In addition to the two solo albums, Mercury released several singles, including his own version of the hit The Great Pretender by The Platters, which debuted at No. 5 in the UK in 1987. In September 2006 a compilation album featuring Mercury’s solo work was released in the UK in honour of what would have been his 60th birthday. The album debuted in the top 10 of the UK Album Charts.
In 1981–1983 Mercury recorded several tracks with Michael Jackson, including a demo of “State of Shock,” “Victory” and “There Must Be More to Life Than This.” None of these collaborations were officially released, although bootleg recordings exist. Jackson went on to record the single “State of Shock” with Mick Jagger for The Jacksons’ albumVictory.Mercury included the solo version of “There Must Be More To Life Than This” on his Mr. Bad Guy album. In November 2011, Brian May announced that a series of duets that Mercury recorded with Jackson were to be released in 2012.He later updated the release date to autumn of 2013 and then to 2014.