QUEEN & FREDDIE MERCURY

Queen are an English rock band. Formed in 1970 in London by Brian May, Roger Taylor, and Freddie Mercury from the remains of Smile, with John Deacon completing the lineup the following year. Britain's most successful band of the past three decades, the band became popular during the mid-to-late 1970s and still retain an extremely large international fan base.

Origin: London, England
Genre(s): Rock, Arena rock, Funk rock, Glam rock, Hard rock, Heavy metal,
Pop rock, Progressive rock, Psychedelic rock
Years active: 1970 – present

Website: www.queenonline.com

Queen are an English rock band formed in 1970 in London by guitarist Brian May, lead vocalist Freddie Mercury, and drummer Roger Taylor, with bass guitarist John Deacon joining the following year. Queen rose to prominence during the 1970s and are arguably Britain's most successful band of the past three decades.

The band is noted for their musical diversity, multi-layered arrangements, vocal harmonies, and incorporation of audience participation into their live performances. Their 1985 Live Aid performance was voted the best live rock performance of all time in an industry poll.

Queen had moderate success in the early 1970s, with the albums Queen and Queen II, but it was with the release of Sheer Heart Attack in 1974 and A Night at the Opera the following year that the band gained international success. Since 1975, eighteen of the band's albums have reached number one on numerous charts around the world. Since 1973, they have released fifteen studio albums, five live albums, and numerous compilation albums.

Following Mercury's death in 1991 and Deacon's retirement later in the decade, May and Taylor have performed infrequently under the Queen name. Since 2005, they have been collaborating with Paul Rodgers, under the moniker Queen + Paul Rodgers, which has led to Queen recording their first studio album in 13 years.

Brian May and Roger Taylor were playing in a semi-professional band called Smile with Tim Staffell. Freddie Mercury (then Freddie Bulsara) was Staffell's roommate at Ealing Arts College and followed Smile's music closely. As the singer in other bands, such as Ibex in 1969 and Sour Milk Sea in 1970, Mercury was eager to share his ideas so Smile could develop. Staffell left Smile to join another band, Humpy Bong, and Smile disbanded. Mercury persuaded May and Taylor to continue, however, changing the band's name from "Smile" to "Queen" in the process. The band had a number of bass players during this period who ultimately did not fit in with the band's dynamics. It was not until February 1971 that they found John Deacon and began to rehearse for the first album, Queen.

Queen originally started life as a band heavily influenced by many touchstones associated with progressive rock—most notably long compositions in varying time signatures, complex orchestration, and fantasy-themed lyrics. Their first two albums in particular show this tendency.
In 1973, Queen released their first album, a self-titled project. The album was received well by critics Gordon Fletcher of Rolling Stone said "their debut album is superb" and The Chicago Hearald calling it an "above average debut". However, it drew little mainstream attention, as the lead single "Keep Yourself Alive", a Brian May composition, sold poorly. The album was heavily influenced by the heavy metal and progressive rock of the day. Greg Prato of "allmusic" called it "one of the most underrated hard rock debuts of all time."

It wasn't until 1974 that the band gained any mainstream attention or commercial success, when the album Queen II was released. The album reached number 5 on the British album charts, while the Freddie Mercury-written lead single "Seven Seas of Rhye", reached number 10 in United Kingdom, giving the band its first hit. However sales in the United States was like its predecessor.
The band toured as support to Mott the Hoople in the United States during this period, and they began to gain notice for their energetic and hugely engaging stage shows.
Later that same year, the band recorded and released Sheer Heart Attack. Considered by many fans as the band's first true classic,[8] the album sold well in the United Kingdom and throughout Europe, and went gold in the United States, giving the band its first taste of true commercial success. The album experimented with a wide variety of different types of music; from British Music Hall to heavy metal ("Now I'm Here", "Brighton Rock", and "Stone Cold Crazy" - a song which Metallica would later cover and earn a Grammy for), ballads ("Lily Of The Valley" and "Dear Friends"), ragtime ("Bring Back That Leroy Brown"), and even Caribbean ("Misfire"). It was at this point that Queen started to move away from the progressive tendencies shown on their first two releases, into a more radio-friendly song-oriented vein.

The single "Killer Queen" was a British number 2 hit, and was also their first U.S. hit, reaching number 12 on the Billboard chart. It combined camp, vaudeville British music hall with Brian May's guitar virtuosity. The album's second single, "Now I'm Here", a more traditional hard rock composition, was a number 11 hit in Britain.

In 1975 A Night At The Opera was recorded and released. At the time, it was the most expensive album ever produced. The album featured the huge worldwide hit, "Bohemian Rhapsody". "Bohemian Rhapsody" was number one in the United Kingdom for nine weeks, and another five weeks in 1992 when it was re-released after the death of Mercury. It originally reached number 9 in the U.S, and number 2 when re-released in 1992 after its appearance in Wayne's World. The song is Britain's third best selling single of all time. The album also featured "You're My Best Friend", which peaked at 16 on the U.S. charts and went on to become a worldwide Top 10 hit.

The entire album featured incredible diversity in music styles and experimentation with stereo sound (for example, in "The Prophet's Song", an 8-minute epic, the middle section is simple phrases layered to create a full-choral sound). The album was a smash in Britain, and went three times platinum in the United States.

