Watch Freddie Mercury Sing 'Time Waits for No One' In a Previously Unreleased Video

There are a lot of things you probably don't know about Freddie Mercury, the Queen frontman whose life was as colorful as his stage persona. Offstage, the singer was famously enigmatic—a person bandmate Roger Taylor once described as "... shy, gentle, and kind.” Now, fans can catch a never-before-seen glimpse of the singer.

As Variety reports, a previously unreleased video of Mercury singing "Time Waits for No One” was recently dropped by Universal Music. Locked within the company’s vault since the time of its recording more than 30 years ago, in April 1986, the track was produced at Abbey Road Studios as part of Time, a concept album by Dave Clark (of the Dave Clark Five), based on a musical Clark created. Some will note how this version of the song is vastly different from the officially released track, which was an intentional choice.

"Dave Clark had always remembered that performance of Freddie Mercury at Abbey Road Studios from 1986,” Universal Music said in a statement. "The feeling [Clark] had during the original rehearsal, experiencing ‘goosebumps,’ hadn’t dissipated over the decades, and he wanted to hear this original recording—just Freddie on vocals and Mike Moran on piano.”

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Clark recounted the first time he ever saw Mercury perform: "I stood on the wings of the stage, and I was taken aback because this guy came out in a black leotard and I thought, ‘Wow, what’s this? Liza Minnelli?’ And then he opened his mouth and sang. It was unbelievable."

It was several years after witnessing that performance that Clark approached Mercury about joining the production for Time. Upon listening to a tape of "Time Waits for No One” and taking to it, Mercury agreed.

According to Universal Music’s announcement, Clark never lost those goosebumps he felt during that initial listen, and finally found the original footage in the spring of 2018. Now the video is available for listeners everywhere to share in the euphoric experience.

"The nice thing about the film is it’s Freddie on his own without anybody else, and it shows the emotion of the song,” Clark said. "We all know he’s a great singer, but I don’t think he’s been seen on his own with just a piano like this. It makes you realize how good somebody is.”

[h/t Variety]