“Nobody should be ashamed”: William Shatner’s favourite song of all time
Anyone who has listened to the album William Shatner Has Been would agree that the former Star Trek icon knows a thing or two about music. His very own masterpiece, ‘That’s Me Trying’ remains one of the most confounding songs ever written, with his paradoxically deadpan yet emotive delivery making the task of determining whether the lyrics are serious beyond even the great minds that cracked the enigma code.
It was 2004, and he had finally decided to tackle the fabled tricky second record. He’d been mulling over his sophomore effort for 36 years—pondering how best to follow up 1968’s The Transformed Man, a record described by many as the album that Sgt. Peppers could have been. Has Been was a multifaceted and positively unfathomable representation of the enigmatic maestro himself.
His own musical tastes are not shy of complexity either. He threw all of his inspirations into the record, often without care. He has, in the past, expressed a love for Pink Floyd’s The Wall, he has also cited an admiration for the “intricacies in the music” on The Beatles’ White Album, and covered classics like Bob Dylan’s ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’ and David Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’. However, when it comes to what he truly loves about the art form is simply kicking back with some rock.
So, who are William Shatner’s favourite band?
His own ventures in music allowed him to appreciate this fully, much in the same way that his fictional journeys in space elevated his eventual euphoria when he was blasted into the cosmos with billionaire book salesman Jeff Bezos at the age of 90 back in 2021. Yes, in his always slightly off-kilter opinion, he didn’t realise just how much he loved Queen until he covered ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ in 2011.
“I did a recording of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and I had to listen to Freddie Mercury and Queen a lot to hear how it was done,” Shatner told the Guardian, “this was years after they were gone. Freddie had such a superb voice. If you’re asking me who is my favourite singer I’d say Freddie Mercury.”
Then, in a manner that makes it seem as though he didn’t give the question due forethought, he added: “Who is my favourite band? Queen. Favourite song? ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’.” This surely makes Queen, in his esteemed opinion, the greatest act in the history of art itself. After all, they’re not only his favourite band, but architects of his favourite song, too, and, in Freddie Mercury, they have a personal hero for the star. Not even Queen like Queen that much.
However, he seemed to temper his response by suggesting that he feels he has to defend them somewhat. “Nobody should be ashamed of the music they like, so nobody should be shamed,” Shatner curiously added. “You are who you are and should be proud of it. Unless you want to eat somebody’s heart. Maybe you shouldn’t do that.” Never have truer words been spoken.
With the actor sadly claiming that he doesn’t have “long to live” a while back and that his “time is limited”, he has vowed to fill his remaining days with little indulgences like relaxing with some glam rock or blasting into the stratosphere—living life to the fullest.
He has also decreed, that when his time comes, he will go out with love. As he told Variety, once again, in a typically curious fashion: ”Ever put a dog down? When I have to put a dog down, and I’m at the vet, I cup my dog’s head and say, ‘I’m with you baby, I’m with you.’ And the injection goes in, and the dog looks at me with love, and that’s it. You don’t know they’re dead.”
Hopefully, before then we get to hear more Queen-inspired classics by the man himself. Or at least an answer to whether ‘That’s Me Trying’ was serious or not.