Also at this time Jim Beach had negotiate the band out of their Trident contract and the band were now left without a manager, they had a number of options one of which was Led Zeppelin's manager, Peter Grant, however he wanted the band to sign with Led Zeppelin's own production company, Swan Song Records, this was unacceptable to the band so they contacted John Reid, Elton John's manager.

By 1976, Queen was back in the studio, where it recorded what may have been mistakenly perceived as a companion album to A Night at the Opera. Entitled A Day At The Races, it again borrowed the name of a Marx Brothers' movie and its cover was similar to that of A Night at the Opera, a variation on the same Queen Crest. Musically, although the album was by both fans' and critics' standards a strong effort, it was unable to eclipse its predecessor and did not sell quite as well.

The major hit on the album was "Somebody to Love", a gospel-inspired song in which Mercury, May, and Taylor multi-tracked their voices to make a 100-voice gospel choir. The song went to number 13 on the U.S. singles chart and number 2 on the United Kingdom charts.

It was during this same year that Queen played one of their most famous gigs, a 1976 concert in Hyde Park, London. It set an attendance record, with 150,000 people confirmed to be in attendance. The actual number in attendance is thought to be closer to 180,000, and is usually stated as between 150,000 and 200,000. By comparison, the 2005 London Live 8 concert, which featured numerous of the world's highest drawing acts (including The Who, U2, Madonna, Coldplay, Elton John, Robbie Williams and a reunited Pink Floyd) drew about 150,000.

1977 saw the release of News Of The World, an album that was critically panned at the time but has gained recognition over time as being one of the stand-out hard rock albums of the late '70s, as well as being one of the albums most influential in creating stadium rock. This album had many songs that were tailor-made to be performed live, including "We Will Rock You" and the famous rock ballad "We Are The Champions", both of which reached number 4 in the U.S., and both of which would become enduring, international sports anthems.

Roger Taylor released his first solo effort this year in the form of a single. The A-side was a cover of a song by The Parliaments "I Wanna Testify" and the B-side was a song by Taylor called "Turn On The TV".

In 1978 the band released the Jazz album, including the hit singles "Fat Bottomed Girls" and "Bicycle Race", which were also released as a double-A-side single. Although successful, the album was targeted by critics for its collection of different styles, jazz not being one of them. Ironically, the well-known magazine Rolling Stone criticized it for being "dull", continuing to say "Queen hasn't the imagination to play jazz — Queen hasn't the imagination, for that matter, to play rock & roll". The album cover was inspired by a painting on the Berlin Wall, and none of the material can really be defined as jazz even to the casual listener. Important tracks of the album were "Dead on Time", "Don't Stop Me Now", "Let Me Entertain You", and "Mustapha", an Arabesque-sounding song by Mercury, combined with heavy rock guitar.

Fan response was lukewarm to Jazz and for the first time Queen's sales saw a bit of a dip. By this time, News of the World had gone quadruple platinum, while Jazz had merely gone platinum. All band members, especially Taylor, noted frustration and disappointment with the album, and as a result, took a break from the breakneck schedule of one or more albums a year, and focused during the year of 1979 totally on a new album to come out in 1980.

They did, however, release their very first live album. Entitled Live Killers, it went platinum twice in the U.S. They also released the very successful single, "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", a rockabilly song done in the style of Elvis Presley; the single made the top 10 in most countries and was the band's first number one single in the U.S.

Queen began the 1980s with the very successful album, The Game, which turned out to be their highest-selling effort (barring greatest hits collections).



The album featured the single "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", as well as the monster hit "Another One Bites the Dust", a track that was released in the summer of 1980. For years, it was rumored that Michael Jackson first suggested that it would make a great single. This was confirmed by May and Taylor on the radio show In the Studio with Redbeard which devoted an episode to the making of The Game.

The album stayed #1 for four weeks in the United States, and the album went four times platinum in that country. It was also the only song to ever top the Billboard rock, dance, and R&B charts simultaneously. The album also marked the first appearance of a synthesizer on a Queen album and included two popular ballads, "Play the Game" and "Save Me", the latter of which became a fan favourite and concert staple.

1980 also saw the release of the soundtrack Queen had recorded for Flash Gordon. The album sold poorly (although it reached No. 10 in the United Kingdom), but served as a showcase for the band in a different light.

1981 saw Queen become the first major rock band to play in South American stadiums. It broke the attendance world record for a single concert and venue, at the Morumbi Stadium in Săo Paulo, Brazil, where 131,000 people attended the first night, followed by 251,000 attended over 2 days. Including five shows in Argentina, Queen played to a total audience of 479,000 people on their South American tour. On October 9, 17 and 18, 1981, Queen performed in front of more than 150,000 at Monterrey (Estadio Universitario) and Puebla (Estadio Zaragoza), Mexico; and were the first major rock band to play for Mexican audiences.

Also in 1981, Queen collaborated with another artist for the first time, David Bowie, on the single "Under Pressure". The collaboration itself was a spontaneous affair, when Bowie happened to drop by the studio while Queen were recording. While the band was immediately pleased with the results, it wasn't until years later that Bowie began playing it during his concerts. Upon its release, the song was extremely successful, reaching #1 in Britain. The bass riff was later borrowed for Vanilla Ice's 1990 hit, "Ice Ice Baby", prompting a successful lawsuit over the use of the sample. At the time, Vanilla Ice claimed that the two bass lines were different when in fact, save for one note, they are identical[citation needed]. "Under Pressure" was recently re-recorded together by The Used and My Chemical Romance for the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.

