# Innuendo (album)
**Innuendo** is the fourteenth studio album by the British rock band Queen, released on 4 February 1991 in the United Kingdom and 5 February 1991 in the United States, and the last album the band released during the lifetime of lead singer [Freddie Mercury](https://www.edgepedia.org/freddie-mercury).[1](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/behind-the-albums/queen-innuendo/) Produced by Queen and David Richards, it was recorded between March 1989 and November 1990 at Metropolis Studios in [West London](https://www.edgepedia.org/west-london) and Mountain Studios in Montreux, Switzerland.[2](https://musicbrainz.org/release/25ec0b5f-2f75-4239-9962-2e0ce5b960ac) It appeared on [Parlophone](https://www.edgepedia.org/parlophone) in the United Kingdom and on Hollywood Records in the United States.[3](https://unitesi.unive.it/retrieve/78d3169a-f0ff-4af5-9278-c91e4ff19e5c/Final%20Thesis%20Crivellari%20A.%20873859.pdf)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Artist and position | Fourteenth studio album by Queen; the last released in Freddie Mercury's lifetime[1](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/behind-the-albums/queen-innuendo/) |
| Release | 4 February 1991 (UK, Parlophone); 5 February 1991 (US, Hollywood Records)[1](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/behind-the-albums/queen-innuendo/) • [3](https://unitesi.unive.it/retrieve/78d3169a-f0ff-4af5-9278-c91e4ff19e5c/Final%20Thesis%20Crivellari%20A.%20873859.pdf) |
| Recording | March 1989 to November 1990 at Metropolis Studios, London, and Mountain Studios, Montreux[2](https://musicbrainz.org/release/25ec0b5f-2f75-4239-9962-2e0ce5b960ac) |
| Production | Queen and David Richards[3](https://unitesi.unive.it/retrieve/78d3169a-f0ff-4af5-9278-c91e4ff19e5c/Final%20Thesis%20Crivellari%20A.%20873859.pdf) |
| Length and tracks | 53:44, twelve tracks[4](https://www.queenwiki.queenarchives.com/index.php?title=Innuendo_%28album%29) |
| Chart performance | The Innuendo single and album both entered the UK charts at number 1[5](https://www.universalmusic.ca/2021/11/26/queen-the-greatest-episode-37-1991-innuendo/) |
| US significance | Initial release on Hollywood Records; Queen's first album to go gold in the US on release since The Works in 1984[6](https://www.inthestudio.net/online-only-interviews/queen-innuendo-30th-anniversary-brian-may-roger-taylor/) • [5](https://www.universalmusic.ca/2021/11/26/queen-the-greatest-episode-37-1991-innuendo/) |
## Background and recording
Queen began work on Innuendo barely twenty months after [The Miracle](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-miracle-album), their previous album, making it the shortest wait for a new Queen album in over a decade.[1](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/behind-the-albums/queen-innuendo/) Almost immediately after The Miracle was finished in February 1989, Freddie Mercury returned to Mountain Studios to record demos of songs he had in mind, and the band committed to a new Queen album rather than another solo project.[4](https://www.queenwiki.queenarchives.com/index.php?title=Innuendo_%28album%29)
Mercury had been diagnosed with AIDS in 1987 and told only a very small circle; he did not inform his bandmates until May 1989, well into the recording process.[7](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/its-like-he-reached-into-a-place-that-even-hed-never-got-to-before-how-freddie-mercury-took-on-mortality-itself-for-queens-majestic-final-single) The sessions took place partly at Mountain Studios, which the band co-owned with producer David Richards, in Montreux; recording happened there because press attention following Mercury's declining health reached him even at his own house in London.[7](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/its-like-he-reached-into-a-place-that-even-hed-never-got-to-before-how-freddie-mercury-took-on-mortality-itself-for-queens-majestic-final-single) • [3](https://unitesi.unive.it/retrieve/78d3169a-f0ff-4af5-9278-c91e4ff19e5c/Final%20Thesis%20Crivellari%20A.%20873859.pdf) Richards later recalled that during the improvised recording sessions Mercury seemed full of energy and gave no impression of illness.[5](https://www.universalmusic.ca/2021/11/26/queen-the-greatest-episode-37-1991-innuendo/)
