I Want It All (Queen song)

For other uses, see I Want It All (disambiguation).

"I Want It All"
UK single picture sleeve
Single by Queen
from the album The Miracle
B-side
  • "Hang on in There"
  • "I Want It All" (album version)[1]
Released2 May 1989 (1989-05-02)
Recorded1988
Genre
Length
  • 4:41 (album version)
  • 4:01 (single version)
  • 4:30 (Queen Rocks version)
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Queen singles chronology
"Who Wants to Live Forever"
(1986) 		"I Want It All"
(1989) 		"Breakthru"
(1989)
Music video
"I Want It All" on YouTube

"I Want It All" is a song by British rock band Queen, featured on their 1989 studio album, The Miracle. Written by guitarist and vocalist Brian May (but credited to Queen) and produced by David Richards, it was released as the first single from the album on 2 May 1989.[3] "I Want It All" reached number three on the singles charts of the United Kingdom, Finland, Ireland and New Zealand, as well as on the US Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart. Elsewhere, it peaked at number two in the Netherlands and charted within the top 10 in Australia, Belgium, Germany, Norway and Switzerland. With its message about fighting for one's own goals it became an anti-apartheid protest song in South Africa.[3][4]

The song was first played live on 20 April 1992, three years after its release, during The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, performed by the three remaining members of Queen, with Roger Daltrey of The Who singing lead vocals and Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath playing rhythm guitar.[5] Freddie Mercury himself never performed the song live, as he died in November 1991 from AIDS at the age of 45, and his final performance with Queen was at the end of The Magic Tour, at Knebworth Park on 9 August 1986. The record is sung mainly by Mercury, with May singing backing vocals on the choruses and a solo-and-duet bit with Mercury on the middle eight.

  1. ^ "Queen UK Singles Discography 1984–1991". www.ultimatequeen.co.uk.
  2. ^ Rolli, Bryan (11 January 2024). "Top 35 Songs of 1989". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  3. ^ a b Jenkins, Jim; Smith, Jacky; Davis, Andy; Symes, Phil (2000). The Platinum Collection (CD booklet). Queen. Parlophone. p. 12. 7243 5 29883 2 7.
  4. ^ "Queen's 50 UK singles – ranked!". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  5. ^ The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert: I Want It All Ultimate Queen. Retrieved 5 July 2011