Queen also released a widely successful compilation album (also its first), simply titled Greatest Hits, which showcased the group's rock highlights from 1974-1980. In this year, Taylor became the first member of the band to release his own solo album, entitled Fun In Space.

Inspired by the overwhelming international success of "Another One Bites The Dust", Queen decided that they should focus their next album on disco and funk; the result was the 1982 album Hot Space. Regarded by some die-hard fans as being one of the band's weakest efforts[citation needed], the album was especially disappointing to the hard-rock faithful who had followed Queen from its early years[citation needed], as only one of the eleven songs was particularly hard rock-oriented. Also, the band stopped touring North America, as their success there had waned, although they would perform on American television for the first and only time during the eighth season premiere of Saturday Night Live. Queen would also leave Elektra Records, their label in the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand, and sign to EMI/Capitol Records for all of the free world.

After working solidly for over ten years, either touring or recording new material, Queen decided that they would not perform any live shows in 1983. During this time, they recorded the album The Works, and several members of the band explored side projects and solo work which constantly led to rumors that the band was going to split, and which would persist throughout the rest of its career. Brian May released a mini-album entitled Star Fleet Project, on which he collaborated with Eddie Van Halen.



In 1984, Queen bridged the gap between hard rock and pop with the album The Works, which included the very successful singles "Radio Ga Ga", "I Want to Break Free" (a song later to be used both as an anthem of the democracy movement in Brazil and later in commercials for the Coca-Cola C2 soda), and the heavy, hard-rock live favourites "Hammer to Fall" and "Tear It Up". Despite these hit singles, the album failed to do well in the United States. "Radio Ga Ga" would be the band's last original Stateside Top 40 hit until 1989's "I Want It All", which reached #3 in the United States Mainstream Rock chart.

The music video for "I Want to Break Free" parodied Coronation Street, a British television soap opera, and was popular there, but as it showed the band in drag, was thought to work against them elsewhere, where viewers did not get the joke. Many claimed that the video hurt the band's sales in the United States, in subsequent years.

Late in 1984, Queen embarked on a set of dates in Bophuthatswana, South Africa at the arena at Sun City. Upon returning to England, they were the subject of outrage, having played there during the height of apartheid; in response, they maintained that they were just playing music for people who wanted to hear it, and stressed that the concerts were played before integrated audiences.

1985 started with two performances at the Rock in Rio festival. At 2 AM on January 12, Queen opened the festival playing in front of 325,000 people, breaking its previous world record. It also played on January 19 for a capacity-crowd of 325,000 fans to close the festival.

At Live Aid, held at Wembley on July 13, 1985, Queen's concert arena artistry reached its apex. In the eyes of critics and fans alike, the group stole the show at the worldwide extravaganza, performing some of their greatest hits and wowing audiences with their superb musicianship and showmanship.

Revitalized by the response to Live Aid and the resulting increase in record sales, Queen ended 1985 by releasing the single "One Vision", an up tempo guitar-based song credited, unusually for this period, to all four members of the band. It was used in the film Iron Eagle.
1985 also saw the release of Mercury's first solo album Mr. Bad Guy.

In early 1986 Queen recorded the album A Kind of Magic, containing several songs written for the Russell Mulcahy film Highlander of the same year, as well as a few inspired by (but not used in) the film. This album was very successful, producing a string of hits including the title track "A Kind of Magic", "Friends Will Be Friends", "Who Wants to Live Forever" and "Princes Of The Universe".

Later that year, Queen went on a sold-out final tour, known as The Magic Tour, in support of A Kind Of Magic, whose highlight was at Wembley Stadium in London and resulted in the live double album, Queen Live At Wembley Stadium, which for many fans and critics has become Queen's ultimate live document, released both on CD and as a live concert film on VHS and later DVD.

On this tour, the members of Queen performed for the last time together. They could not book Wembley for a third night because it was already booked, but they managed to get Knebworth Park. It sold out within 2 hours, and over 125,000 fans packed the park for what turned out to be Queen's final live performance. Ultimately, the Magic Tour was the biggest tour Queen had ever played. A total of more than 1 million people saw the show, with 400,000 for the United Kingdom alone, which was the record at the time.

After working in various solo projects during 1988 (including Mercury's collaboration with Montserrat Caballe, "Barcelona") the band released The Miracle in 1989.



The album continued the direction of A Kind of Magic with a polished pop-rock sound mixed with a few heavy numbers and spawned the European hits "I Want It All", "Breakthru", "The Invisible Man", "Scandal", and "The Miracle". Queen announced that there would be no tour for this album, with Mercury declaring that he was the sole reason. He stated that he simply wanted to break the typical cycle of album/tour. Speculation returned of a possible breakup of the band in the near future, or more ominously, that Mercury might be suffering from health problems.

The Miracle also began a change in direction of Queen's songwriting philosophy. Since the band's beginning, nearly all songs had been written by and credited to a single member, with each of the other members often adding minimal creative input, and instead helping the original writer to realize their vision for the song. Starting with The Miracle, the band's songwriting began to become more collaborative, and although many songs could be said to have been written largely by one member or another, they vowed to credit the final product only to Queen as a group.

Beginning in the late 1980s, rumours started spreading in the tabloid press and elsewhere that Freddie Mercury was suffering from AIDS. Although they turned out to be true, Mercury flatly denied these rumours. However, the band decided to keep making albums free of conflict and differences; starting with The Miracle and continuing with 1991's Innuendo. Although his health was deteriorating, Mercury was courageous in handling his contributions, working in a creative fervour. Highlights of Innuendo were the epic title track, the hard-rocking powerhouse "Headlong", the quirky, synthesizer-heavy, pop-styled "I'm Going Slightly Mad", and the reflective anthems "The Show Must Go On" and "These Are the Days of Our Lives".

