Early days (1968–1974)
In 1968, guitarist Brian May, a student at London's Imperial College, and bassist Tim Staffell decided to form a band. May placed an advertisement on the college notice board for a "Mitch Mitchell/Ginger Baker type" drummer; Roger Taylor, a young dental student, auditioned and got the job. The group called themselves Smile.[3]While attending Ealing Art College, Tim Staffell became friends with Farrokh Bulsara, a fellow student who had assumed the English name of Freddie. Bulsara felt that he and the band had the same tastes and soon became a keen fan of Smile. In late 1970, after Staffell left to join the band Humpy Bong, the remaining Smile members, encouraged by Bulsara, changed their name to "Queen" and continued working together.[4] When asked about the name, Bulsara explained, "I thought up the name Queen. It's just a name, but it's very regal obviously, and it sounds splendid. It's a strong name, very universal and immediate. It had a lot of visual potential and was open to all sorts of interpretations. I was certainly aware of gay connotations, but that was just one facet of it."[4]
The band had a number of bass players during this period who did not fit with the band's chemistry. It was not until February 1971 that they settled on John Deacon and began to rehearse for their first album. They recorded four of their own songs, "Liar", "Keep Yourself Alive", "The Night Comes Down" and "Jesus", for a demo tape; no record companies were interested.[5] It was also around this time Freddie changed his surname to 'Mercury', inspired by the line "Mother Mercury, look what they've done to me," in the song My Fairy King.[6]
 | A sample of "The March of the Black Queen" from Queen II (1974). The band's earlier songs (such as this) leaned more towards progressive rock and heavy metal compared to their later work. |
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In 1973, after a series of delays, Queen released their eponymous debut album, an effort influenced by the heavy metal and progressive rock of the day.[9] The album was received well by critics; Gordon Fletcher of Rolling Stone said "their debut album is superb",[10] and Chicago's Daily Herald called it an "above average debut".[11] It drew little mainstream attention, and the lead single "Keep Yourself Alive", a Brian May composition, sold poorly. Retrospectively, "Keep Yourself Alive" is cited as the highlight of the album, and in 2008 Rolling Stone ranked it 31st in the "100 Greatest Guitar Songs Of All Time", describing it as "an entire album's worth of riffs crammed into a single song".[12] The album was certified gold in the UK and the US.[13][14]
The group's second LP, Queen II, was released in 1974, and features rock photographer Mick Rock's iconic image of the band on the cover. This image would be used as the basis for the 1975 "Bohemian Rhapsody" music video production.[15][16] The album reached number five on the British album chart and became the first Queen album to chart in the UK.[13] The Freddie Mercury-written lead single "Seven Seas of Rhye" reached number ten in the UK, giving the band their first hit.[13] The album is the first real testament to the band's distinctive layered sound, and features long complex instrumental passages, fantasy-themed lyrics, and musical virtuosity.[17][18] Aside from its only single, the album also included the song "The March of the Black Queen", a six-minute epic which lacks a chorus or song structure, bearing similarity to Queen's later work, "Bohemian Rhapsody". The Daily Vault described the number as "menacing".[19] Critical reaction was mixed; the Winnipeg Free Press describing the record as a "monstrosity".[20] Allmusic has described the album as a favourite among the band's hardcore fans,[21] and it is the first of three Queen albums to feature in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[22]
Sheer Heart Attack to A Night at the Opera (1974–1976)
After the band's six-night stand at New York's Uris Theatre in May 1974, Brian May collapsed and was diagnosed as having hepatitis.[17] While recuperating, May was initially absent when the band started work on their third album, but he returned midway through the recording process.[23] Released in 1974, Sheer Heart Attack reached number two in the United Kingdom,[24] sold well throughout Europe, and went gold in the United States.[14] It gave the band their first real experience of international success, and was a hit on both sides of the Atlantic.[25] The album experimented with a variety of musical genres, including British music hall, heavy metal, ballads, ragtime, and Caribbean. At this point, Queen started to move away from the progressive tendencies of their first two releases into a more radio-friendly, song-orientated style.[26][27] Sheer Heart Attack introduced new sound and melody patterns that would be refined on their next album, A Night at the Opera.The single "Killer Queen" reached number two on the British charts,[13] and became their first US hit, reaching number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100.[28] It combines camp, vaudeville, and British music hall with May's guitar virtuosity. The album's second single, "Now I'm Here", a more traditional hard rock composition, was a number eleven hit in Britain, while the high speed rocker "Stone Cold Crazy" featuring May's uptempo riffs is a precursor to speed metal.[23][29] In recent years, the album has received acclaim from music publications: In 2006, Classic Rock ranked it number 28 in "The 100 Greatest British Rock Albums Ever",[30] and in 2007, Mojo ranked it No.88 in "The 100 Records That Changed the World".[31] It is also the second of three Queen albums to feature in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[22]
