Princes of the Universe

"Princes of the Universe"
Australian single picture sleeve
Single by Queen
from the album A Kind of Magic
B-side	"A Dozen Red Roses for My Darling" (US) "Who Wants to Live Forever" (Japan) "Gimme the Prize (Kurgan's Theme)" (Australia) "Was It All Worth It" (2000 Dutch CD single)
Released	12 March 1986 (1986-03-12) (US)[1] 6 October 1986 (Japan)
Recorded	1985–1986
Genre	Hard rock[2] heavy metal[3]
Length	3:32
Label	Capitol (US) EMI (Japan)
Songwriter(s)	Freddie Mercury
Producer(s)	Queen Reinhold Mack
Queen singles chronology
"A Kind of Magic" (1986) "Princes of the Universe" (1986) "One Year of Love" (1986)
Music video
"Princes of the Universe" on YouTube

"Princes of the Universe" is a song written by Freddie Mercury and performed by the British rock band Queen, originally released as a single in the United States on March 12, 1986, via Capitol Records. The song was written for the film Highlander, and released on the album A Kind of Magic, which also featured other selections from the Highlander song score on June 2, 1986.^[4] In 1999 it was included in Queen's compilation album Greatest Hits III.^[5]

In terms of musical style, the song is notable for being one of the most hard-edged tracks performed by the band, featuring a bombastic sound reminiscent of contemporary hard rock and heavy metal and vocals by Mercury akin to opera. A music video for the song, which featured Mercury briefly re-enacting the film's sword-fighting scene with the titular character, achieved some notoriety.^[6][7]