On 23 November 1991, in a prepared statement made on his deathbed, Freddie Mercury finally acknowledged he had AIDS. Within 24 hours of the announcement, Mercury died at the age of 45. His funeral services were private, held in accordance with the Zoroastrian religious faith of his family.

On 20 April 1992, the public shared in the mourning of Mercury's passing at The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, held at London's Wembley Stadium in Mercury's honor. Musicians including Robert Plant, Annie Lennox, Guns N' Roses, Extreme, Roger Daltrey, Def Leppard, Elton John, George Michael, David Bowie, Metallica and Liza Minnelli, along with the three lasting members of Queen, performed many of Queen's major hits. It was an extremely successful concert that was viewed by tens of millions worldwide. The concert is in The Guinness Book of Records as "The largest rock star benefit concert". It raised Ł19 960 000 for AIDS charities.

Also on 1992, Queen's popularity increased once again in the United States after "Bohemian Rhapsody" was featured in the comedy film Wayne's World, helping the song reach #2 for five weeks in the United States charts.

Queen never actually disbanded, although its last album of original material (not including compilations) was released in 1995, titled Made in Heaven, put out four years after Freddie Mercury's death. It was constructed from Mercury's final recording sessions in 1991, plus material left over from their previous studio albums; in addition, re-worked material from Mercury's solo album Mr. Bad Guy and a track originally featured on the first album of Taylor's side-project, The Cross, were included. May and Taylor have often been involved in projects related to raising money for AIDS research and promoting its support. John Deacon's last involvement with the band was in 1997, when he recorded the track "No-One But You (Only The Good Die Young)" with the other two members. It was the last original song recorded by all three remaining members of Queen, and it was released as a bonus track on the Queen Rocks compilation album later that year.

Several Queen + projects were developed in the following years, a few of them mere remixes with no artistic involvement from the band. In 1999, a Greatest Hits III album was released. This album featured, among others, "Queen + Wyclef Jean" on a rap version of "Another One Bites The Dust", the live version of "Somebody to Love" by George Michael, and the live version of "The Show Must Go On", performed live in 1997 with Elton John.

Brian May and Roger Taylor performed together as Queen on several occasions (award ceremonies, charity concerts, and the like), sharing vocals with various guest singers. They also recorded several covers of Queen's hits (We Will Rock You, We Are The Champions) with new singers.

In 2003, four new songs were recorded by Queen for Nelson Mandela's 46664 campaign against AIDS. The studio versions of Invincible Hope (Queen + Nelson Mandela, feat. Treana Morris), 46664 - The Call, Say It's Not True, and Amandla (Anastacia, Dave Stewart and Queen) have not yet been released on album.

On April 11, 2006 Queen appeared on the American singing contest television show American Idol. Each of the contestants was required to sing a Queen song during that week of the competition. Songs which appeared on the show included "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Fat Bottomed Girls", "The Show Must Go On", "Who Wants to Live Forever", and "Innuendo". Brian May later criticized the show for editing specific scenes[citation needed], one which made the group's time with contestant Ace Young look negative, despite it being the opposite.

On May 25, 2006, Queen, Judas Priest, Def Leppard, and KISS were the inaugural inductees into the VH1 Rock Honors in Las Vegas. The ceremony aired on VH1 six days later. The Foo Fighters performed "Tie Your Mother Down" as a tribute to Queen, with May and Taylor joining the performance mid-way through. Later, Queen + Paul Rodgers played "The Show Must Go On", "We Will Rock You" (accompanied by Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins of the Foo Fighters on drums), and "We Are The Champions."

The Queen + Paul Rodgers collaboration began in late 2004 when Queen was inducted into the UK Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Guitarist Brian May had previously performed with Paul Rodgers, formerly of Bad Company and Free, The Firm and The Law on several occasions, including at the Royal Albert Hall. Roger Taylor, drummer of Queen, and Brian May have been active in the music industry since the death of Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury in 1991 and the retirement of bassist John Deacon in the late 1990s.

Paul Rodgers, Brian May and Roger Taylor are the principal members of the band, supplemented on tour by Queen's former touring keyboard player Spike Edney (who had also been a member of Roger Taylor's band The Cross and Brian May's line-up, where he supplied piano/keyboards and backing vocals) (and had indeed played live with Queen on the Magic Tour in 1986), rhythm guitarist Jamie Moses (formerly of The Pretenders, The Hollies and the Brian May Band), and bassist Danny Miranda (formerly of Blue Öyster Cult and the Las Vegas production of the We Will Rock You musical).

The group's first public performance was at a concert in South Africa in March 2005 in support of Nelson Mandela's 46664 AIDS awareness campaign. The tour began properly with a concert at the Brixton Academy venue in London, with tickets sold primarily to members of the official Queen fan club. An arena tour of Europe followed in the spring of 2005, with dates at venues such as Wembley Arena, Cardiff International Arena and Le Zenith in France. Four outdoor stadium dates were scheduled for the first time in Portugal at Estadio do Restelo (Att: 30.000), at Rhein-Energie Stadion in Cologne, Germany (Att:27.500), Holland Arnhem Gelredome (Att:30.000) and at Hyde Park in the UK (Att:65.000) in the summer of 2005.

