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Queen (band)

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The Queen logo, designed by Freddie Mercury
The Queen logo, designed by Freddie Mercury

Queen is a British rock band which was popular in the 1970s and 1980s. The group is well known for its sports anthems and classic rock radio staples, particularly the hits "We Are the Champions" and "Bohemian Rhapsody;" the band promoted the latter, first released in 1975, with one of the earliest successful music videos, and later re-released it for the soundtrack album from the movie Wayne's World. Queen are widely recognised as pioneers of heavy metal, glam rock, and stadium rock.

The beginnings of Queen can be traced to 1968, when Brian May and Roger Taylor formed the trio Smile, at Imperial College, London, where they were both students. After the group's bassist and lead singer Tim Staffell departed in the spring of 1970, May and Taylor took on vocalist Freddie Mercury in April 1970 to form Queen. In 1971 John Deacon completed the lineup as bass guitarist.

Members

File:Queen3.jpg
Left to right: Deacon, May, Mercury, Taylor

Though Freddie Mercury's personality always dominated in the press, all four members of the group actually wrote huge hits:

Most of the group's albums contained at least one song written by each member, and though Mercury penned most of Queen's hits, he was by no means the dominant songwriter; indeed, the group considered themselves creative equals, and quiet bassist John Deacon wrote their biggest hit, "Another One Bites the Dust." In their later years, two or three or even all four band members commonly contributed to individual songs; after arguments over the attribution of these cooperative efforts, the band agreed to simply credit "Queen" rather than single members (e.g. for The Miracle or Innuendo).

History

1968-1970

1970s

1980s

In 1986, Queen went on a sold out final tour, which culminated at Wembley Stadium in London. Freddie teased the capacity crowd of 89,000 that Queen might be breaking up, only to tell the crowd that it was just a silly rumor, and that Queen would be together until "we fucking well die, I'm sure!" much to the delight of the crowd. It is rumored that Freddie contracted AIDS that year as well.

In 1988, Queen performed for the last time together in a retirement concert due to Freddie's health on the constant slide due to his condition. They couldn't book Wembley because it was already booked solid throughout the summer, so they turned to their manager, Roy Thomas Baker to book them elsewhere, and he got them a gig at Knebworth Park. It sold out within hours, and over 120,000 fans packed the park to get a glimpse of Queen one last time live.

1990s

In 1991, rumors started spreading that Freddie Mercury was suffering from AIDS. Even tabloids worldwide got in on the news. Mercury flatly denied these rumors, but knowing the actual truth as his other bandmates did, they decided to make an album free of conflict and differences. That album became Innuendo. Although his health began to deteriorate, Mercury was courageous in handling his contributions. Highlights of the album were the anthems "The Show Must Go On" and "These Are The Days Of Our Lives".

On November 23, 1991, in a prepared statement made on his deathbed, Freddie Mercury finally acknowledged he had AIDS. Within 12 hours of the announcement, Mercury was dead at the age of 45. His funeral services were private, held in accordance with the Zoroastrian religious faith of his family.

On April 20, 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 such as Annie Lennox, Elton John, W. Axl Rose, George Michael, and Liza Minnelli (along with the three surviving members of Queen) perfomed most of Queen's major hits.

Queen never actually disbanded, although their last album (not including compilations) was released in 1995, ironically titled Made In Heaven, put out four years after Freddie Mercury's death, and constructed from Freddie's final recording sessions in 1991, plus material leftover from their previous studio albums. The band, minus John Deacon, still appears from time to time, making "Queen+" projects with various guest musicians. A tribute album has appeared, but not with musicians of note. The album is entitled "Dragon Attack" after one of Queen's earlier recordings.

2000s

Influence on modern music

Queen is remembered for its never-seen-before theatrics, showmanship, camp and bombast so much that critics have since classified the band as a major player in the evolution of rock music. Queen is noted in particular for its musical eclecticism and groundbreaking live shows.

Musical progression

Queen's musical style changed every few years, sometimes rather drastically. They started off with what may be called Medieval metal moving in the direction of glam rock.

The A Night at the Opera and A Day at the Races albums (named after Marx Brothers movies) are perhaps best described as opera metal. News of the World and Jazz are fairly eclectic.

Throughout the 1970s, Queen enforced a strict no-synthesizer policy, as evidenced by the famous "No Synthesizers were used on this Album" sleevenote included on their early LPs. The first album to feature a synthesizer was 1980's The Game, although the change in policy came about during the earlier recording of the music for the movie Flash Gordon which was released as an album after The Game.

The band lost many fans with the Hot Space album, which used funk and synth-driven disco beats rather than the Glam or Hard rock styles of earlier albums, a move intended by Freddie Mercury to target the American radio audience. The Hot Space album's opus, "Under Pressure", co-written by and performed with David Bowie, was a hit, but the change in direction never really caught on with the band's guitar rock fan base.

With The Works and A Kind of Magic Queen gave up experimenting, making sure the fans got what they wanted.

With The Miracle Queen returned to their hard rock roots.

Still, most Queen albums contain songs that do not fit into these descriptions.

