5 Seconds of Summer go full ‘Killer Queen’ for charity

Multi-platinum Sydney band 5 Seconds Of Summer have released a cover of Queen’s 1974 hit, ‘Killer Queen’ for charity.

It was one of three covers done for the AIDS research charity Mercury Phoenix Trust set up by Queen for their late frontman Freddie Mercury.

The 5SOS track is released to coincide with the release this week of the Mercury movie, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’.

One of the others was Shawn Mendes’ ‘Under Pressure’, which Queen originally recorded with David Bowie.

5SOS said: “Queen have been such a massive influence on us as a band.

“Their unique harmonies, the fluidity to their songwriting and how they each used their own musicality to back each other up have always inspired us.

“We chose to cover ‘Killer Queen’ because we kept hearing it while writing our third album, Youngblood and were so enamoured by the production and their early realisation of the minimalist approach to the track.

“For us, the exploration of individual vocalists in a band is incredibly important and Queen helped us to see the future of how we want to sing, in addition to how we play our instruments.

“As a pioneer of individuality, Freddie taught us what it means to embrace the idea of truly being yourself and that’s a part of Queen that lives on in their music now, more than ever.”