Barcelona (Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé song) peaking at number two in the UK, the Netherlands and New Zealand. In 2004, BBC Radio 2 listed Barcelona at number 41 in its "Sold On Song Top 100". Mercury had been a long-time fan of opera, especially favouring Montserrat Caballé. In 1986, he mentioned on Spanish television that he would be glad to see her in person. They had a friendly initial meeting in Barcelona in February 1987. Later, when the city had been chosen for the 1992 Summer Olympics, Caballé, a native of the city, was asked to help with producing a song for the games. She summoned
Freddie Mercury when I come back, next time”. However, he never made it back into the studio, so May later recorded the final verse of the song. A statue in Montreux, Switzerland, by sculptor Irena Sedlecká, was erected as a tribute to Mercury. It stands almost 10 feet (3 metres) high overlooking Lake Geneva and was unveiled on 25 November 1996 by Mercury's father and Montserrat Caballé, with bandmates Brian May and Roger Taylor also in attendance. Beginning in 2003 fans from around the world have gathered in Switzerland annually to pay tribute to the singer as part of the "Freddie Mercury