**Working method.** The album was built collaboratively. Roger Taylor remembered the sessions as "strangely, a very happy album to make," and [Brian May](https://www.edgepedia.org/brian-may) recalled that the four worked flat out on everybody's ideas without being possessive about them.[5](https://www.universalmusic.ca/2021/11/26/queen-the-greatest-episode-37-1991-innuendo/) The title track began as a live improvisation: the band set up in Montreux's Casino Hall, linked to the control room by 54 microphone lines, and played until a rhythm, groove, and chords emerged, at which point Mercury rushed down and began singing along.[5](https://www.universalmusic.ca/2021/11/26/queen-the-greatest-episode-37-1991-innuendo/) • [8](https://www.queenconcerts.com/queenzone/1376107.html)
The album was originally intended for release in time for Christmas 1990, but Mercury's ailing health delayed it.[1](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/behind-the-albums/queen-innuendo/)
## Music and songs
The twelve-track album runs 53:44 and moves between hard rock, ballads, and theatrical multi-part writing.[4](https://www.queenwiki.queenarchives.com/index.php?title=Innuendo_%28album%29) The tracklist is: Innuendo; I'm Going Slightly Mad; Headlong; I Can't Live With You; Don't Try So Hard; Ride the Wild Wind; All God's People; [These Are the Days of Our Lives](https://www.edgepedia.org/these-are-the-days-of-our-lives); Delilah; The Hitman; Bijou; and The Show Must Go On.[9](https://riffiter.com/artist/queen/innuendo)
**Guests and credits.** All songs were credited to [Queen](https://www.edgepedia.org/queen-band) as a band, though individual contributions are identifiable: Roger Taylor wrote Ride the Wild Wind and These Are the Days of Our Lives and helped with the title track's lyrics; Brian May wrote Headlong and I Can't Live With You, both originally submitted for a planned solo album, plus the main body of The Show Must Go On; [John Deacon](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-deacon) contributed no full songs, only rearranging the original idea of The Hitman.[4](https://www.queenwiki.queenarchives.com/index.php?title=Innuendo_%28album%29) Yes guitarist [Steve Howe](https://www.edgepedia.org/steve-howe) plays the flamenco-style Spanish guitar section on the title track, and keyboardist Mike Moran plays piano on All God's People and contributed to writing it.[3](https://unitesi.unive.it/retrieve/78d3169a-f0ff-4af5-9278-c91e4ff19e5c/Final%20Thesis%20Crivellari%20A.%20873859.pdf)
The title track, with its bolero-like sweep, has drawn comparisons to "Bohemian Rhapsody"; Apple Music's editorial notes describe it as calling back to that song's grandeur.[10](https://music.apple.com/us/album/innuendo/6781078670) "I'm Going Slightly Mad" is a tongue-in-cheek number whose absurdist lyrics have been read as a reference to the neurological effects of Mercury's illness, and "Delilah" is a playful tribute to one of Mercury's pet cats.[11](https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/73495/Queen-Innuendo/) The album closes with "The Show Must Go On," which brianmay.com singles out as probably the most poignant and emotive recording on the album.[12](https://brianmay.com/queen-news/2026/02/innuendo-35-years-on/) May brought the song to Mercury worried that the vocal line was too demanding; Mercury answered "Oh for God's sake, roll the tape," had a couple of vodkas, and delivered the line.[5](https://www.universalmusic.ca/2021/11/26/queen-the-greatest-episode-37-1991-innuendo/)
## Release and commercial performance
The album and its title-track single both entered the UK charts at number 1 in early 1991, marking the band's twentieth anniversary.[5](https://www.universalmusic.ca/2021/11/26/queen-the-greatest-episode-37-1991-innuendo/) In the United States, Innuendo was the initial release on [Hollywood Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/hollywood-records), Queen's new Disney-owned label, which heralded the release of the band's entire back catalog on compact disc in America for the first time.[6](https://www.inthestudio.net/online-only-interviews/queen-innuendo-30th-anniversary-brian-may-roger-taylor/) It was also Queen's first album to go gold in the US on release since The Works in 1984.[5](https://www.universalmusic.ca/2021/11/26/queen-the-greatest-episode-37-1991-innuendo/)
"The Show Must Go On" was released as a single on 14 October 1991, near the end of the Innuendo promotional cycle and ahead of the Greatest Hits II compilation; when Mercury died on 24 November 1991, one day after publicly confirming his AIDS diagnosis, the song took on a new resonance.[7](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/its-like-he-reached-into-a-place-that-even-hed-never-got-to-before-how-freddie-mercury-took-on-mortality-itself-for-queens-majestic-final-single) • [13](https://los40.com/2025/11/06/made-in-heaven-treinta-anos-del-disco-de-queen-que-convirtio-la-ausencia-en-eternidad/)
