Queen (band)

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

Queen

Although formerly overlooked by critics, especially those in the United States, Queen have more recently been recognised as making an influential contribution to arena rock, glam rock, hard rock, heavy metal, and progressive rock. In the Music Of The Millenium poll conducted by Channel 4 in 1999, Queen were voted the second greatest band in music history.

The band has also been cited as a strong influence on many later artists and in 2001 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. In 2003 Queen became the first and only band to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2004 the band was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame, and in 2006 was the first inductee in to the VH1 Rock Honors. Queen has also been inducted into the Rock Walk of Fame (at Guitar Center on Hollywood's Sunset Boulevard), and the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Queen have recorded a total of eighteen #1 albums, seventeen #1 singles, and eight #1 DVDs worldwide, making them one of the world's best-selling music artists.

Members

• John Deacon (born 1951) bass, rhythm guitar and synthesizer: Deacon was the bass player with the group. He auditioned as bass player after the band went through three other unsuitable bass players (Mike Grose, Barry Mitchell, and Doug Bogie). The only member never to sing lead vocals on a Queen album, he was the last member to join the band in 1971. He wrote the fewest songs of any individual member, but composed some of the band's biggest worldwide hits such as "Another One Bites The Dust", "You're My Best Friend", and "I Want To Break Free." An avid electronics engineer, he designed the "Deacy Amp" for Brian May. He was also into the financial side of Queen. Deacon retired and chose not to participate in the Queen + Paul Rodgers tour.

• Brian May CBE (born 1947) guitar, piano, synthesizer and vocals: May is the lead guitarist of the group. While often providing harmonizing and backing vocals, he occasionally played piano. May occasionally sang lead vocals on a number of tracks such as "'39", "Sleeping On The Sidewalk", "Good Company", and "Sail Away Sweet Sister" As a boy, he and his father built the Red Special, a guitar he continues to use to this day.

• Freddie Mercury (1946–1991) vocals, piano, synthesizer and sometimes guitar: Among the general public, Mercury is perhaps best known as the lead vocalist and front man of the group, with such roles placing a shadow over his skill as a pianist and songwriter. He wrote the majority of the songs found on Queen's Greatest Hits. As a singer, he had a distinctive voice and a tenor vocal range.

• Roger Taylor (born 1949) drums, percussion, synthesizer and vocals: Taylor is the drummer of Queen. Like May, he provided backing vocals; in the 70s, he sang lead vocals on songs such as "I'm In Love With My Car", "Fight From The Inside", and "Modern Times Rock 'n' Roll." In addition to drums, Taylor would often take on guitar and bass duties on his own songs, and created his own spin-off band, "The Cross".

As instrumentalists

Typically, for most of their songs, Deacon played bass, May played guitar, Mercury played piano, and Taylor played drums. But, like The Beatles, Queen members explored different kinds of instrumental functions throughout their careers.

John Deacon played guitar in addition to bass, taking over rhythm parts in many albums, as well as several acoustic performances. Much of the guitar work on Hot Space is the work of Deacon. Reportedly he could keep basic drum patterns and, even if he never mastered his keyboard abilities, he would occasionally play synthesizers on his own compositions and often composed at the piano, playing an electric one on his top ten hit "You're My Best Friend". He can also be seen playing the grand piano in the video to "Spread Your Wings", although he didn't play it on the studio version. He played double-bass on two occasions; reportedly Brian May had told him to play it on "'39" as a joke, but some days later Deacon appeared at the studio with the instrument and he had already figured out how to play it. According to Brian May, he was the best rhythm player of the band.

Brian May played piano and ukulele in addition to guitar. He played rhythm instruments less than the other Queen members, but occasionally he did some bass or drum parts in his solo albums, and within the band he composed some parts for those instruments, as in "Sweet Lady" or "Teo Torriatte". Due to the uniqueness of his guitar, the Red Special, which he built himself, May was often able to create strange and unusual sound effects. For example, he was able to imitate an orchestra in the song "Procession", the opening track of Queen II; in "Get Down, Make Love", he was able to create sound effects with his guitar that were so unusual that many thought a synthesizer was being used. In "Good Company" he used his guitar to mimic a trombone, a piccolo and several other instruments for the song's Dixieland jazz band feel. He added some special instruments here and there, but most of them were via studio tricks; for instance, to nail the harp parts of "Love Of My Life", he played each chord separately in a different take, then the producer merged them to form the entire part. In addition to these instruments, he played a toy koto in "The Prophet's Song".

