Five Live (George Michael and Queen EP) explained

Five Live
Type:EP
Artist:George Michael and Queen with Lisa Stansfield
Cover:Five Live (Cover).jpg
Released:19 April 1993
Genre:
Length:28:46
Label:
Producer:
Chronology:George Michael
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Five Live is an EP released in 1993, featuring five (in some countries, where it is considered to be a reduced-length long-playing album, six) tracks, performed by George Michael, Queen, and Lisa Stansfield. "Somebody to Love" and "These Are the Days of Our Lives" (both also available on video) were recorded at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, held on 20 April 1992, at Wembley Stadium.

All proceeds from the sale of the EP benefited the Mercury Phoenix Trust. Sales of the record were very strong throughout Europe, where it debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart, and several European countries, either considered as a single, or charting on album charts as an extended play or an LP. Chart success in the US was far less spectacular, but the EP still peaked at number 46 on the Billboard 200.

A shortened version of "Killer" and "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone", a live medley performed by Michael at Wembley Arena, was released as a further independent single, in some territories only. The singer also shot a music video for it, but did not personally appear in full face. The video was directed by Marcus Nispel.

While "These Are the Days of Our Lives" is played by the remaining members of Queen, the vocal is a duet between George Michael and Lisa Stansfield.

The sixth track – only featured on some versions of the release – is represented by a short performance by Queen, entitled "Dear Friends", originally sung by Freddie Mercury. Recorded in 1974 and originally appearing on the band's Sheer Heart Attack album, this constitutes the one studio recording on the record. It was not included in the UK vinyl of the EP.

Usually, countries where the six-track work is distributed consider it to be a short LP, whereas those where the five-track (hence its title) work is available generally tend to see it as an EP or even (if "Killer" / "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" was not marketed independently in those same territories) as a particularly long or content-rich single.

Track listing

  1. "Somebody to Love" (Freddie Mercury) – 5:17 (US #30)
    • Performed by Queen and George Michael
      • Recorded at Wembley Stadium on 20 April 1992
  2. "Killer" (Adam Tinley, Seal-Henry Samuel) – 5:57 (US #69)
    • Performed by George Michael
      • Recorded at Wembley Arena on 22 March 1991
  3. "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" (Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong) – 5:25 (US #69)
    • Performed by George Michael
      • Recorded at Wembley Arena on 22 March 1991
  4. "These Are the Days of Our Lives" (Queen) – 4:43
    • Performed by Queen, George Michael and Lisa Stansfield
      • Recorded at Wembley Stadium on 20 April 1992
  5. "Calling You" (Bob Telson) – 6:17
    • Performed by George Michael
      • Recorded at Wembley Arena on 22 March 1991
  6. "Dear Friends" (Brian May) – 1:07 (some releases only)

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1993)Peak
position
Danish Singles (IFPI)[1] 2
European Albums (Top 100)[2] 5
European Singles (Eurochart Hot 100)[3] 7
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[4] 39
French Albums (SNEP)[5] 12
Greek Singles (AFP)[6] 2
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[7] 35
Portuguese Albums (AFP)[8] 1
Spanish Albums (AFYVE)[9] 18
Spanish Singles (AFYVE)[10] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (1993)Position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[11] 19
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[12] 19
European Singles (Eurochart Hot 100)[13] 49
French Albums (SNEP)[14] 30
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[15] 30
UK Singles (OCC)[16] 11

Release history

CountryDateLabelFormatCatalogue
United KingdomParlophoneCDCDRS 6340[17]
7-inch vinylR 6340
CassetteTC-R 6340
Netherlands1993EMICD0777 7 89418 2 8

Notes and References

  1. Top 10 Sales in Europe. Music & Media. 10. 21. 26. 22 May 1993. 9 April 2020.
  2. Hits of the World. Billboard. 55. 23 June 1993. 16 October 2017.
  3. Hits of the World. Billboard. 80. 22 May 1993. 16 October 2017.
  4. Web site: Albumit 1993–05 toukokuu. https://web.archive.org/web/20171016230119/http://wiki.pomus.net/wiki/Albumit_1993-05_toukokuu. usurped. 16 October 2017. fi. Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. 16 October 2017.
  5. Web site: Les "Charts Runs" de chaque Album Classé. InfoDisc. fr. 16 October 2017.
  6. Top 10 Sales in Europe. Music & Media. 10. 24. 20. 12 June 1993. 30 October 2020.
  7. Web site: http://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/artist/88084/ranking/cd_album/. ja:ジョージ・マイケルのアルバム売り上げランキング. ja. Oricon. 16 October 2017. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20121023190051/http://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/artist/88084/ranking/cd_album/. 23 October 2012.
  8. February 20, 1993. Top 10 Sales in Europe. Music & Media. 20. May 1, 2021.
  9. Book: Fernando Salaverri. Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002. 1st. September 2005. Fundación Autor-SGAE. Spain. 84-8048-639-2.
  10. Hits of the World. Billboard. 43. 17 July 1993. 16 October 2017.
  11. Web site: Jahreshitparade Alben 1993. de. Hung Medien. 16 October 2017.
  12. Web site: Dutch charts jaaroverzichten 1993. nl. Hung Medien. 16 October 2017.
  13. 1993 Year-End Sales Charts. Music & Media. 10. 51/52. 15. 18 December 1993. 1 February 2020.
  14. Web site: Les Albums (CD) de 1993 par InfoDisc. fr. InfoDisc. 16 October 2017. unfit. https://web.archive.org/web/20150924035003/http://www.infodisc.fr/B-CD_1993.php. 24 September 2015.
  15. Web site: Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts. de. GfK Entertainment Charts. 16 October 2017.
  16. Top 100 Singles 1993. Music Week. 24. 15 January 1994.
  17. New Releases: Singles. Music Week. 29. 17 April 1993. 22 June 2021.