In 1975, the band left for a world tour with each member in Zandra Rhodes-created costumes and accompanied with banks of lights and effects. They toured the US as headliners, and played in Canada for the first time.[32][33] While the band toured Japan in April, the band's manager, Jim Beach, successfully negotiated the band out of their Trident Studios contract. One of the options they considered was an offer from Led Zeppelin's manager, Peter Grant. Grant wanted them to sign with Led Zeppelin's own production company, Swan Song Records. The band found the contract unacceptable and instead contacted Elton John's manager, John Reid, who accepted the position.[34]
| | A sample of "Bohemian Rhapsody" from A Night at the Opera (1975). When released it spent nine weeks at number one in the UK and became the third best selling British single of all time. |
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The album also featured the hit single "Bohemian Rhapsody", which was number one in the UK for nine weeks[13] and is the third-best-selling single of all time in the UK, surpassed only by Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?" and Elton John's "Candle in the Wind 1997"—making it the best selling commercial single in the UK. It also reached number nine in the United States (a 1992 re-release reached number two on Billboard for five weeks).[28] It is the only single ever to sell a million copies on two separate occasions,[42] and became the Christmas number one twice in the UK, the only single ever to do so. Bohemian Rhapsody has been voted numerous times the greatest song of all time.[43][44] The band decided to make a video to go with the single; the result is generally considered to have been the first "true" music video ever produced.[45][46] Although other bands, including The Beatles, had made short promotional films or videos of songs prior to this, generally, those were specifically made to be aired on specific television shows. The second single from the album, "You're My Best Friend", the second song composed by John Deacon, and his first single, peaked at number sixteen in the United States[28] and went on to become a worldwide Top Ten hit.[42] The band's A Night at the Opera Tour began in November 1975, and covered Europe, the United States, Japan, and Australia.[47]
A Day at the Races to Live Killers (1976–1979)
By 1976, Queen were back in the studio recording A Day at the Races, which is often regarded as a sequel album to A Night at the Opera.[48][49] 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.[50] The most recognizable of the Marx Brothers, Groucho Marx, invited Queen to visit him in his Los Angeles home in March 1977, and the band thanked him in person, and performed "'39" a cappella.[51] Musically, A Day at the Races was by both fans' and critics' standards a strong effort, reaching number one in the UK and Japan, and number five in the US.[13][50] 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 create a 100-voice gospel choir. The song went to number two in the United Kingdom,[13] and number thirteen on the US singles chart.[28] The album also featured one of the band's heaviest songs, Brian May's "Tie Your Mother Down", which became a staple of their live shows.[52][53]During the same year, Queen played one of their most famous gigs, a 1976 free concert in Hyde Park, London. It set an attendance record, with 150,000 people confirmed in the audience.[54] During the A Day at the Races Tour in 1977, Queen performed sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden, New York, in February, and Earls Court, London, in June.[16][55]
The band's sixth studio album News of the World was released in 1977, which has gone four times platinum in the United States, and twice in the UK.[14] The album contained many songs tailor-made for live performance, including two of rock's most recognisable anthems, "We Will Rock You" and the rock ballad "We Are the Champions", both of which became enduring international sports anthems, and the latter reached number four in the United States.[28][56] Queen commenced the News of the World Tour in October 1977, and Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times called this concert tour the band's "most spectacularly staged and finely honed show yet".[57]