Freddie Mercury was a pianist with the ability to cover many different styles. For the most part, he played grand pianos, but throughout the years he occasionally played electric piano and also upright jangle, as in the song "Seaside Rendezvous" and the #2 hit "Killer Queen" . He was an experienced synth player and programmer as well: the orchestral interludes of "Was It All Worth It" were completely composed, arranged and played by him on a Korg M1 keyboard, as well as the string sections of "Bijou".

Mercury was often self-deprecating about his guitar skills (when performing live, he often introduced "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" by stating "This shitty guitar never plays the chords I want it to play - it only knows three chords, so let's see what happens", such as in the Live At The Bowl concert, also saying "Ten years ago I knew about three chords on the guitar. Now, in 1982, I know three chords on the guitar.", as done in the concert, or by stating "I think everybody knows that I can't play the fucking guitar, we all know that. The difference being the guitar plays me. You see, it's much more fun that way"(Soundsample)); however, he would write on guitar frequently, especially in the early days. In fact, he wrote the riff from "Ogre Battle" and the rock section in "Bohemian Rhapsody" on guitar. In an interview, Brian May stated that "when Freddie used to pick up a guitar he'd have a great frenetic energy. It was kind of like a very nervy animal playing the guitar. He was a very impatient person and was very impatient with his own technique. He didn't have a great technical ability on the guitar but had it in his head. And you could feel this stuff bursting to get out. His right hand would move incredibly fast. He wrote a lot of good stuff for the guitar. A lot of it was stuff which I would not have thought of, because it would be in weird keys. He had this penchant for playing in E flat and A flat and F."

It's unknown if he could play bass or drums to any extent, but it's been confirmed that he came up with very elaborate parts for them on various songs; he composed the bass line of Taylor's "A Kind Of Magic", and programmed many rhythm parts in his first solo album, Mr. Bad Guy.

Roger Taylor is the drummer for Queen, and possesses a sound which involves several trademarks including an involuntary opening of the hi-hat on every back beat for a rhythm emphasis. He has played a great deal of percussion along with his standard drum kit, the most famous piece being the timpani during the operatic section of "Bohemian Rhapsody", also doing the timpani solos during live shows.() In addition to his drum work, he routinely played the guitars and bass on his own songs, and, during the 1980s, he formed a parallel band known as The Cross in which he was the singer and rhythm guitarist. Taylor was supposedly not the best keyboardist, and thus many of his piano-based musical ideas are considered uniquely different. He was also quite good when it came to percussion synthesizers which he used during live shows. His hit Radio Ga Ga was basically based on a sequencer loop.

File:Queen crest.png

The Queen crest

Logo

Queen's logo, also known as the Queen Crest, was designed by Mercury before the release of their first album. An instantly recognizeable symbol to many fans and non-fans alike, the logo features the zodiac signs of all four members: two lions for Leo (Deacon and Taylor), a crab for Cancer (May), and two fairies for Virgo (Mercury). The lions are embracing a stylized letter Q, the crab is resting atop the Q with flames directly above it, and the fairies are sheltering below each lion respectively. There is also a crown inside the Q and the whole logo is over-shadowed by an enormous phoenix. Mercury has stated that the logo is a sign of the times (i.e. the 70's) and it was usually displayed on the front of Taylor's bass drum at early Queen concerts.

History

Main article: History of Queen

Brian May and Roger Taylor were playing in a semi-professional band called Smile with Tim Staffell. Mercury was Staffell's roommate at Ealing Arts College and followed Smile's music closely; Mercury was a singer in other bands, such as Ibex in 1969 and Sour Milk Sea in 1970. Still, he was very eager to share his ideas so Smile could develop. Staffell left Smile to join another band, Humpy Bong, because he felt the style of music Smile played was a flash in the pan. Smile split up but Mercury persuaded May and Taylor to continue, changing the band's name from Smile to Queen in the process, in April 1970. John Deacon would join the band in February 1971.

Their first chart entry was the 1974 single "Seven Seas of Rhye". More notable was "Killer Queen" from their third album Sheer Heart Attack, which climbed to #2 on the charts. Their greatest success came in 1975 with "Bohemian Rhapsody", a single from A Night at the Opera. In United Kingdom, it spent nine weeks at #1, and was also a worldwide hit.

