Freddie Mercury sings Little Richard’s Tutti Frutti in rare Queen live footage

This week’s episode of Queen the Greatest Live continues a look back at the band’s live covers.

Last time around rare footage from the 1986 Magic Tour at Wembley Stadium unveiled Freddie Mercury and the gang performing Elvis Presley’s (You’re So Square) Baby I Don’t Care.

This was part of a medley with Ricky Nelson’s Hello Mary Lou and Little Richard’s Tutti Frutti.

And now the footage of the latter has been released for fans to enjoy in the video below.

Roger Taylor said last week of Little Richard’s Tutti Frutti: “It’s kind of telling people this is why we love rock and roll, because these songs really influenced us. It’s nice to do those. It keeps our interest up and kind of broadens the show a bit.”

Meanwhile, Sir Brian May told Total Guitar earlier this year that Tutti Frutti was a fitting choice for Queen as a band “who cut their teeth on the R&B trailblazer.”

The 76-year-old said: “When I first heard Little Richard, it was a moment of shock, but there was also the joy of realising that people could actually sing that way – they could scream their emotions.”

A caption on the video reads: “Starting the song half-hidden in moody blue lighting, with Freddie supplying finger clicks and falsettos, it briefly seems the band have taken a mellow acoustic approach. Then this cover version explodes into a rocket-fuelled rhythm and blues masterclass, with Roger laying down his tambourine for thunderous drum fills, while Brian slings the Red Special for a ferocious solo. Watch closely, too, for the moment when Freddie mimes a golf swing with his sawn-off mic stand.

“The 72,000-strong Wembley crowd’s response says it all, with the entire stadium shouting back Tutti Frutti’s gobbledygook-genius payoff: ‘A-wop-bop-a-loo-bop, a-lop-bam-boom…!’