The Great Pretender


"The Great Pretender" is a popular song recorded by The Platters, with Tony Williams on lead vocals, and released as a single on November 3, 1955. The words and music were written by Buck Ram, the Platters' manager and producer who was a successful songwriter before moving into producing and management. The song reached the UK charts peaking at No. 5.

Platters' version

reports that he wrote the song in about 20 minutes in the washroom of the Flamingo Hotel in order to have a follow up to the success of "Only You ". Stan Freberg parodied this version.
In 2004, the song was voted 360th greatest song of all time by Rolling Stone. Plas Johnson played tenor saxophone.

Freddie Mercury's version

The song was repopularized in 1987 by Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of the rock band Queen. Mercury's version reached No. 4 in the UK Singles Chart. In one of his last videotaped interviews in spring of 1987, Mercury explained that the song was particularly fitting for the way he saw his career and being on stage.
Mercury's music video for the song featured him parodying himself in many of his Queen guises through video medium over the years, including visual re-takes of "Radio Ga Ga", "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", "It's a Hard Life", "I Want to Break Free", "Bohemian Rhapsody", "One Vision", and "I Was Born to Love You". It was directed by David Mallet in February 1987, and also featured fellow Queen member Roger Taylor and actor Peter Straker in drag. The video was also notable for Mercury having shaved off his trademark moustache, which he had sported for much of the 1980s.
Wit Studio's original anime TV series "Great Pretender" will be using this version as its ending theme.

Jimmy Parkinson's version

The song was covered in the UK by Australian vocalist Jimmy Parkinson. It entered the Top 20 on March 3, 1956, six months ahead of the Platters' version; Parkinson's version peaked at No. 9 and remained in the Top 20 for ten weeks.