In 1978, Queen toured the US and Canada, and spent much of 1979 touring in Europe and Japan.[63] They released their first live album, Live Killers, in 1979; it went platinum twice in the United States.[64] Queen also released the very successful single "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", a rockabilly inspired song done in the style of Elvis Presley.[65][66] The song made the top 10 in many countries, topped the Australian ARIA Charts for seven consecutive weeks, and was the band's first number one single in the United States where it topped the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks.[28][67] Having written the song on guitar and played rhythm on the record, Mercury played rhythm guitar while performing the song live, which was the first time he ever played guitar in concert.[66] In December 1979, Queen played the opening night at the Concert for the People of Kampuchea in London, having accepted a request by the event's organiser Paul McCartney.[66]
The Game to The Works (1980–1984)
In 1981, Queen traveled to South America as part of The Game Tour, and became the first major rock band to play in Latin American stadiums.[63] The tour included five shows in Argentina, one of which drew the largest single concert crowd in Argentine history with an audience of 300,000 in Buenos Aires[73] and two concerts at the Morumbi Stadium in São Paulo, Brazil, where they played to an audience of more than 131,000 people in the first night (then the largest paying audience for a single band anywhere in the world)[74] and more than 120,000 people the following night.[75] In October of the same year, Queen performed for more than 150,000 fans on 9 October at Monterrey (Estadio Universitario) and 17 and 18 at Puebla (Estadio Zaragoza), Mexico.[76] On 24 and 25 November, Queen played two sell out nights at the Montreal Forum, Quebec, Canada.[77] One of Mercury's most notable performances of The Game's final track, "Save Me", took place in Montreal, and the concert is recorded in the live album, Queen Rock Montreal.[78]
Queen worked with David Bowie on the single "Under Pressure". The first-time collaboration with another artist was spontaneous, as Bowie happened to drop by the studio while Queen were recording.[79] Upon its release, the song was extremely successful, reaching number one in the UK and featuring at number 31 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the '80s.[80]
Later in 1981, Queen released their first compilation album, entitled Greatest Hits, which showcased the group's highlights from 1974–1981.[81] It is the best-selling album in UK Chart history, and has spent 450 weeks in the UK Album Chart.[82][83] The album is certified eight times platinum in the United States, and has sold over 25 million copies worldwide.[14][84] Taylor became the first member of the band to release his own solo album in 1981, entitled Fun in Space.
After working steadily for over ten years, Queen decided that they would not perform any live shows in 1983.[88] During this time, they recorded a new album at the Record Plant Studios, Los Angeles and Musicland Studios, Munich, and several members of the band explored side projects and solo work. May released a mini-album entitled Star Fleet Project, on which he collaborated with Eddie Van Halen.[89]
In February 1984, Queen released their eleventh studio album, The Works, which included the successful singles "Radio Ga Ga", "Hammer to Fall" and "I Want to Break Free".[90][91] Despite these hit singles, the album failed to do well in the United States, while in the UK it went triple platinum and remained in the album chart for two years.[92]
That year, Queen began The Works Tour, the first tour to feature keyboardist Spike Edney as an extra live musician. The tour featured nine sold-out dates in Bophuthatswana, South Africa, at the arena in Sun City.[93][94] Upon returning to England, they were the subject of outrage, having played there during the height of apartheid and in violation of worldwide divestment efforts. The band responded to the critics by stating that they were playing music for fans in that country, and they also stressed that the concerts were played before integrated audiences.[95]
Live Aid and later years (1985–1990)
In January 1985, the band headlined two nights of the first Rock in Rio festival at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and played in front of over 300,000 people each night.[96] The Boston Globe described it as a "mesmerising performance".[97] A selection of highlights of both nights was released on VHS with the title Queen: Live in Rio, and was later broadcast on MTV in the US.[97][98] In April and May 1985, Queen completed the Works Tour with sold-out shows in Australia and Japan.[99] "Queen were absolutely the best band of the day... they just went and smashed one hit after another... it was the perfect stage for Freddie: the whole world"
In early 1986, Queen recorded the album A Kind of Magic, containing several reworkings of songs written for the Russell Mulcahy film Highlander. The album was very successful, producing a string of hits, including the title track, "A Kind of Magic". Also charting from the album were "Friends Will Be Friends", "Who Wants to Live Forever?" (featuring an orchestra conducted by Michael Kamen), and the de facto theme from Highlander, "Princes of the Universe".[109]
