David Richards Interview in Full: Working with Queen, David Bowie and the last recordings of Freddie

In the week that the Town of Montreux in Switzerland honoured him with a statue, here, for the first time in full is Dave Richards' candid radio interview from 2006. For the first time David debunks myths about the final Queen recordings and gives a very personal account of Freddie Mercury's illness and the toll it took on him. David Richards was an Englishman who found an adopted home in Switzerland where he worked in Mountain Studios, based in the Casino building in Montreux. He was an integral part of the Montreux Jazz Festival and could often be seen scooting around the lakefront on his bicycle. This rare and candid interview with Stuart Leathem was recorded on the occasion of the Freddie Mercury 60th Birthday Celebrations in September 2006. David passed away in December 2013 and this interview stands as his most personal and intimate account of his work with Queen.

[Xilef Regnu]

I am touched beyond words by this interview. How lovely to be so close to one so dear......Freddie Mercury.
Thank you Mr. Richards. Hope you and he are having wonderful chats.

[Michelle Denney]

Never ever can anyone come close to the greatness of Our beautiful Freddie.
David give him a kiss from me. Happy Heavenly birthday Freddie . The world loves you .❤❤and we love you too Dave

[Josephine Monahan]

Thank you Stuart for this....I remember seeing an interview with Dave Richards ....he was talking about how wonderful Freddie was....and he looked like he might burst into tears at the memories....what a sweet wonderful gentle soul he was.....are Dave and Freddie having a fine time together?.....That would be such fun ⭐️🌟💫✨❤

[Stuart Leathem]

You are most welcome. Thank you for your kind words. Special people who created special music ❤

[Juan Manuel Alemán Fernández]

We miss Freddie and David. They were genius. Both of them. David's father played drums with the Ted Heath Big Band! Waoooooooo!! That was the real inception of everything David did!! Great!!

[Jo Dawson]

Oh lovely Dave Richards hope he and Freddie are having a laugh together.

[Mark Brydon Classic Rock Drum Covers]

David was my favourite Queen producer and engineer ever best man for the job!!

[Diane Courtney]

Well I’m all emotional now.

[Stuart Leathem]

Dave was a very special soul. I miss him dearly ❤

[Dant Hill]

What was david's cause of death?

[Synthetic Snake]

The family wished to keep that private

[The Dark Defender]

Sorry, but the band all knew about Freddie's condition in 1988/89. I'm rather surprised that David Richards said that none of them knew how bad Freddie was, when talking about those last Recordings in the Spring of 1991. It just doesn't make sense.

[tribal spaceman]

Recording date ?

[Stuart Leathem]

Sunday 3 September 2006

[Francisco Vasco]

Extraordinary interview