Queen Live

Queen's live performances were truly groundbreaking, employing massive lighting rigs, pyrotechnics, and other special effects to make their shows into engaging theatrical events. Along with their contemporaries KISS, they changed live concerts forever from the staid, stodgy events that had prevailed since the time of the Beatles, where performers would merely stand around and play their instruments. The energy with which they performed, the excitement, enthusiasm and pure adrenaline Freddie Mercury brought with his vocal performance, was so natural and so genuine that the audience almost always joined in and sang. Mercury immersed himself in the crowd's adulation and thrived off their excitement, a trait for which many, including Kurt Cobain (in his suicide note), have expressed admiration. Beginning with "News Of The World" in 1977, Queen began to write songs with the specific purpose of involving the crowd, like "We Will Rock You" and "We Are The Champions," and tailored some songs, like "Radio Ga Ga" to involve claps. This resulted in a stunning moment at Live Aid at which every member of the nearly 100,000 strong crowd at Wembley clapped their hands over their head in unison to "Radio Ga-Ga."

Queen embarked upon many popular tours, with memorable shows (including the historic Live Aid concert) held at Wembley Stadium in England, and Maracanã, for the Rock in Rio festival in Brazil, although only the group's final tour, in support of the album "A Kind of Magic", ever actually made any money.

The Wembley concert, part of a UK tour in 1986, attracted 150,000 people over two nights. A memorable and prophetic moment occurred when Freddie Mercury told the audience: "There's been a lot of rumors lately about a certain band called Queen... the rumors are that we're gonna split up. What do you think?" Audience: "No!" Freddie: "Forget those rumors, we're gonna stay together 'till we fucking well die, I'm sure!". At this point Freddie did not know he had AIDS.

Famous songs

  • "Killer Queen" from Sheer Heart Attack featured May's virtuosity on the guitar and first brought attention to the band.
  • "Bohemian Rhapsody" is a classic song that was the focus of one of the first music videos ever. From the 1975 album A Night At The Opera.
  • "Tie Your Mother Down" was not one of Queen's biggest hits-it came in number 33 in the U.K. carts and peaked at 49 in the U.S.-which pales in comparison to many of their other singles. Because of Queen's stringent Greatest Hits standards (if it wasn't in the top 30 in the U.K. they would not include it) it hasn't enjoyed a resurgence like many of their other classics. However, it has one of rock music's most recognizable riffs, and while many people cannot identify the song or who played, they are familiar with the riff. From the 1976 album A Day At The Races.
  • "We Will Rock You" is a staple at sporting events around the world; audience members will stomp and clap along to the rhythm of the song and chant the chorus line of the song, in support of their team. From the 1977 album News of the World.
  • "We Are the Champions" is a favorite post-game song for obvious reasons. From the 1977 album News of the World.
  • "Another One Bites the Dust" was a huge crossover hit when it was released, topping both the pop and R&B charts. It was a unique brand of discofied funk rock. It was inspired by the bass guitar riffs of the disco group Chic, and ironically released at the tail end of the disco era. It has been one of the songs rumored to have a backwards message, supposedly "It's fun to smoke marijuana." The title phrase of the song does sound vaguely like that when played backwards, but it is most likely a coincidence, since there is nothing about the song that suggests that the lyric was contrived to sound a particular way when played backwards. From the 1980 album The Game.
  • "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" was a number one hit in the U.S. and is often mistaken for an Elvis Presley tune. Freddie Mercury wrote the song while lounging in a bathtub at a hotel, and put it to rhythm guitar. He recorded it with band members Deacon and Taylor, with May overdubbing lead guitar throughout. It has a unique, rockabilly sound to it not like anything Queen had ever recorded, and Mercury does an absolutely superb job of imitating Presley's voice. Released as a single in 1979 and appeared on the 1980 album The Game.
  • "Radio_Ga_Ga" was an enormous worldwide success for the band; it was in the top 20 of no less than 36 countries, 20 of them it was at number one. The song was a commentary of the invention of televison overtaking radio's popularity, and how one would listen to radio for their favorite comedy , drama, sci-fi programs etc... as well as the advent of the music video and MTV. Drummer Roger Taylor wrote this, and it was originally conceived as "Radio Ca-Ca," a slam against radio for the decrease in variety of programming and the type of music being played. It was eventually changed to Radio Ga-Ga, because it sounded better, clearer, and rolled off the tongue easier. From the 1984 album The Works.
  • "Barcelona", although a solo endeavour by Freddie Mercury, was featured on Queen's Greatest Hits III and was an anthem during the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

Queen in film

Queen contributed music directly to the movies Flash Gordon and Highlander (the original film directed by Russell Mulcahy). Several other films featured their songs, including Iron Eagle, Wayne's World, Small Soldiers, [Super Size Me]]", and A Knight's Tale.

Queen in musical theater

In 2002, a musical or "rock theatrical" based on the songs of Queen, entitled We Will Rock You, opened at the Dominion Theatre in the West End of London. The musical was written by British comedian and author Ben Elton in collaboration with Brian May and Roger Taylor. The launch of the musical coincided with the Queen'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.

Discography

Albums

Compilations

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