Queen Quiz - Barcelona

Cover Artwork for Mercury & Caballé's single “Barcelona”

“Barcelona” was co-written by Freddie Mercury and Mike Moran, and released by Mercury and Montserrat Caballé in 1987. It was part of their album, of the same name.

Mercury had been a long-time fan of opera, and especially Caballé.

In 1986, Mercury mentioned on Spanish television that he would like to meet Caballé, and they met for the first time in Barcelona in February 1987.

When the city of Barcelona was chosen to be the host for the 1992 Summer Olympics, as a native of the city, Caballé was asked to produce a song for the games. Caballé decided to ask Mercury to collaborate.

Whilst working on the song, Caballé became more enthusiastic and so proposed that the two of them should continue working to produce an album. Mercury agreed, and so they continued to work on “Barcelona”, the proposed opening song which was required to be completed in 1988, in time to formally be entered as a nomination for the 1992 Olympic theme song.

Giving Caballé's tight schedule, Mercury recorded the song, singing Caballé's part in falsetto. He would then send a tape to Caballé to prepare her for the joint studio sessions.

The song was first performed live in May 1987, at the Ibiza festival.

It was followed by a performance on the 8 October 1988, at the open air La Nit festival in Barcelona, which was staged on the occasion of the arrival of the Olympic flag from Seoul. This was the last live performance by Mercury, who was already beginning to suffer from AIDS.

The official music video was directed by David Mallet, who had collaborated with Queen on their previous videos. Mike Moran, who co-wrote the song, appears in the video conducting the orchestra with a light stick.