I Want to Break Free

The music video was a parody of the British soap opera Coronation Street with the band members dressed in drag as mildly similar characters found in the soap at the time(at the beginning verse and the "life still goes on..." verse). The video also depicted the band in appeared to be a dark cave in their normal look(the second verse and end of the video) and it also features a ballet piece with the Royal Ballet for which Freddie Mercury shaved off his trademark moustache to portray Nijinsky. The video was banned by MTV but uplifted in 1991 when VH1 aired it on a Queen special episode of My Generation. The song reached the apex of its popularity when it was used in the campaign for the new sugar-free Coca-Cola C2.

Related Topics:
Coronation Street - Coca-Cola C2

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When Queen performed it live at the Rock in Rio concert, Mercury appeared in drag, earning him a chorus of boos from the audience—Coronation Street was unknown and the song had become an anthem of liberation, leading the audience to think Mercury was mocking the song.

Related Topics:
Rock in Rio - Anthem

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At the 1992 Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, the song was performed by Lisa Stansfield, who entered the Wembley stage wearing hair curlers and pushing a vacuum cleaner in a direct reference and tribute to the song's video.

Related Topics:
1992 - Lisa Stansfield - Wembley - Vacuum cleaner

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