Music - Albums - Videos

Queen were an English rock band formed in 1970 in London by guitarist Brian May, lead vocalist Freddie Mercury and drummer Roger Taylor, with bassist John Deacon completing the lineup the following year.

However, Philip "Spike" Edney, on keys, bass, guitar, trombone and backing vocals, has worked with the band to such an extent that he has been referred to as "the fifth member of Queen". The band were 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 enjoyed success in the UK 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. They have released fifteen studio albums, five live albums, and numerous compilation albums. Eighteen of these have reached number one on charts around the world. Following Mercury's death in 1991 and Deacon's retirement in 1997, May and Taylor have performed infrequently under the Queen name. Since 2004 they have been collaborating with Paul Rodgers, under the moniker Queen + Paul Rodgers.
The final albums and Mercury's death (1990–1997)
After fans and the tabloid press noted Mercury's gaunt appearance in public during 1988, rumours began to spread that Mercury was suffering from AIDS. For reasons still not confirmed, Mercury flatly denied them at the time, insisting he was merely "exhausted" and too busy to provide interviews. However, the band decided to continue making albums free of internal conflict and differences, starting with The Miracle and continuing with Innuendo, which was recorded during 1990 but not released until the beginning of 1991 as Mercury's health was a major factor in the delay. Despite his deteriorating health, Mercury continued to contribute. The band released their second greatest hits compilation, Greatest Hits II, in October 1991. On 23 November 1991, in a prepared statement made on his deathbed, Mercury confirmed that he had AIDS. Within twelve hours of that statement, he died of bronchial pneumonia, which was brought on by AIDS. His funeral service was private, held in accordance with the Zoroastrian religious faith of his family. "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 single went to number 1 for the second time in the UK. Initial proceeds from the single – approximately £1,000,000 – were donated to the Terrence Higgins Trust. 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 number two for five weeks in the United States charts in 1992. The song was made into a Wayne's World music video, with which the band and management were delighted. On 20 April 1992, the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert was held at London's Wembley Stadium. Performers included Def Leppard, Lisa Stansfield, Elton John, David Bowie, Robert Plant, Tony Iommi, Annie Lennox, Guns N' Roses, Extreme, Roger Daltrey, George Michael, Ian Hunter, Mick Ronson, Zucchero, Metallica, Liza Minnelli, Elizabeth Taylor and Spinal Tap, along with the three remaining members of Queen, performed many of Queen's major hits. It was a successful concert that was televised to over 1 billion viewers worldwide. The concert is listed in The Guinness Book of Records as "The largest rock star benefit concert." It raised over £20,000,000 for AIDS charities. The band also terminated their Capitol Records contract and signed a deal with Hollywood Records as their new U.S label. The statue of Freddie Mercury in Montreux that is also featured on the cover of the album Made in Heaven (1995).
Queen never actually disbanded, although their last album of original material, titled Made in Heaven, was released in 1995, four years after 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. John Deacon's last involvement with the band was in 1997, when the band recorded the track "No-One but You (Only the Good Die Young)". It was the last song recorded by Queen, and it was released as a bonus track on the Queen Rocks compilation album later that year. Due to demand from Queen fans, the song was later released as a single reaching #13 in the UK chart.
Sound and style
Queen composed music that drew inspiration from many different genres of music, often with a tongue-in-cheek attitude. Among the genres they have been associated with are: dance/disco, glam rock, hard rock, heavy metal, pop rock, progressive rock and psychedelic rock. Queen also wrote songs that were inspired by genres that are not typically associated with rock, such as country, ragtime, opera, gospel, vaudeville and folk. Sonic experimentation figured heavily in Queen's songs. A distinctive characteristic of Queen's music are the vocal harmonies which are usually composed of the voices of May, Mercury and Taylor best heard on the studio albums A Night at the Opera and A Day at the Races. Some of the ground work for the development of this sound can be attributed to their former producer Roy Thomas Baker as well as their engineer Mike Stone. Besides vocal harmonies, Queen were also known for multi-tracking voices to imitate the sound of a large choir through overdubs. According to Brian May, there are over 180 vocal overdubs in "Bohemian Rhapsody". Many Queen songs were also written with audience participation in mind, such as "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions".
Hit Singles
Over the course of their career, