"Let Me Live" is a song by Queen

Queen (band)

Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...

, from the album Made in Heaven

Made in Heaven

Made in Heaven is the fifteenth studio album by British rock group Queen and the final one to feature lead singer Freddie Mercury and bassist John Deacon, released on 6 November 1995...

. Freddie Mercury

Freddie Mercury

Freddie Mercury was a British musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. As a performer, he was known for his flamboyant stage persona and powerful vocals over a four-octave range...

, Roger Taylor

Roger Meddows-Taylor

Roger Meddows Taylor , known as Roger Taylor, is a British musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the drummer, backing vocalist and occasional lead vocalist of British rock band Queen. As a drummer he is known for his "big" unique sound and is considered one of...

 and Brian May

Brian May

Brian Harold May, CBE is an English musician and astrophysicist most widely known as the guitarist and a songwriter of the rock band Queen...

 share lead vocals, with Mercury singing the first verse, Taylor singing the second and May singing the last. During the choruses, all of the band members sing, as well as a background choir, giving it quite a gospel

Gospel music

Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....

 sound.

History

There are rumours that this song was originally recorded with Rod Stewart

Rod Stewart

Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....

 in 1983, and was intended to be on Queen's The Works

The Works (Queen album)

-Radio Ga Ga:"Radio Ga Ga" was composed on keyboards, after Roger Taylor heard his son Felix saying "radio ca ca". He wrote it in Los Angeles and locked himself in the studio with a Roland Jupiter 8 and a drum machine. Afterwards John Deacon came up with a suitable bass line. Mercury reconstructed...

album in 1984. The original "Made in Heaven" version had to be changed due to copyright

Copyright

Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...

 problems because it resembled the song "Piece of My Heart

Piece of My Heart

"Piece of My Heart" is a song written by Jerry Ragovoy and Bert Berns and originally recorded by Erma Franklin in 1967. The song came to greater mainstream attention when Big Brother and the Holding Company covered the song in 1968 and had a hit with it...

". The song peaked at #9 on the UK singles chart. According to the Queen website, the BBC Radio 1

BBC Radio 1

BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...

 banned this song from the air waves.

Additional musicians

Rebecca Leigh-White, Gary Martin, Catherine Porter

Catherine Porter

Catherine Porter is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. She is a former member of The Brian May Band and has appeared in several musicals and films...

, and Miriam Stockley

Miriam Stockley

Miriam Stockley is a British singer. She was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and her work is influenced by the African music in her home country. Her unique vocalese style gained international acclaim when Karl Jenkins' launched the "Adiemus" project with "Songs of Sanctuary", featuring...

 - backing vocals

Alternate version

• Made in Heaven – The Film's Edit (0:29) (on the DVD only, on the 'Song Select' screen) (an edit of the album version from 0:25 to 0:55, fading out over three seconds)