Freddie's Dead

For the Nightmare on Elm Street film, see Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare.

"Freddie's Dead" is a song by Curtis Mayfield. It was the first single from his 1972 soundtrack album for the film Super Fly. The single was released before the Super Fly album, and before the film was in theaters. The song peaked at #4 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the R&B chart. Billboard ranked it as the No. 82 song for 1972.^[1]

"Freddie's Dead (Theme From Superfly)"
Single by Curtis Mayfield
from the album Super Fly
B-side	"Underground"
Released	July 1972
Recorded	1972
Genre	Funk soul
Length	3:17 (single edit) 5:27 (album version)
Label	Curtom/Buddah CR-1975
Songwriter(s)	Curtis Mayfield
Producer(s)	Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Mayfield singles chronology
"We Got to Have Peace" (1972) "Freddie's Dead (Theme From Superfly)" (1972) "Superfly" (1972)

The song laments the death of Fat Freddie, a character in the film who is run over by a car.

Like most of the music from the Super Fly album, "Freddie's Dead" appears in the film only in an instrumental arrangement, without any lyrics. The song's music is featured prominently in the film's opening sequence and also recurs at several other points. Because of this usage the song was subtitled "Theme from Superfly" on its single release (but not on the album). It is not to be confused with "Superfly", a different song and the second single released from the Super Fly album. The arrangement is driven by a strong bass line, wah wah guitars, and a melancholy string orchestration.

The song was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category Best Rhythm & Blues Song but lost to "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone".^[2] "Freddie's Dead" was ruled ineligible for the Academy Award for Best Original Song because its lyrics are not sung in the film Super Fly.^[3]

Chart history

Weekly charts Chart (1972) Peak position Canada RPM Top Singles[4] 14 U.S. Billboard Hot 100[5] 4 U.S. Billboard R&B 2 U.S. Cash Box Top 100[6] 6

Year-end charts Chart (1972) Rank U.S. Billboard Hot 100[7] 82

Covers and parodies

• The 1973 MFSB album features an instrumental cover of the song.
• "Freddie's Dead" was sampled in the 1973 break-in record, "Super Fly Meets Shaft" (US #31).
• The 1988 Fishbone album Truth and Soul features a cover of the song.
• Master P recorded "Kenny's Dead", a parody of Mayfield's song for the television show South Park, featuring the character Kenny McCormick, for Chef Aid: The South Park Album.^[8]

See also

• 1972 in music