The Estadio do Restelo concert took place on the 2nd July 2005. The Queen + Paul Rodgers concert was planned to be one of the stages for Live 8 but only a message was sent message before "'39". Two songs were dedicated to Live 8 - "Say It's Not True", a song by Roger Taylor for 46664 Nelson Mandela fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa and was introduced by Roger in Lisbon: "This is a song from Nelson Mandela and for HIV/AIDS Africa, especially today on Live 8 day. This is a song to Lisbon." After this song Brian May dedicated "'39" to Bob Geldof and introduced the song "Ola Lisboa! I would like to make a salute to all our comrades and friends who are doing such a wonderful job and trying that children through out the world are no longer hungry, let's make a big noise for Bob Geldof and Live 8". The Hyde Park concert took place on the 15th July 2005. The band and management gave away thousands of free tickets to emergency services people for helping in the aftermath of the July 7th London bombings which caused the concert to be postponed by a week. British comedian Peter Kay warmed the crowd up, with the band Razorlight serving as the support act. The concert was attended by some 65,000 people and Queen + Paul Rodgers performed for over 2 hours.

A typical set list mainly focused on Queen's best-known hits, with songs such as "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", "We Will Rock You", "We Are The Champions" and "Bohemian Rhapsody" In an interview that was published in the San Jose Mercury News Paul Rodgers stated that the one song they would not be able play while on tour is "Killer Queen" due to the fact that: "the melodies are just too on the spot." The typical set also included some songs from the back catalogues of Free and Bad Company, such as "All Right Now", "Wishing Well", "Feel Like Making Love", and "Bad Company". Brian May and Roger Taylor sang lead on some songs. May: "Hammer To Fall" (the first part only), "Love Of My Life", "'39" (which he sang lead on the studio version originally). Taylor: "Radio Ga Ga" (Both verses and first two choruses), "These Are The Days Of Our Lives", "Say It's Not True" (a new song) and "I'm In Love With My Car" (which he sang lead on the studio version originally as well). He would often leave the drum kit (the exception being "I'm In Love With My Car") while a backing track partly played on "Radio Ga Ga" and "These Are The Days Of Our Lives". For "Say It's Not True", he would be accompanied by auxiliary band members Danny Miranda and Jamie Moses who both played acoustic guitars (except for the 46664 concert, in which Roger was accompanied by Brian and Jamie - which was the only time Brian played guitar on this song during the tour).

In addition to well known favourites and hits, there were a number of occasional 'surprise' additions to the setlist, including: "I Was Born to Love You" (Japan only), "Imagine" (John Lennon cover, Hyde Park only), "Teo Torriatte" (Japan only), "Too Much Love Will Kill You" (feat. Katie Melua, South Africa only), '"Long Away" (selected shows only), "Tavaszi Szel" (Budapest only) and "Let There Be Drums" (Sandy Nelson cover performed at most gigs). "Sunshine of Your Love" was played in Newcastle as testament to the Cream reunion gig in London going on at the same time (3rd May). Brian May was present at that show the night before, which possibly inspired him to do it (2nd May).

Queen + Paul Rodgers followed the European tour with a series of performances in the fall of 2005, in such diverse locations as Aruba, Japan and the United States of America. Slash, former lead guitarist of the band Guns N' Roses and currently of Velvet Revolver, joined the band onstage for "Can't Get Enough" during their show at the legendary Hollywood Bowl, the second of their two-show trial run in North America (22nd October 2005).

In the winter/spring of 2006, Queen + Paul Rodgers played a 23-date tour of North America. The tour started in Miami (first Florida date since 1978, first USA shows since 1982) and ended with a sold-out performance in Vancouver, Canada (where they also, among other surprises that occurred during the show, covered the Jimi Hendrix song "Red House" - the only performance of this song on the tour).

On the August 15, 2006, Brian May confirmed rumours that Queen + Paul Rodgers will be entering the recording studio, due to start in October 2006, without commenting on whether this would be for the purposes of an album or not.

On the October 23, 2006, Brian May confirmed that Queen + Paul Rodgers were working in the recording studio on new material towards a Queen + Paul Rodgers album.

On the November 14, 2006, Roger Taylor, in an interview with Mark Radcliffe on BBC Radio 2, was asked about recording new material with Paul Rodgers. He said that they were indeed in the studio and everything was going well and a new album was in the pipeline. He went on to say however that it would be some months before they toured again, as they didn't want to go on tour without some new material, so as not to be called "revivalists".

"Take Love" was one of the new collaborations the new band played on tour. There was a common misconception that "Reachin' Out" (performed at the start of gigs) was also a new song, however, this was in fact a shortened version of a song performed by Brian May, Paul Rodgers and Rock Therapy back in 1996.

Roger Taylor stated in a letter to the Official International Queen Fan Club that he was enjoying the "new album", and that he hopes to tour it in the winter of 2007.

When "Bohemian Rhapsody" was revealed as BBC Radio 1's most-played song ever on the JK and Joel show, Taylor contacted the show, announcing that the new album was about half-finished, and that he would expect it to be released in 2008, with a tour to follow.

At the opening of We Will Rock You in Vienna, Brian May announced that a tour shall initiate as early as Spring 2008.

