Freddie Mercury | Autograph manuscript lyrics to 'The Great Pretender'

Freddie Mercury

Autograph manuscript lyrics to 'The Great Pretender'

Annotated pencil lyrics of the first two verses of the song, 1 page; with two typescript copies of the lyrics and a photocopy of the sheet music; altogether 5 leaves of A4, c.1987

"Much of the stuff I do is pretending [...] I think 'The Great Pretender' is a great title for what I do, because I am The Great Pretender. I've always had that at the back of my mind. That song is the one I've always wanted to cover." (Freddie Mercury: A Life, in his Own Words, pp.108-9)

'The Great Pretender' had been written for The Platters by their manager Buck Ram in 1955, but Freddie Mercury made the song his own with his cover version, which was released on 23 February 1987. The video further emphasised the connection between Freddie Mercury and the song by parodying various personae the singer had adopted in Queen songs from 'Bohemian Rhapsody' onwards (see previous lot).

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