Too Much Love Will Kill You is a song by Brian May. It was originally written for Queen's 1988 album The Miracle, but was repurposed for May's 1992 solo album Back to the Light. The Queen version, with Freddie Mercury on vocals, would later appear on the band's 1995 album Made in Heaven.
The song reflected the breakdown of May's first marriage and attraction to his future wife, Anita Dobson. It was first recorded by Queen around 1988 or before, and was intended to be on the band's The Miracle album in 1989, but did not make the cut due to legal disputes following the band's decision that all songs on the album would be written by the group as opposed to individuals.
After Freddie Mercury's death in 1991, May arranged a solo version, which he performed at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in 1992, and subsequently included on his solo album Back to the Light that same year. When released as a single, it reached number five on the UK Singles Chart, number two in Belgium, and topped the charts in the Netherlands. Because it was first played publicly at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, a common misconception is that it was written as a tribute to Freddie Mercury, although it had actually been written several years before he died, and he sang lead vocal on the Queen version.
History[]
Composition[]
Before the recording sessions for The Miracle began in 1988, Brian May wrote Too Much Love Will Kill You with the help of Elizabeth Lamers and Frank Musker at his property in Los Angeles. When May brought the song to the rest of the band in hopes of using it as a track on their upcoming album, Mercury immediately took a liking to it, but the track ultimately was left off the album due to the fact that May had outside help in the writing of the song.
Although the band did not use the song on their upcoming album, Mercury recorded a version in 1988 at the Mountain Studios in Montreux.
The song is about May's feelings during his divorce with Christine Mullen, and the choice one must make between two women that one loves equally.
Release[]
Too Much Love Will Kill You was released as the first single of Brian May's 1992 solo album Back to the Light on 24 August 1992.
After the passing of Freddie Mercury, the remaining members of Queen used his alternate recording of the song as a track on their 1995 album Made in Heaven. This version replaces the Fender Rhodes electric piano used on May's version with a synthesizer. The track was developed in May's studio at Allerton Hill and released a single in 26 February 1996.
Gallery[]
Main article: Too Much Love Will Kill You/Gallery