Live performances

Main article: Queen live performances

Queen's live performances were second to none and their concerts were consistently at the forefront of rock shows from bands of their generation. Over their career, the band amassed an impressively diverse catalogue of songs and made use of massive sound systems, huge lighting rigs, an arsenal of pyrotechnics, and many extravagant costumes to help enrich their shows into entertaining, theatrical events. As both lead vocalist and frontman, Freddie Mercury was able to immerse himself in the audiences adulation and thrived off their excitement - an ability for which many artists, such as Bob Geldof, David Bowie, George Michael, Kurt Cobain (in his suicide note), and Robbie Williams to name just a few, have expressed great admiration. The call-and-response singalongs and synchronised hand-clapping between the band and the audience were to become legendary. Queen were also amongst a handful of bands that provided the initial impetus for stadiums and large arenas becoming regarded as serious rock concert venues. Interestingly, only on very rare occasions did Queen allow a non-member to perform, or even appear, on stage with them. Their reputation for putting on an impressive live performance led to a number of concerts being released on both album and video and, later, on CD and DVD while a significant number of bootleg copies of Queen concerts have also appeared.

The digital realm

In conjunction with Electronic Arts, Queen released the computer game Queen: The Eye in 1998, to commercial and critical failure. The music itself - Queen tracks from its vast catalogue, in many cases remixed into new instrumental versions - was by and large well received, but the game experience was hampered by poor game play. Adding to the problem was an extremely long development time, resulting in graphic elements that already seemed outdated by the time of release.

Under the supervision of Brian May and Roger Taylor, numerous restoration projects have been underway involving Queen's lengthy audio and video catalogue. DVD releases of their famous 1986 Wembley concert (titled Live At Wembley Stadium) and 1982 Milton Keynes concert (Queen On Fire: Live At The Bowl), and two Greatest Video Hits (Volumes 1 and 2, spanning the '70s and '80s) have seen the band's music remixed into 5.1 and DTS Surround Sound. So far, two of Queen's most acclaimed albums, A Night At The Opera and The Game, have been fully remixed into high-resolution multichannel surround on DVD-Audio. Known for their densely layered arrangements and backing, this medium seems tailor-made for Queen's music. Brian May has said he would like to see the entire Queen catalogue reproduced in this format, as it is closer to what the band envisaged for their work years ago. A new 5.1 mix of A Night At The Opera, including the first surround versions of The Prophet's Song and God Save The Queen, was created in 2005 for the 30th anniversary of the album's original release (CD+DVD set).

In film

Queen contributed music directly to the movies Flash Gordon (1980, directed by Mike Hodges) and Highlander (the original 1986 film, directed by Russell Mulcahy). The theme song, Princes of the Universe, was also used in the Highlander TV series (1992 - 1998).

Several other films have prominently featured their songs, including Iron Eagle, National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon, Wayne's World, Small Soldiers, High Fidelity, Super Size Me, A Knight's Tale, The Girl Next Door, Revenge of the Nerds,The Mighty Ducks and Shaun of the Dead. A cover of "Somebody to Love" by Anne Hathaway was recorded for the 2004 film Ella Enchanted. In 2001, a version of "The Show Must Go On" was performed by Jim Broadbent and Nicole Kidman in the movie musical Moulin Rouge!. "Bohemian Rhapsody" was re-released after appearing in Wayne's World, and subsequently made number 2 on the US billboard chart.

Keeping in the tradition (since Season 5) of naming each season's episodes after songs from a famous '70s era rock band (Led Zeppelin for the fifth season, The Who for the sixth and The Rolling Stones for the seventh), the eighth and final season of That '70s Show consisted of episodes named after Queen songs. "Bohemian Rhapsody" served as the season premiere.

In musical theatre

In 2002, a musical or "rock theatrical" based on the songs of Queen, entitled We Will Rock You, opened at the Dominion Theatre on London's West End. The musical was written by British comedian and author Ben Elton in collaboration with Brian May and Roger Taylor, and the help of Robert de Niro. It has since been staged in Madrid and Barcelona, Spain; Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, and Brisbane, Australia; Cologne, Germany; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and Las Vegas, Nevada. The original London production was scheduled to close on Saturday 7th October 2006 at the Dominion Theatre. Due to public demand, however, the show has now been extended indefinitely. We Will Rock You has become the longest running musical ever to run at this prime London theatre, overtaking the previous record holder, the Grease musical.

