Queen's former manager Norman Sheffield has claimed that the band's 1975 track 'Death On Two Legs' was a piece of 'nasty hate mail' directed at him by frontman Freddie Mercury. The song appears on the album 'A Night at the Opera', which marked the band's breakthrough and included the iconic 'Bohemian Rhapsody'.
In his autobiography 'Life On Two Legs: Set The Record Straight', Sheffield wrote: 'It was some kind of nasty hate mail from Freddie to me.' The lyrics include lines such as 'You suck my blood like a leech' and 'Do you feel like suicide?'. Sheffield sued Queen and EMI for defamation after hearing the song, securing an out-of-court settlement.
Sheffield's firm Trident Audio Productions had signed Queen in 1972 and secured their EMI recording contract in 1973. However, relations soured as Mercury grew frustrated with the delay in receiving royalties. Sheffield recalled Mercury demanding a grand piano and banging his fist on the desk when refused. 'The fact the band owed Trident close to £200,000 didn't seem to register with Freddie,' Sheffield said.
By August 1975, Queen had extricated themselves from their Trident contract with the help of lawyer Jim Beach. Sheffield heard 'Death On Two Legs' later that year and recognised the attack. Despite the success of 'Bohemian Rhapsody', which became the 1975 Christmas number one, Sheffield described it as a 'bittersweet moment'.
Reflecting on the breakdown, Sheffield said: 'We should have talked more. And I should have been more attentive to their feelings. By the time I realised things were badly wrong, it was too late.'
