Scandal

When you dive into *Scandal*, you encounter a piece born from the need to express the media harassment surrounding Brian May and Freddie Mercury in the late 1980s. The lyrics, written by May, focus on the pressure from the press, speculations about Mercury's health —who had been diagnosed with HIV in 1987— and May's divorce from his first wife, Chrissie Mullen, and his relationship with actress Anita Dobson. It's a direct reflection of a very intense personal and public moment for both. What's interesting is how these experiences were translated into music: both May's keyboard and guitar parts, as well as Mercury's vocals, were recorded in a single take. Producer David Richards also contributed by playing the synthesized bass.

This track was released as the fourth single from the album *The Miracle* in 1989. While it didn't reach the top spots in the UK, peaking at number 25, it did have a release in the United States, although it didn't manage to chart. The recording of the album *The Miracle* began in January 1988 and extended for a full year, a period marked by May's personal problems and Mercury's diagnosis. The song, with its 4:43 runtime, is sometimes described as electro-rock. The music video for *Scandal* was filmed at Pinewood Studios on September 27, 1989, featuring the band on a stage that simulated a newspaper. Years later, in video commentaries, both Roger Taylor and May himself expressed that it wasn't one of their favorite songs or videos, with Taylor even describing it as one of the most boring they had made. As the B-side to this single, an early version of the song *My Life Has Been Saved* was included, which would later be reworked for the album *Made in Heaven*.