QUEENZone.com has issued the following report, courtesy of ContactMusic.com:

A series of recordings MICHAEL JACKSON made with FREDDIE MERCURY have remained undiscovered for more than 20 years, according to the QUEEN frontman's bandmate Brian May.

The King Of Pop, who passed away on Thursday (June 25th, 2009), worked with the late Mercury in the 1980s on a number of tracks.

And the songs, recorded at Jackson's home, have still never been heard by the public.

May writes on his website, “He used to come and see us when we were on tour in the States. He and Freddie became close friends, close enough to record a couple of tracks together at Michael’s house, tracks which have never seen the light of day.”

The musician also paid a touching tribute to Jackson, who died of a cardiac arrest.

He adds, "I think the world is a more colourful place thanks to Michael's work... he was a truly wonderful performer at his peak. I think he qualifies as a great artist; he devoted his whole body and soul to his art.

"I only hope he passed away in happiness, in great hopes and anticipation of his glorious comeback tour. RIP Michael."

And he credits Jackson's influence for one of Queen's biggest hits - the Thriller legend urged the group to release 'Another One Bites The Dust', which hit the top of the U.S. charts in 1980.

May says, “It was Michael who heard Another One Bites The Dust when he came to see us on The Game tour and told us we were mad if we didn’t release it as a single.”

Ed: The tracks were going to be included in the Freddie Mercury boxset, but at the time Jackson didn't want them released. One of the tracks recorded was 'There Must Be More To Life Than This', with Jackson on vocals. I can't remember what the other tracks were off-hand.

But - they aren't quite "never-heard" by the public. They are around, and have even recently surfaced (in a particular version) on YouTube.

In related news, in 1984 Freddie Mercury talked about how he met Michael Jackson and his opinions about him. See the clip below.