Princes of the Universe

"Princes of the Universe"
Australian single picture sleeve
Single by Queen
from the album A Kind of Magic
B-side
Released
  • 12 March 1986 (1986-03-12) (US)[1]
  • 6 October 1986 (Japan)
Recorded1985–1986
Genre
Length3:32
Label
Songwriter(s)Freddie Mercury
Producer(s)
Queen singles chronology
"A Kind of Magic"
(1986) 		"Princes of the Universe"
(1986) 		"One Year of Love"
(1986)
Music video
"Princes of the Universe" on YouTube

"Princes of the Universe" is a song written by Freddie Mercury and performed by the British rock band Queen, originally released as a single in the United States on March 12, 1986, via Capitol Records. The song was written for the film Highlander, and released on the album A Kind of Magic, which also featured other selections from the Highlander song score on June 2, 1986.[4] In 1999 it was included in Queen's compilation album Greatest Hits III.[5]

In terms of musical style, the song is notable for being one of the most hard-edged tracks performed by the band, featuring a bombastic sound reminiscent of contemporary hard rock and heavy metal and vocals by Mercury akin to opera. A music video for the song, which featured Mercury briefly re-enacting the film's sword-fighting scene with the titular character, achieved some notoriety.[6][7]

  1. ^ "Queen singles".
  2. ^ Guarisco, Donald A. "Princes of the Universe - Queen | Song Info". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  3. ^ "Queen Interviews - A Kind of Magic". Queen Archives. The Times. 21 June 1986. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  4. ^ Freestone, Peter (2001) Freddie Mercury: an intimate memoir by the man who knew him best p.96.Omnibus Press, Retrieved 22 January 2011
  5. ^ "Queen - Greatest Hits III". Allmusic. Retrieved 25 April 2021
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Screen was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Queen Videos was invoked but never defined (see the help page).