In summer of 1986, Queen went on their final tour with Freddie Mercury.[110][111] A sold-out tour in support of A Kind of Magic, once again they hired Spike Edney, leading to him being dubbed the unofficial fifth member.[112][113] The Magic Tour's highlight was at Wembley Stadium in London and resulted in the live double album, Queen at Wembley, released on CD and as a live concert DVD, which has gone five times platinum in the US and four times platinum in the UK.[14][114] Queen could not book Wembley for a third night, but they did play at Knebworth Park. The show sold out within two hours and over 120,000 fans packed the park for what was Queen's final live performance with Mercury.[115] During the tour, Queen performed a concert at Slane Castle, Ireland, infront of an audience of 95,000, which broke the venue's attendance record.[116] The band also played behind the Iron Curtain when they performed to a crowd of 80,000 in Budapest, in what was one of the biggest rock concerts ever held in Eastern Europe.[117] More than one million people saw Queen on the tour—400,000 in the United Kingdom alone, a record at the time.[94]
After working on various solo projects during 1988 (including Mercury's collaboration with Montserrat Caballé, Barcelona), the band released The Miracle in 1989. The album continued the direction of A Kind of Magic, using a pop-rock sound mixed with a few heavy numbers. It spawned the European hits "I Want It All", "Breakthru", "The Invisible Man", "Scandal", and "The Miracle".[118]
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 other members adding minimally. With The Miracle, the band's songwriting became more collaborative, and they vowed to credit the final product only to Queen as a group.[119]
Mercury: illness, death, and tribute (1988–1992)
"There was all that time when we knew Freddie was on the way out, we kept our heads down"
—Brian May[120]
On 23 November 1991, in a prepared statement made on his deathbed, Mercury confirmed that he had AIDS.[130] Within 24 hours of the statement, he died of bronchial pneumonia, which was brought on as a complication of AIDS.[131] His funeral service on 27 November in Kensal Green, West London was private, and held in accordance with the Zoroastrian religious faith of his family.[132][133] "Bohemian Rhapsody" was re-released as a single shortly after Mercury's death, with "These Are the Days of Our Lives" as the double A-side. The music video for "These Are the Days of Our Lives" contain Mercury's final scenes in front of the camera.[134] The single went to number one in the UK, remaining there for five weeks – the only recording to top the Christmas chart twice and the only one to be number one in four different years (1975, 1976, 1991, and 1992).[135] Initial proceeds from the single – approximately £1,000,000 – were donated to the Terrence Higgins Trust.[136]
Queen's popularity was stimulated in the United States when "Bohemian Rhapsody" was featured in the 1992 comedy film Wayne's World.[137] Its inclusion helped the song reach number two on the Billboard Hot 100 for five weeks in 1992 (it remained in the Hot 100 for over 40 weeks),[137] and won the band an MTV Award at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards.[138] The compilation album Classic Queen also reached number four on the Billboard 200, and is certified three times platinum in the US.[14][137] Wayne's World footage was used to make a new music video for "Bohemian Rhapsody", with which the band and management were delighted.[139]
On 20 April 1992, The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert was held at London's Wembley Stadium to a 72,000-strong crowd.[140] Performers, including Def Leppard, Robert Plant, Guns N' Roses, Elton John, David Bowie, George Michael, Annie Lennox, Extreme, and Metallica performed various Queen songs along with the three remaining Queen members. The concert is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as "The largest rock star benefit concert",[141] as it was televised to over 1.2 billion viewers worldwide,[94] and raised over £20,000,000 for AIDS charities.[136]
Made in Heaven to 46664 Concert (1995–2003)
"You guys should go out and play again. It must be like having a Ferrari in the garage waiting for a driver"
—Elton John, on Queen being without a lead singer since the death of Freddie Mercury.[146]
Brian May and Roger Taylor performed together at several award ceremonies and charity concerts, sharing vocals with various guest singers. During this time, they were billed as Queen + followed by the name of the guest singer. In 1998, the duo appeared at Luciano Pavarotti's benefit concert with Brian performing "Too Much Love Will Kill You" with Pavarotti, later playing "Radio Ga Ga", "We Will Rock You", and "We Are the Champions" with Zucchero. They again attended and performed in 2003. Several of the guest singers recorded new versions of Queen's hits under the Queen + name, such as Robbie Williams providing vocals for "We Are the Champions" for the soundtrack of A Knight's Tale (2001).[149]
