"I Was Born to Love You" is a 1985 song by

Freddie Mercury Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British singer and songwriter who achieved global fame as the lead vocalist and pianist of the rock band Queen (band), Queen. Regarded as one of the gre ...

that was released as a single from his first solo album, ''

Mr. Bad Guy ''Mr. Bad Guy'' is the first solo studio album by British musician Freddie Mercury, lead singer of Queen. Released in 1985, during a period in which Queen were on hiatus from recording, it contains eleven songs, all written by Mercury himself. ...

''. After Mercury's death,

Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

re-worked this song for their album ''

Made in Heaven ''Made In Heaven'' is the fifteenth and final studio album by the British rock band Queen, released on 6 November 1995 by Parlophone Records in the United Kingdom and by Hollywood Records in the United States. It is the final studio album to ...

'' in 1995, by having the other members play their instrumental parts over the original track. The Queen version from the ''Made in Heaven'' album also includes snippets of Mercury's ad-lib vocals taken from "

A Kind of Magic ''A Kind of Magic'' is the twelfth studio album by the British rock band Queen, released on 2 June 1986 by EMI Records in the UK and by Capitol Records in the US. It is based on the soundtrack to the film '' Highlander'', directed by Russell M ...

" and from "

Living on My Own "Living on My Own" is a song written and performed by British singer-songwriter Freddie Mercury, originally included on his first solo album, ''Mr. Bad Guy'' (1985). It was released as a single (backed with "My Love Is Dangerous") on 2nd Septem ...

". The song received its live debut on the 2005 tour of Japan, given by

Queen + Paul Rodgers Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * ...

Brian May Sir Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, animal welfare activist and astrophysics, astrophysicist. He achieved global fame as the lead guitarist and backing vocalist of the rock band Queen ...

and Roger Taylor performed the song acoustically. The song was also performed during the concerts given by

Queen + Adam Lambert Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * ...

in South Korea and Japan, which was the first time that a full live band was used for the performance.

Music videos

The video for the original Freddie Mercury version of the song was directed by David Mallet and filmed at the now demolished

Limehouse Studios Limehouse Studios was an independently owned television studio complex which opened in 1983 and was built in No. 10 Warehouse (30 Shed) of the South Quay Import Dock at the northern end of the Isle of Dogs in London. The building was demolishe ...

, London. The video was choreographed by

Arlene Phillips Dame Arlene Phillips (born 22 May 1943) is an English choreographer, theatre director, talent scout, former television judge, presenter, and dancer. She reached mainstream fame on television as a judge on ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (2004-2008) a ...

and shows Mercury singing in front of a wall of mirrors, then running through a house with a woman before dancing on a podium. The video for the version used on ''Made in Heaven'' was directed by Richard Heslop for the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

, and included on ''Made in Heaven: The Films''. It shows inhabitants of a block of council flats. Couples kiss, kids play, and teenagers steal and destroy a car in a monochrome film. The audio also uses the vinyl edit. For the 2004 re-release, a video was created mixing footage of Mercury's original solo video intercut with footage of Queen performing live at Wembley Stadium, plus his solo video "Living on My Own". This video is included on ''Queen Jewels'', the 2004 Greatest Karaoke Hits DVD, and the Japanese release of the documentary ''Days of Our Lives''.

Appearances in other media

The song has appeared in multiple television advertisements, mainly in Japan. The original version recorded by Mercury appeared in the TV commercial of Japanese cosmetics company Noevia in the mid 1980s. The Queen version was released as a single exclusively in Japan in February 1996, because the song was used in a TV ad for Kirin Ichiban Shibori, one of the best-selling liquors of the country produced by the

Kirin Brewery Company is a Japanese beer and beverage holding company. It is known for brands such as Kirin Beer, Kirin Lemon, Mets, and Gogo no Kōcha. The predecessor of the company, the Japan Brewery Company, was founded in Yokohama in 1885 by William Henry Tal ...

