(The Six O'Clock Triple Shot is a daily feature of three songs that share a common theme, heard weeknights on 94.9 WMMQ)

MSU Basketball knocked our Monday Six O'Clock Triple Shot to the shelf. So, tonight, we look back on a sad day in Rock 'n' Roll history. 23 years ago Monday, Queen frontman Freddie Mercury passed away from bronchopneumonia and complications related to AIDS. It was less than 24 hours after Mercury finally shared his ailment with the public and fans, and on the American Thanksgiving holiday. There had been years of speculation, given the fact that Queen ceased to tour after the A Kind Of Magic tour 1986. The usually busy band, pumping out 20 studio albums and three live sets in 20 years, slowed their roll as well, releasing The Miracle in 1989, and, what seemingly became Freddie Mercury's swan song, Innuendo in 1991, just weeks before his passing. It was not long after Mercury's death that the band saw their 1975 classic "Bohemian Rhapsody" make another surge on the Billboard Hot 100. After an appearance on the silver screen blockbuster "Wayne's World", the song reached number 2 on the chart in 1992. It was also in 1992 when the surviving Queen members, and some of Mercury's closest friends established the Mercury Phoenix Trust, in effort to raise awareness about AIDS, and to help fund research to beat the disease. The trust's first effort was a star-studded tribute concert on April 20, 1992 at London's Wembley Stadium. The band as of late have been touring with Adam Lambert, selling out venues worldwide. Queen has also recently released a live set titled Live at The Rainbow '74. To boot, a new compilation set was released last month called Queen Forever, complete with never before heard tracks from Mercury, including duets with Michael Jackson.

Tonight, we hear three Queen classics that epitomize the greatness that was Freddie Mercury. We'll sample some of that early live stuff from the new Live at the Rainbow '74 set with "Keep Yourself Alive", follow it up with the quasi-title track to their 1980 LP The Game with "Play The Game", and round it out with lyrics that reflect Freddie's life's observations of a society unable to co-exist, "Innuendo". It's tonight's Six O'Clock Triple Shot on 94.9 WMMQ!

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