Queen + Paul Rodgers (2004–2009)
Main article: Queen + Paul Rodgers
Between 2005 and 2006, Queen + Paul Rodgers embarked on a world tour, which was the first time Queen toured since their last tour with Freddie Mercury in 1986.[156] The band's drummer Roger Taylor commented; "We never thought we would tour again, Paul [Rodgers] came along by chance and we seemed to have a chemistry. Paul is just such a great singer. He's not trying to be Freddie."[156] The first leg was in Europe, the second in Japan, and the third in the US in 2006.[157] Queen received the inaugural VH1 Rock Honors at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on 25 May 2006.[157] The Foo Fighters paid homage to the band in performing "Tie Your Mother Down" to open the ceremony before being joined on stage by May, Taylor, and Paul Rodgers, who played a selection of Queen hits.[158]
Queen and Paul Rodgers officially split up without animosity on 12 May 2009.[164] Rodgers stated: "My arrangement with [Queen] was similar to my arrangement with Jimmy [Page] in The Firm in that it was never meant to be a permanent arrangement".[164] Rodgers did not rule out the possibility of working with Queen again.[165][166]
Departure from EMI, 40th Anniversary (2009–present)
On 20 May 2009, May and Taylor performed "We Are the Champions" live on the season finale of American Idol with winner Kris Allen and runner-up Adam Lambert providing a vocal duet.[167] In mid-2009, after the split of Queen + Paul Rodgers, the Queen online website announced a new Greatest Hits compilation named Absolute Greatest. The album was released on 16 November and peaked at number 3 in the official UK Chart.[168] The album contains 20 of Queen's biggest hits spanning their entire career and was released in four different formats: single disc, double disc (with commentary), double disc with feature book, and a vinyl record. Prior to its release, a competition was run by Queen online to guess the track listing as a promotion for the album.[169]On 30 October 2009, May wrote a fanclub letter on his website stating that Queen had no intentions to tour in 2010 but that there was a possibility of a performance.[170] He was quoted as saying, "The greatest debate, though, is always about when we will next play together as Queen. At the moment, in spite of the many rumours that are out there, we do not have plans to tour in 2010. The good news, though, is that Roger and I have a much closer mutual understanding these days—privately and professionally ... and all ideas are carefully considered. Music is never far away from us. As I write, there is an important one-off performance on offer, in the USA, and it remains to be decided whether we will take up this particular challenge. Every day, doors seem to open, and every day, we interact, perhaps more than ever before, with the world outside. It is a time of exciting transition in Rock music and in 'The Business'. It's good that the pulse still beats".[170] On 15 November 2009, May and Taylor performed "Bohemian Rhapsody" live on the British TV show The X Factor alongside the finalists.[171]
"Many of you will have read bits and pieces on the internet about Queen changing record companies and so I wanted to confirm to you that the band have signed a new contract with Universal Music...we would like to thank the EMI team for all their hard work over the years, the many successes and the fond memories, and of course we look forward to continuing to work with EMI Music Publishing who take care of our songwriting affairs. Next year we start working with our new record company to celebrate Queen's 40th anniversary and we will be announcing full details of the plans over the next 3 months. As Brian has already said Queen's next moves will involve 'studio work, computers and live work"
On 14 March 2011, which marked the band's 40th anniversary, Queen's first five albums were re-released in the UK and some other territories as remastered deluxe editions (the US versions were released on 17 May).[176] The second five albums of Queen's back catalogue were released worldwide on 27 June, with the exception of the US and Canada (27 September).[177][178] The final five are scheduled for release in the UK on 5 September.[179]
In May 2011, Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell noted that Queen are currently scouting their once former and current live bassist Chris Chaney to join the band. Farrell stated: "I have to keep Chris away from Queen, who want him and they're not gonna get him unless we're not doing anything. Then they can have him."[180] In the same month, Paul Rodgers stated he may tour with Queen again in the near future.[181] At the 2011 Broadcast Music, Incorporated (BMI) Awards held in London on 4 October, Queen received the BMI Icon Award in recognition for their airplay success in the US.[182][183]
Queen biography
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