. The single became their first song that entered the Japanese chart since " Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)", released in 1977. In 2004, Queen's version was used as the theme for ''

Pride Pride is a human Emotion, secondary emotion characterized by a sense of satisfaction with one's Identity (philosophy), identity, performance, or accomplishments. It is often considered the opposite of shame or of humility and, depending on conte ...

'', the successful Japanese drama starring

Takuya Kimura is a Japanese actor, singer, and radio personality. He is regarded as a Japanese icon after achieving success as an actor. He was also a popular member of SMAP, one of the best-selling boy bands in Asia. In the media, he is known as a huge hea ...

and

Yūko Takeuchi was a Japanese actress. She is known for her roles in television series ''Asuka'' (1999), ''Pride'' (2004), ''FlashForward'' (2009), and ''Miss Sherlock'' (2018) as well as films such as ''Ring'' (1998), ''Yomigaeri'' (2003), and ''Dog in a Sid ...

. ''Jewels'',

's tie-in compilation album released only in Japan, includes "I Was Born to Love You". In Malaysia, Mercury's version, using a different mix, was used by

Astro Astro may refer to: Entertainment and media * Astro (South Korean band), a South Korean boy band * Astro (UB40) (born Terence Wilson) (1957–2021), rapper and member of the British reggae band UB40 * Astro (Chilean band), a Chilean indie ro ...

in TV advertisements to promote their coverage of the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...

. The advertisement, commissioned by Astro through agency Dentsu LHS Malaysia and created by Pesona Pictures Indonesia, also have an unused version, which used Queen's version of the song.

Track listings

7-inch single (1985) :A. "I Was Born to Love You" – 3:37 :B. "Stop All the Fighting" – 3:17 12-inch single (1985) :A. "I Was Born to Love You" (Extended Version) – 7:03 :B. "Stop All the Fighting" – 3:17

Personnel

;Original version *

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

Synclavier The Synclavier is an early digital synthesizer, polyphonic digital sampling system, and music workstation manufactured by New England Digital Corporation of Norwich, Vermont. It was produced in various forms from the late 1970s into the ea ...

Fred Mandel Frederick Lawrence Mandel is a Canadian session musician, keyboard player and guitarist. Career Born in Estevan, Saskatchewan, Mandel started playing the piano at four and picked up the guitar aged eight. Growing up in an Orthodox Jewish h ...

– synthesizer,

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a guitar technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse (music), pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., d ...

*Paul Vincent –

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

*Curt Cress –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

*Stephan Wissnet –

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

Fairlight CMI The Fairlight CMI (short for Computer Musical Instrument) is a digital synthesizer, music sampler, and digital audio workstation introduced in 1979 by Fairlight. — with links to some Fairlight history and photos It was based on a commerc ...

Reinhold Mack Reinhold Mack (also known as Mack, born 25 August 1949) is a German record producer and engineer. He is best known for his collaborations with Billy Squier, AC/DC, Queen, the Electric Light Orchestra, Sparks, and Chinaski. Biography Early ...

– Fairlight CMI, Synclavier II ;Queen version *

– lead and

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

, piano, keyboards *

–

guitars The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

, keyboards * Roger Taylor – drums,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

John Deacon John Richard Deacon (born 19 August 1951) is an English retired musician who was the bass guitarist for the rock band Queen. He wrote several songs for the group, including Top 10 hits " You're My Best Friend", "Another One Bites the Dust" a ...

– bass guitar

Chart history

;Freddie Mercury version ;Queen version ;Worlds Apart version

Certifications

References

External links

Lyrics at Queen official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:I Was Born To Love You Freddie Mercury songs Queen (band) songs 1985 singles 1985 songs 1996 singles 2020 singles Oricon International Singles Chart number-one singles Songs written by Freddie Mercury Songs released posthumously Japanese television drama theme songs Song recordings produced by Reinhold Mack Hollywood Records singles Music videos directed by David Mallet (director)