Although there were plenty of incredible musicians and acts to come out of the 1970s, Queen was definitely one of the most unique.
The group was formed in 1970 in London, with an initial line-up of Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon.
Though they made a huge splash even at the time they were around, they’ve been back in discussion in pop culture because of Bohemian Rhapsody, a biopic about Mercury and the band in general.
Because of the film’s success, there’s been a renewed interest in the group’s music.
On the other hand, maybe Queen’s music was so unique and powerful that interest in it never went away.
For evidence of that, just consider this performance from a YouTuber named Marc Martel. Martel runs a YouTube channel called QueenExtravaganza, which is essentially a tribute channel to the music of Queen.
As anybody who’s a fan of Queen knows, one of the group’s most distinctive musical qualities is the special tone of Mercury’s voice. Though he could sing soulfully, he also had plenty of power behind his voice and a special trill in it that was difficult to imitate. He had a low range as well as a high range.
As it turns out, Martel has a disturbingly similar voice as Mercury—and he shows it off frequently.
Though his channel has plenty of different Queen covers, the most popular of them all is his “Somebody to Love” cover.
As the clip begins, Martel explains that the song is “an audition,” and paces around his room with the microphone in his hands as the backing music starts. Right as it begins, Martel immediately locks into
Mercury’s iconic voice—complete with all it’s melodic precision, raspiness, breathiness and power! If you closed your eyes while watching, you might think you were listening to the original thing… but shockingly enough, it’s just a cover.
While he nails the beginning, the song only gets progressively harder to sing as it goes on.
In the back half of the song, Mercury’s original vocals seem to go impossibly high—and yet Martel matches them perfectly!
When it gets to the guitar solo, Martel stays in character as Mercury, riffing and ad-libbing throughout while still singing. When it’s finally over, he sings one last gentle note and smiles at the camera.
Since the video was uploaded in 2011, it has since gotten more than 20 million views! After seeing Bohemian Rhapsody and then watching this, we’re almost wishing Martel had a role in the movie!
Still, fans of this performance should check out the rest of Martel’s channel for more incredible videos.
Although this cover in particular is something special, Martel’s other videos also show off other sides of his voice.
Queen’s song “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” hearkens back to an older, rockabilly genre of music… but as it turns out, Martel has that delivery mastered as well. Aside from his pitch perfect singing, he even has all the swagger to embody the character as well:
If you’re a fan of Queen, you owe it to yourself to check out Martel’s truly incredible performance! Watch the full thing in the clip below:
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