Now I'm Here

"Now I'm Here" is a song by the British rock band Queen. The sixth song on their third album, Sheer Heart Attack (1974), it was written by lead guitarist Brian May. The song is noted for its hard riff and vocal harmonies. In the UK, the song reached #11 on the charts when released as a single in 1975.[5] The song was a live favourite, performed at virtually every concert from late 1974 to 1986.[6]

"Now I'm Here"
Belgian picture sleeve
Single by Queen
from the album Sheer Heart Attack
B-side"Lily of the Valley"
Released
  • 17 January 1975 (UK)
  • May 1975 (Japan)
RecordedSeptember 1974
GenreHard rock[1][2][3][4] rock and roll
Length4:12
Label
Songwriter(s)Brian May
Producer(s)
Queen singles chronology
"Killer Queen" / "Flick of the Wrist"
(1974)		 "Now I'm Here"
(1975)		 "Bohemian Rhapsody"
(1975)
Music video
"Now I'm Here" on YouTube

Details

The song draws on May's fond experiences of the band's US tour earlier in 1974. Mott the Hoople, whom Queen was supporting, are referenced in the line: Down in the city, just Hoople and me.

It also appeared on the 1981 compilation album Greatest Hits, and the 1997 compilation album Queen Rocks.[7] In March 2005, Q magazine placed "Now I'm Here" at number 33 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks.[8]

Live performances

"Now I'm Here" was a fixture of Queen's set lists, being performed on every concert tour from 1974 until the band's final tour in 1986. It was first performed on the Sheer Heart Attack Tour in Manchester on 30 October 1974. The song's first performance would mark the first show where Queen employed the use of delay on Freddie Mercury's voice.

On the Sheer Heart Attack Tour, Mercury would be seen singing the line "Now I'm here" on one side of the stage amidst the darkness and dry ice, and a few bars later, at "Now I'm there," he would "appear" on the other side of the stage, an illusion created by an identically-dressed stagehand.[9]

The liner notes of Live Killers, Queen's first live album, say that the song was dropped from the setlist for some time, but had recently been reintroduced.[10] It's unclear when the song was dropped and for how long.

May continued to perform the song as a solo artist following Mercury's death in 1991. At The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in 1992, Brian May joined Def Leppard on stage to perform the song which went on to become a B-Side to Def Leppard's single "Tonight" and would make it also onto the deluxe edition of Def Leppard's Adrenalize album. And it was used as the opening song on the American, Asian and Australian legs of the Queen + Adam Lambert Tour 2014–2015.

Queen comments on the song

That was nice. That was a Brian May thing. We released it after "Killer Queen". And it's a total contrast, just a total contrast. It was just to show people we can still do rock 'n' roll - we haven't forgotten our rock 'n' roll roots. It's nice to do on stage. I enjoyed doing that on stage.

— Freddie Mercury

Charts
Chart (1975) Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[11] 29
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[12] 32
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[13] 29
Japan 87
UK Singles (OCC)[14] 11
West Germany (Official German Charts)[15] 25

Personnel

Live recordings

References
  1. "Now I'm Here :: Queen Songs". Queen Songs. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  2. Terich, Jeff; Karman, Chris (6 June 2012). "10 Essential Glam Rock Albums". Treblezine. Retrieved 10 January 2019. and hard rocking riff-fests ('Stone Cold Crazy,' 'Now I’m Here').
  3. "The 50 best Queen songs of all time". Classic Rock Magazine. 20 November 2018. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  4. Simpson, Dave (26 October 2018). "Queen's 50 UK singles – ranked!". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  5. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums. London: Guinness World Records Limited
  6. Queen on tour Queen Concerts. Retrieved 10 July 2011
  7. Queen Rocks, Vol. 1 Allmusic. Retrieved 10 July 2011
  8. Tracks 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks Ever! Q Magazine. Retrieved 10 July 2011
  9. Purvis, Georg (2018). Queen: Complete Works (revised and updated). US, CA: Titan Books. ISBN 9781789090499.
  10. "Live Killers - Queenpedia.com". Queenpedia. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  11. "Ultratop.be – Queen – Now I'm Here" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  12. "Nederlandse Top 40 – Queen" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  13. "Dutchcharts.nl – Queen – Now I'm Here" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  14. "Queen: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  15. "Offiziellecharts.de – Queen – Now I'm Here". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 2 August 2020. To see peak chart position, click "TITEL VON Queen"
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