1987. The Hippies were all grown up. Their kids now wore the tie dye shirts with the bears and skulls. The Dead were an industry by this point, albeit one that showed signs of great decay. Their last studio album, seven years earlier, was unimaginably tepid. In 1986, forty-four year old Jerry Garcia fell into a medically induced coma, caused by his worsening addiction. However, a year later, the band released “In the Dark,” their penultimate studio album. It was the beginning of the final chapter of a book that would end in 1992, but what a dramatic and unlikely final chapter it was.

In the 1980s Queen frayed. Three of the four members released solo albums. Their chart positions, especially in America, had taken a precipitous downturn. For much of the decade, the band sounded like four polite gentlemen, contributing doll parts to albums which were sewn together by synthesizers. However, 1989s “The Miracle” was supposed to be different. It was the first album wherein all songs were credited simply to Queen, rather than to the individual players. What was not advertised in 1989, though widely rumored, was Freddie Mercury’s declining health. In retrospect, “The Miracle” is surprisingly enduring and entirely consumed with the optimism, loneliness and love that would define the lead singer’s final years.