Montserrat Caballé the soprano that sang with Freddie Mercury dies at 85

Considered one of the best sopranos of all time, the Spanish Montserrat Caballé died on Saturday at the age of 85. She had been hospitalized at the San Pau Hospital in Barcelona since mid-September due to a vesicle problem.

Her career took off in 1965, when she starred in Donzetti’s Lucrezia Borgia at New York’s Carnergie Hall. Another highlight of his career was the performance, alongside Freddie Mercury on the hit released in 1987 “How Can I Go On”. After Mercury’s death, the song was the theme of the opening of the 1992 Olympic Games.

See the performance below:

The song

The song is from the album “Barcelona”, the second solo album recorded by Freddie Mercury, that had the operatic soprano Montserrat Caballé. Released in 1988. It is the second and final solo album recorded by Mercury.

After Barcelona was selected to host the 1992 Summer Olympics, Mercury was approached to write a song as a theme for the forthcoming games. The idea was to create a duet with Caballé, as she was from the city. He had been a long-standing admirer of her and she in turn grew to respect his talents very highly. They decided to work on an album together, with Mercury and Mike Moran taking the creative lead as songwriters. Mercury and Moran made and sent her tapes of the music with Mercury singing in falsetto as a guide vocal for Montserrat’s parts. As they rarely had an opening in their schedule to meet, her parts were recorded at another location.

See more News