## Reception
Contemporary and retrospective critical opinion has been divided. On the review aggregator Album of The Year, Innuendo holds a critic score of 61 based on four reviews against a user score of 78 from 1,463 ratings.[14](https://www.albumoftheyear.org/album/7821-queen-innuendo.php) Chuck Eddy's Rolling Stone review called the album "so lightweight you'll forget it as soon as it's over," while Greg Prato of AllMusic wrote that "Innuendo was a fitting way to end one of rock's most successful careers."[14](https://www.albumoftheyear.org/album/7821-queen-innuendo.php) AllMusic's album review notes that although his health was weakened by the 1990s, Mercury insisted the band work on music until the very end.[15](https://www.allmusic.com/album/innuendo-r15963) On BestEverAlbums.com, which aggregates user rankings, Innuendo is ranked 6th best out of 52 Queen albums, behind A Night At The Opera at the top.[16](https://www.besteveralbums.com/thechart.php?a=5184)
## Legacy
Innuendo is remembered as Mercury's swan song: the last album he completed, recorded in the twelve months before his death with his voice still in strong form.[7](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/its-like-he-reached-into-a-place-that-even-hed-never-got-to-before-how-freddie-mercury-took-on-mortality-itself-for-queens-majestic-final-single) Brian May and Roger Taylor later recalled the Innuendo sessions, together with the recordings that became the posthumous Made In Heaven album in 1995, as a curious mixture of sadness and joy and some of the best times the four men enjoyed together.[12](https://brianmay.com/queen-news/2026/02/innuendo-35-years-on/) Apple Music's retrospective places the album in its 1991 context, the same release year as Nirvana's Nevermind and Metallica's self-titled album, and calls it "the sound of the end of an era."[10](https://music.apple.com/us/album/innuendo/6781078670)
## References
1. ['Innuendo': The Final Queen Album In Freddie Mercury's Lifetime, uDiscover Music](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/behind-the-albums/queen-innuendo/)
2. [Release "Innuendo" by Queen, MusicBrainz](https://musicbrainz.org/release/25ec0b5f-2f75-4239-9962-2e0ce5b960ac)
3. [Final Thesis, A. Crivellari, Ca' Foscari University of Venice](https://unitesi.unive.it/retrieve/78d3169a-f0ff-4af5-9278-c91e4ff19e5c/Final%20Thesis%20Crivellari%20A.%20873859.pdf)
4. [Innuendo (album), Queenpedia](https://www.queenwiki.queenarchives.com/index.php?title=Innuendo_%28album%29)
5. [Queen The Greatest, Episode 37: 1991 – Innuendo, Universal Music Canada](https://www.universalmusic.ca/2021/11/26/queen-the-greatest-episode-37-1991-innuendo/)
6. [Queen – Innuendo 35th Anniversary – Brian May, Roger Taylor, In the Studio with Redbeard](https://www.inthestudio.net/online-only-interviews/queen-innuendo-30th-anniversary-brian-may-roger-taylor/)
7. [How Freddie Mercury took on mortality itself for Queen's final single, MusicRadar](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/its-like-he-reached-into-a-place-that-even-hed-never-got-to-before-how-freddie-mercury-took-on-mortality-itself-for-queens-majestic-final-single)
8. [Queen – Radio One Broadcast (1995), QueenConcerts](https://www.queenconcerts.com/queenzone/1376107.html)
9. [Innuendo by Queen, Ratings & Reviews, Riffiter](https://riffiter.com/artist/queen/innuendo)
10. [Innuendo – Album by Queen, Apple Music](https://music.apple.com/us/album/innuendo/6781078670)
11. [Queen – Innuendo (album review 2), Sputnikmusic](https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/73495/Queen-Innuendo/)
12. [Innuendo: 35 Years On, brianmay.com](https://brianmay.com/queen-news/2026/02/innuendo-35-years-on/)
13. ['Made in Heaven': treinta años del disco de Queen, Los40](https://los40.com/2025/11/06/made-in-heaven-treinta-anos-del-disco-de-queen-que-convirtio-la-ausencia-en-eternidad/)
14. [Queen – Innuendo, Reviews, Album of The Year](https://www.albumoftheyear.org/album/7821-queen-innuendo.php)
15. [Queen: Innuendo Tracks & Reviews, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/innuendo-r15963)
16. [Innuendo by Queen, BestEverAlbums](https://www.besteveralbums.com/thechart.php?a=5184)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Albums and recorded releases › Studio albums › Progressive and art rock albums*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license