The launch of the musical coincided with Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee. As part of the Jubilee celebrations Brian May performed a guitar solo of God Save the Queen, as featured on Queen's A Night at the Opera, from the roof of Buckingham Palace. The recording of this performance was used as video for the same song on the 30th Anniversary DVD edition of A Night at the Opera.

Sean Bovim created "Queen at the Ballet", a tribute to Freddie Mercury, which uses Queen's music as a soundtrack for the show’s dancers, interpret the stories behind tracks such as "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Radio Ga Ga" and "Killer Queen".

Historical success

As of 2005, according to The Guinness Book of World Records, Queen albums had spent more time on the UK album charts than those of any other musical act.

Current Rankings:

1. Queen (1,422 weeks/27 years)
2. The Beatles (1,293 weeks/24.8 years)
3. Elvis Presley (1,280 weeks/24.6 years)
4. U2 (1,150 weeks/22 years)
5. Dire Straits (1,136 weeks/21.8 years)
6. Simon and Garfunkel (1,114 weeks/21.4 years)
7. Madonna (1,032 weeks/19.8 years)
8. David Bowie (1,005 weeks/19.3 years)
9. Elton John (989 weeks/19 years)
10. Michael Jackson (966 weeks/18.6 years)

Also in 2005, with the release of its live album with Paul Rodgers, Queen moved into third place on the list of acts with the most aggregate time spent on the British record charts; this does not make allowances for the fact that the charts were a smaller list in the 1960s.

Current rankings:

1. Elvis Presley (2,074 weeks/39.9 years)
2. Cliff Richard (1,982 weeks/38 years)
3. Queen (1,755 weeks/33.7 years)
4. The Beatles (1,749 weeks/33.6 years)
5. Madonna (1,660 weeks/31.9 years)
6. Elton John (1,626 weeks/31.2 years)

The band's total sales figures estimates vary greatly. In 2001 it was stated its sales topped 100 million records worldwide; however, according to an official press release two years later, Queen has "accounted for record sales in excess of 150 million across the world". The following year, the figure of "over 190 million albums" was claimed at its UK Music Hall of Fame induction. Several sites also claim a worldwide figure of over 300 million records. According to the RIAA Queen's total U.S. album sales are reported to be 35.5 million as 2004 [1]

In August 2006, BBC Radio 2 Music Club and the Official UK Charts Company celebrated the 50th anniversary of the UK Album Chart by running a survey to find the 100 favourite No. 1 albums -- Queen's A Night at the Opera ranked 9th.

Influence on other musicians

Queen are remembered for their original blend of theatrics, showmanship, consummate musicianship (both on stage and in the studio), kitsch, and extravagance that were not typically found, or valued, by other recognised acts of their generation. During the early phase of their career, it was typical for a critically-acknowledged rock band to have blues, psychedelic, working-class roots with heavy emphasis on a male audience base. These factors, which were instilled in rock music in the late 1960's and early 1970's, were largely absent from Queen so that critical recognition was truly scarce. From the outset, the band had no aspirations to be a 'voice' for the oppressed and down-trodden. Also, much of the material on the first two Queen albums (released in 1973 and 1974) had been composed, and performed live, a number of years earlier (e.g. 1970 and 1971). Unfortunately the material, when it was released officially, was regarded as dated and contrived by many critics that had not already been exposed to Queen's music. Similarly the bands two main audiences at the time, namely the glam-rockers and hard-rockers, were not particularly receptive to the mish-mash of the two contrasting styles. To add even more fuel to the fire, it was generally perceived that Queen started out with excessive financial backing and managerial favouritism that had not been previously earned.

Today, however, numerous critics and fellow musicians have since acknowledged the band as making a significant contribution to the evolution of rock music. Many characterictics of the band that were once considered pretentious, bombastic and tastelessly self-indulgent are now regarded in a positive light. Moreover bands and acts that were once considered 'superior' to Queen by yesterday's fraternity of critics are seen as their 'equals' by today's critics. Nowadays Queen is extremely well-respected for both the musical eclecticism of their studio output and their impressive, powerhouse live shows.

