Freddie Mercury Vocal Range: F#2–G5 and Songs You Can Sing
Freddie Mercury's lowest and highest notes on a keyboard, where they came from, and Freddie Mercury songs that work at karaoke.
- Lowest
- F#2
- Highest
- G5
- Span
- 3 octaves
Freddie Mercury's vocal range
Freddie Mercury sings from F#2 up to G5, a span of 37 semitones, or about 3 octaves. Irish News (Press Association) describes Freddie Mercury as a baritone voice, a type that typically covers A2 to A4.
About those notes: This is the range a 2016 scientific study measured from his isolated studio vocal tracks: 37 semitones. The researchers didn't find reliable evidence for notes above G5, and couldn't confirm the popular "four octaves" claim. They called him a baritone from his speaking voice, who sang as a tenor.
Where sources disagree: Classic FM repeats the four-octave claim without giving notes, and the 2014 Concert Hotels chart (built from fan data) lists F2 to E6. We use the peer-reviewed study's F#2 to G5, which BBC Science Focus also reports.
What Freddie Mercury's voice is like
Freddie Mercury's voice is one of the few in rock that scientists have actually measured, in a 2016 study of his recordings and interviews. The study found his vibrato was unusually fast and a little irregular, at about seven pulses a second, which is part of why his sustained notes sound so alive. His speaking voice sat low, in typical baritone territory, so the researchers concluded he was probably a baritone who sang as a tenor with exceptional control. They also think his famous growl came from subharmonics, with folds above the vocal cords vibrating along with them. The range they could verify is about three octaves, normal for a healthy adult, which shows how much of his sound came from control and tone rather than extremes.
Freddie Mercury songs to sing at karaoke
These are the Freddie Mercury songs from our karaoke guides, with the range of the vocal line and how hard they are on our difficulty scale. Tap a song for why it works in a bar.
| Song | Year | Range | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bohemian Rhapsody Queen | 1975 | Not sourced | Hard |
| We Are the Champions Queen | 1977 | G3–C5 | Medium |
| Under Pressure Queen & David Bowie | 1981 | Not sourced | Medium |
A song's range is the stretch of notes its melody covers, which is usually much smaller than Freddie Mercury's full range. If a song sits a little high or low for you, ask the KJ to change the key, or try it in the key changer first.
How does your voice compare?
Take the free vocal range test: sing low to high into your mic and it finds your lowest and highest notes in about a minute. Come back here and the keyboard above shows your range next to Freddie Mercury's, with how many semitones you share. The test also lists songs that fit your voice, so you're not guessing at the karaoke book.
Sources
Every range on this page comes from a source we opened. Fan range sites back up press and books here, never replace them.
- Herbst et al., Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology (2016): Peer-reviewed study giving his singing range as 37 semitones, F#2 (about 92 Hz) to G5 (about 784 Hz).
- BBC Science Focus: Reports the study's F#2 to G5, about three octaves.
- Irish News (Press Association): The four-octave claim couldn't be substantiated; probably a baritone who sang as a tenor (18 Apr 2016).
- NME: Reports the study's baritone finding (19 Apr 2016). No notes.
- Classic FM: Repeats the four-octave figure, without notes (16 May 2022).