An unreleased Queen Christmas song that “no one has ever heard” will soon be released, according to guitarist Brian May.
The song, titled ‘Not For Sale (Polar Bear)’ was recorded in 1974 during the making of the band’s second album ‘Queen II’, but it didn’t make the final cut.
Five decades on, it’s now been unearthed from the archives and received its first radio play on Planet Rock today (December 22). It will also appear on the reissue of Queen II due out in 2026.
“People might possibly have heard a bootleg version of ‘Not for Sale (Polar Bear)’ by Smile, it’s a song that goes back a very long way, but to my knowledge no one has ever heard this version.”
He continued, “It’s a work in progress and will appear on the forthcoming rebuild of the Queen II album – coming next year – but I’m sneaking this into my Planet Rock special because I’m fascinated to know what people think about it. I hope people have a wonderful Christmas and a great New Year!”
In other news, earlier this month May gifted Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi with a left-handed replica of his classic Red Special guitar.
The original Red Special was assembled from scratch in the early 1960s by May with his father Harold, as he was unable to afford a major brand. Built with mahogany from an old fireplace mantle and an oak fingerboard with mother-of-pearl buttons, it remained May’s primary guitar on stage throughout Queen’s success in the ‘70s and ‘80s and became synonymous with the band’s sound.
May’s wife Anita Dobson implied that despite Queen working on new music with Adam Lambert, it was unlikely that they would resume full-scale touring. “They will do little bits and bobs, but they won’t do those big tours,” she said.
May suffered a minor stroke last year, which he said came on “all of a sudden, out of the blue”. He said it left him without any control over one of his arms and described it as “a little scary”.