On January 4, 2008 on the British television show 'This Morning' Brian May made a brief appearance to promote the new single. During that appearance he hinted at dates in September 2008 for a European tour and also said they had a date booked in the 02 Arena, then corrected himself, a little hesitant to give any further details of those plans before they had been more solidly confirmed. When asked about the specific dates he said the band was still working on them but would tour in that timeframe.

On March 13th 2008 brianmay.com announced 'Look out for an Official Queen + Paul Rodgers 2008 Tour announcement very shortly. Full tour dates and venue information is set to be issued next week. Queen + Paul Rodgers can confirm that they will be out on the road performing across the globe later in the year in support of their new, as yet untitled, album.'

On 19th March 2008 on the official Queen website, the dates and venues of their 2008 tour were announced. Tickets went on sale on the 2nd April 2008 for Queen fan club members and registered users of Queenonline.com. Three days later, ticket sales were opened up to the general public.

On 4th April 2008 Queen and Paul Rodgers appeared as guests on Al Murray's Happy Hour and performed the song C-Lebrity for the first time in public.

Queen + Paul Rodgers released a single for World AIDS Day (December 1) in 2007. The track, "Say It's Not True", written by Roger Taylor became first available for free download on www.queenonline.com, www.46664.com, www.46664global.com, www.paulrodgers.com and www.queenpluspaulrodgers.com on November 30, and was subsequently released as a proper CD single on December 31.

Previously, Queen + Paul Rodgers have released a live CD called Return of the Champions and a DVD of the same name. Both featured recordings from their Sheffield Hallam FM Arena concert on 9 May 2005. The DVD also features "Imagine" from Hyde Park. A single featuring "Reaching Out"/"Tie Your Mother Down"/"Fat Bottomed Girls" was also released. In addition, an American promo featuring two tracks taken from the Italian leg of the European tour was available with some copies of Return of the Champions.

Soundboard recordings exist of all European shows, except those in Ireland and Sweden. Sheffield, Lisbon, Hyde Park and possibly Budapest concerts were professionally filmed. The Tokyo show on October 26, 2005 was also professionally filmed and televised, and later released on DVD exclusively in Japan in April 2006, entitled "Super Live in Japan". Many soundboard recordings of tracks were released for download on the Queen official website, with blank Q+PR CD-Rs to burn these tracks available for purchase.

Awards and inductions

Inductions
* 2001 - The band is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.
* 2002 - The band is given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
* 2003 - The band became the first and remain the only band to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
* 2004 - The band is inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame.
* 2004 - "Bohemian Rhapsody" is inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
* 2006 - The band is the first inductee into the VH1 Rock Honors.
* 200? - The band is inducted into the Rock Walk of Fame (at Guitar Center on Hollywood's Sunset Boulevard)

Awards
* 1975 - Mercury is awarded an Ivor Novello award for "Killer Queen."
* 1976 - Mercury is awarded an Ivor Novello award for "Bohemian Rhapsody."
* 1977 - The band is awarded a Brit Award for the 'Best Single Of The Last 25 Years' for "Bohemian Rhapsody."[36]
* 1990 - The band is awarded a Brit Award for 'Outstanding contributions to British music.'
* 1992 - The band is awarded a Brit Award for "These Are the Days of Our Lives" single.
* 1992 - Mercury is awarded a Brit Award for 'Outstanding contributions to British music.'
* 1997 - May is awarded an Ivor Novello for "Too Much Love Will Kill You."

Polls
* 1975 - Sounds Readers' Poll Awards
o Best Band
o Best Album (A Night at the Opera)
o Best Single ("Bohemian Rhapsody")
* 1999 - The band is voted the second greatest band in music history.
* 2005 - The band's performance at Live Aid is voted two times by a large selection of musicians and critics to be the greatest live show of all time.
* 2007 - The band is voted the "Best British Band Of All Time."


Influence on other musicians

Although initially dismissed by the majority of music critics, especially those in the United States, Queen have more recently been recognized as having made significant contributions to such genres as arena rock, glam rock, hard rock, heavy metal, pop rock, and progressive rock, amongst others. Hence the band has been cited as a influence by many other artists and performers.

Queen composed music that drew inspiration from many different genres while still adopting a tongue-in-cheek attitude. For example, glam rock, psychedelic rock, hard rock, punk rock, progressive rock, heavy metal, pop, rhythm 'n blues, funk and disco, country, folk, gospel and soul, and even music-hall and ragtime. Much like its music, the collection of bands and artists that have claimed to be influenced by Queen, or a member of Queen, is quite diverse and span different generations and countries. Artists that have cited them as an influence include: 10cc, ABBA, AFI, Anthrax, Avenged Sevenfold, Bad News, Ben Folds Five, Billy Squier, Blind Guardian, Bon Jovi, Boy George, The Darkness, Def Leppard, Dr. Dre, Dream Theater, Electric Six, Extreme, The Flaming Lips, Foo Fighters, Franz Ferdinand, Gary Numan, George Michael, Green Day, Guns N' Roses, Iron Maiden, Jane's Addiction, Jeff Buckley, Jellyfish, Joan Osborne, Kaiser Chiefs, Kansas, Katie Melua, Keane, The Killers, Manic Street Preachers, Marilyn Manson, Meat Loaf, Megadeth, The Melvins, Metallica, Mika, MĂśtley CrĂźe, Muse, My Chemical Romance, Nirvana, Nickelback, OK Go, Panic! at the Disco, Pharrell Williams, Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Robbie Williams, Saga, Scissor Sisters, The Smashing Pumpkins, The Smiths, Sonata Arctica, Spandau Ballet, Sparks, Spice Girls, Steve Vai, Styx, Sweet, TNT, Tenacious D, Justin Timberlake, Tori Amos, Trent Reznor, Van Halen, Vendetta Red, Ween, The White Stripes, Yngwie Malmsteen, among others.

