The Angela Hench and Gregory Markel Freddie Mercury & Montserrat Caballé “Barcelona” tribute has been nominated for a 2022 Grammy in the “World Music” category.
The “Barcelona” project was a heartfelt tribute to the legendary Queen singer Freddie Mercury and opera diva Montserrat Caballé, produced by Dick Williams, mixed by Grammy-winning engineer John Jaszcz, and mastered by Erwin Maas at eMastering.
The accompanying music video with currently just past 100,000 YouTube views and includes a hidden “Easter egg” homage to the original Mercury/Caballé “Barcelona” video, was directed by Robert Stuvland & Amy Parks and produced by Leah Etinger and Veronica Warner, and was shot over the 2022 summer period at Markel’s “All In Your Head Studios” in Malibu, CA.
The song “Barcelona” was originally written by Freddie Mercury and Mike Moran, and recorded and released by Mercury and Montserrat Caballé in October 1987 as part of an effort that would become an entire album called “Barcelona.” Queen have also released “Barcelona” in their “Greatest Hits III” package.
The song has been described as a rare textbook example of a combination of pop and opera singing which accentuated their differences.
The Hench/Markel version of “Barcelona” is truly an international collaboration as it was conceived by former EMI VP and artist manager Dick Williams. with instrumental tracks and the Angela Hench vocal recorded in Nashville, Tennesee, Markel’s vocal recorded at “All in Your Head Studios” in Malibu, CA, then mixed by 7-time Grammy winner John Jaszcz in Hawaii, and finally masterd by Erwin Maas at eMastering in the Netherlands.
