Three duets recorded by two late musical giants will finally be released this year.  In 1983, Michael Jackson recorded three songs with Queen singer Freddie Mercury at Jackson’s home studio. They planned to work on a larger project, but it never materialized due to the singers’ conflicting schedules.

“They were great songs, but the problem was time, as we were both very busy at that period,” Mercury said in Mercury: An Intimate Biography of Freddie Mercury.

Apparently, time wasn’t the only issue; according to Queen’s manager, Jim “Miami” Beach, the meeting of the duo was a bit jarring. “Mercury rang me and said, ‘Miami, dear, can you get over here? You’ve got to get me out of here; I’m recording with a llama,’” Beach recalled.

The three songs, “There Must Be More to Life Than This,” “State of Shock” and “Victory,” weren’t cleared for release until 2011. Queen guitarist Brian May said that the songs will be released this fall and called them “exciting, challenging, emotionally taxing. But cool.”