Michael Jackson was a friend of Mercury's in the early 1980s and cited the Hot Space album as a driving influence behind the making of his 1982 album Thriller on which Mercury was originally scheduled to appear.

Queen have also been cited as a major influence on the "neo-classical metal" genre by Swedish-American guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen.

"Stone Cold Crazy", from 1974's Sheer Heart Attack album, is often cited as an early precursor of the speed- or thrash metal subgenre. Metallica recorded a cover version of the song, which first appeared on the "Rubaiyat — Electra's 40th Anniversary" album in 1990, and won the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 1991.

Well-known opera diva Montserrat CaballĂŠ has stated on a number of occasions how Mercury, and Queen to a lesser extent, was instrumental in introducing many opera listeners to rock music and vice versa.

Discography

QUEEN
Studio Albums:
1973 — Queen
1974 — Queen II
1974 — Sheer Heart Attack
1975 — A Night at the Opera
1976 — A Day at the Races
1977 — News of the World
1978 — Jazz
1980 — The Game
1980 — Flash Gordon
1982 — Hot Space
1984 — The Works
1986 — A Kind of Magic
1989 — The Miracle
1991 — Innuendo
1995 — Made in Heaven

Live Albums:
1979 Live Killers
1981 Concerts for the People of Kampuchea
1986 Live Magic
1992 Live at Wembley '86 Parlophone, Hollywood (US)
2002 Party at the Palace - The Queen's Concerts
2004 46664 - Parts I, II, III (various artists)
2004 Queen on Fire - Live at the Bowl
2005 Return of the Champions (Queen + Paul Rodgers)

Compilations:
1981 Greatest Hits (Queen's best selling album ever. It sold in excess of 29 million copěes)
1989 Queen at the Beeb
1991 Greatest Hits II
1992 Classic Queen
1992 Greatest Hits (US reissue)
1994 The Very Best of Queen
1997 Queen Rocks
1999 Greatest Hits III (Queen+)
2004 Jewels (Japan only)e Will Rock You Edition)
2005 Jewels II (Japan only)
2006 Stone Cold Classics

Box Sets:
1985 The Complete Works
1992 Box of Tricks
1994 Greatest Hits I & II
1998 The Crown Jewels USA only
2000 The Platinum Collection: Greatest Hits I, II & III

OUEEN and PAUL ROGERS:
2005 Live In Italy Promo CD Single (Italy) (featuring Seagull and Fat Bottomed Girls from two dates in Italy)
2005 Fat Bottomed Girls / Reaching Out+Tie Your Mother Down CD & Online Download Single (CD Single in Europe only) (from the same Sheffield concert as Return of the Champions)
2005 Return of the Champions - CD/DVD
2005 Bohemian Rhapsody (Live At Hyde Park) Online Download Single
2006 Super Live in Japan - DVD (Japan)

FREDDIE MERCURY



Freddie Mercury (5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a rock musician, best known as the lead singer of the English rock band Queen. He is remembered for his powerful vocal abilities and charisma as a live performer. As a songwriter, he composed many international hits, including "Killer Queen", "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Somebody to Love", "We Are the Champions", "Bicycle Race", "Don't Stop Me Now", and "Crazy Little Thing Called Love". Mercury died of complications from AIDS, greatly increasing public awareness of the disease.

Freddie Mercury was born Farrokh Bulsara in the city of Stone Town on the African island of Zanzibar (at the time a British colony, now part of Tanzania). His parents, Bomi and Jer Bulsara, were Indian Parsis, Zoroastrians of Persian descent. The family had emigrated to Zanzibar in order for Bomi to continue his job as a middle-ranking cashier at the British Colonial Office. Mercury had one younger sister, Kashmira.

Mercury was sent back to India to attend St. Peter's boarding school near Bombay (now Mumbai). It was at St. Peter's where he learned to play the piano and joined his first band, The Hectics. He stayed in India for most of his childhood, living with his grandmother and aunt. Mercury completed his education in India at St. Mary's High School in Mazagon before returning to Zanzibar. He was 17 when he and his family finally fled to England, as a result of the 1964 Zanzibar Revolution. In England, he earned a Diploma in Art and Graphic Design at Ealing Art College. He later used these skills in order to design the Queen crest.

Widely considered one of the greatest vocalists in popular music history, Freddie Mercury possessed a very distinctive voice, delivering his songs in a powerful tenor, though his speaking voice naturally fell in the baritone range. His vocal versatility allowed him to perform technically difficult songs with both grace and power. Suffering from vocal nodules (and refusing surgery for the condition), he would often lower the highest notes during live performances. He also claimed to have never had any formal training.

As a songwriter, Mercury wrote ten out of the seventeen songs on Queen's Greatest Hits album, including "Seven Seas of Rhye", "Killer Queen", "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Somebody to Love", "Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy", "We Are the Champions", "Bicycle Race", "Don't Stop Me Now", "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", and "Play The Game". However, by the 1980s, all four members of the band were writing hits. The most notable aspect of his songwriting involved the wide range of different genres that he used, which included, among other styles, rockabilly, heavy metal and disco. Compared to many rock songwriters, many of Freddie Mercury's songs were musically complex. As an example, "Bohemian Rhapsody" is acyclic in structure and comprises nearly sixty chords. On the other hand, "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" is made up of only a few chords. Despite the fact that Mercury often wrote very intricate harmonies, he claimed that he could barely read music.