Queen recorded songs in many different genres while still adopting a tongue-in-cheek and pseudo-serious philosophy. For example, psychedelic rock ("The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke" and "Jesus"), hard rock ("Hammer to Fall" and "I Want It All"), funk and disco ("Another One Bites the Dust" and "Staying Power"), country-flavored stomp ("Fat Bottomed Girls"), gospel-esque ballads ("Somebody to Love"), heavy metal ("Stone Cold Crazy" and "Brighton Rock"), progressive rock, ("The March of the Black Queen" and The Prophet's Song"), punk rock ("Sheer Heart Attack"), even ragtime ("Bring Back That Leroy Brown" and "Seaside Rendezvous") and pop ("You're My Best Friend").

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. Artists that cite them as an influence include Judas Priest, Van Halen, Def Leppard, Iron Maiden, Mötley Crüe, Sparks, 10cc, Meat Loaf, Steve Vai, George Michael, Metallica, Anthrax, Megadeth, Slayer, The Flaming Lips, The Melvins, Guns N' Roses, Dr. Dre, Marilyn Manson, Chris Cornell, Blind Guardian, Nirvana, Ween, Trent Reznor, Extreme, Dream Theater, Jeff Buckley, Green Day, Jellyfish, Radiohead, The Smashing Pumpkins, Robbie Williams, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ben Folds Five, Foo Fighters, Joan Osborne, Davey Havok, Social Distortion, The White Stripes, Manic Street Preachers, Muse, Keane, The Darkness, Franz Ferdinand, Katie Melua, Say Anything, Rooney, Pharrell Williams, Nickelback, Electric Six, Jetliner, My Chemical Romance and Gary Numan, among others.

Michael Jackson was a friend of Mercury 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 has also been cited as a major influence on the "neo-classical metal" genre by Swedish-American guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen.

The Official International Queen Fan Club

The Official International Queen Fan Club was set up in 1973 after the release of the band's first album. At its peak, membership reached 20,000. According to Guinness World Records it is the "Longest-Running Rock Group Fan Club."

Discography

Main article: Queen discography

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

Number one singles

Year	Single	Countries
1975	Bohemian Rhapsody	Australia, Belgium, Canada, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, UK (2x platinum)
1976	Somebody to Love	Netherlands
1977	We Are the Champions / We Will Rock You	France, New Zealand
1979	Love of My Life (live)	Argentina (52+ wks), Brazil
1979	Crazy Little Thing Called Love	Australia, Canada, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, US (gold)
1980	Another One Bites the Dust	Argentina, Canada, Guatemala, Spain, US (3x platinum)
1980	Flash	Austria
1981	Under Pressure (with David Bowie)	Argentina, Netherlands, UK (silver)
1982	Las Palabras de Amor	Poland
1984	Radio Ga Ga	Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal (silver), Sweden, Poland
1984	I Want to Break Free	Austria, Belgium, Netherlands, Portugal, South Africa
1991	Innuendo	Italy, Portugal, South Africa, UK (gold)
1991	I'm Going Slightly Mad	Hong Kong
1991	Bohemian Rhapsody / These Are the Days of Our Lives	Ireland, Portugal, UK (platinum), Poland
1993	Five Live (EP with George Michael and Lisa Stansfield)	Ireland, Spain, UK
1995	Heaven for Everyone	Argentina, Poland, Italy, Germany, Brazil
1995	You Don't Fool Me	Italy, Poland
2000	We Will Rock You (with 5ive)	UK, Ireland

See also

• List of all songs performed by Queen

Further reading

• Greg Brooks. Queen Live: A Concert Documentary. London: Omnibus Press, 1995/2005. ISBN 1-84449-660-0
• Jacky Gunn, Jim Jenkins. Queen: As It Began. London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1992. ISBN 0-283-06052-2
• Mark Hodkinson. Queen – The Early Years. London: Music Sales Limited, 2005. ISBN 1-84449-012-2

External links

• Official Queen Web site
• Official Brian May Web site
• Official Queen + Paul Rodgers Web site
• Official International Queen Fan Club
• Queen Concerts - information about Queen's concerts and live recordings
• Queen Archives - interviews, reviews, articles
• Queen Picture Hall - album and single covers
• Queen: The Videos - information and images of all promotional clips
• eenzone.com Queenzone - incl. discussion board and collection of pictures
• Queen Web Guide - Queen web guide
• Ultimate Queen - song versions, lyrics, discography, videos, concerts
• Denis O'Regan - official Queen photographer
• Queen tabs and chords - tabulatures, chords, piano sheets, vocals archives