill when the band recorded the song in 1990, that May had concerns as to whether he was physically capable of singing it. Recalling Mercury's performance, May states; "I said, 'Fred, I don't know if this is going to be possible to sing.' And he went, 'I'll fucking do it, darling' — vodka down — and went in and killed it, completely lacerated that vocal."