Although all four members of the band Queen were songwriters, producer Gary Langan, who worked in the studio with Queen on many of their early albums, notes that "Freddie was always intensely supportive of other people's songwriting and would give as much attention to one of the others as he would to his own. It was so unlike other bands I've worked with where there is an acknowledged songwriter and anyone else who writes one really has to hassle to get it anywhere." Mercury wrote most of his songs on the piano, often choosing keys that were technically difficult for band mate and guitarist Brian May (e.g. E flat major). Although he possessed only rudimentary skills on the guitar, Mercury wrote many lines and riffs for the instrument, including many of those heard in "Bohemian Rhapsody." He also wrote "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" on the guitar.

In addition to his work with Queen, Mercury produced two solo albums, "Mr. Bad Guy" and "Barcelona", released in 1985 and 1988, respectively. The former was a pop-oriented album that emphasized disco and dance music. "Barcelona" was recorded with the opera singer Montserrat CaballĂŠ, whom Mercury had long admired.

Although it remained on the UK Album Charts for 23 weeks, "Mr. Bad Guy" was not considered to have been a commercial success relative to most Queen albums. However, in 1993, a remix of "Living On My Own", a single from the album, reached the #1 position on the UK Singles Charts. The song remained on the charts for thirteen weeks and garnered Mercury a posthumous Ivor Novello Award. All Music critic David Prato descibes "Mr. Bad Guy" as "outstanding from start to finish" and expressed his view that Mercury "did a commendable job of stretching into uncharted territory." [13] In particular, the album was heavily synthesizer-driven in a way that was uncharacteristic of previous Queen albums.

“Barcelona”, recorded with opera singer Montserrat CaballĂŠ, combined elements of popular music and opera. CaballĂŠ considered the album to have been one of the great successes of her career and said of Mercury, “He was not only a popular singer, he was a musician, that could sit at the piano and compose. He discovered a new way to bring different music styles together. He is the first and only person to have done this.” In September of 2006, a compilation album featuring Mercury’s solo work was released in the UK in honour of what would have been his sixtieth birthday. The album debuted in the top 10 of the UK Album Charts.

Over the years, rare Freddie Mercury solo albums have greatly increased in value. For instance, a Japanese single of the song “Guide Me Home” from the Barcelona album is now worth as much as Ł1,000 ($1,800). Another valuable item is a 1973 cover of the 1969 Beach Boys song, "I Can Hear Music" recorded under the stage name Larry Lurex. Widely bootlegged, the original record is now a valuable collectible.

Mercury collaborated with Michael Jackson on some tracks which were never officially released, including “There Must Be More To Life Than This” and “State of Shock”, which were both leaked to the internet. Mercury also recorded another track with Michael Jackson called "Victory" that has yet to be released to the public. The latter song, released on the 1984 Victory album, was ultimately performed by Mick Jagger and The Jacksons. Mercury was originally scheduled to appear on the Thriller album as well.

Mercury was diagnosed with AIDS in the spring of 1987. Mercury claimed to have tested negative in an interview published that year, and continued to deny that he had AIDS. Despite these denials, the British press continued to pursue the rampant rumours about Mercury's health. The rumours were likely fuelled by Mercury's appearance in the last years of his life: his gaunt appearance in his last appearance on film, "These Are the Days of Our Lives", suggested serious illness.

On November 22, 1991, Mercury called Queen's manager Jim Beach over to his Kensington home, to discuss a public statement. The next day, November 23, the following announcement was made to the press:
“ Following the enormous conjecture in the press over the last two weeks, I wish to confirm that I have been tested HIV positive and have AIDS. I felt it correct to keep this information private to date to protect the privacy of those around me. However, the time has come now for my friends and fans around the world to know the truth and I hope that everyone will join with my doctors and all those worldwide in the fight against this terrible disease. My privacy has always been very special to me and I am famous for my lack of interviews. Please understand this policy will continue.”

A little over 24 hours after issuing the statement, Freddie Mercury died at the age of 45. The official cause of death was bronchial pneumonia resulting from AIDS. Although he had not attended religious services in years, Mercury's funeral was conducted by a Zoroastrian priest. He was cremated at Kensal Green Cemetery, and the whereabouts of his ashes are unknown, although some believe them to have been dispersed into Lake Geneva, most believe as from Mary Austin's brief hint in the Freddie Mercury Untold story that his ashes were buried somewhere, rumoured to have been buried beneath his cherry tree at his home in Garden Lodge, or in his family's possession. The remaining members of Queen founded The Mercury Phoenix Trust, and organised The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert. He left Ł500,000 to his chef, Ł500,000 to his personal assistant, Ł100,000 to his driver, and Ł500,000 to his partner, Jim Hutton. Mary Austin, his life-long friend, inherited the estate and now lives there with her family.

Discography

Studio Albums:

1985 Mr Bad Guy
1988 Barcelona


Compilation Albums:

1992 The Freddie Mercury Album
1992 The Great Pretender (US)
1993 Remixes
2000 Solo
2006 Lover of Life, Singer of Songs — The Very Best of Freddie Mercury Solo

Box Set:

2000 The Solo Collection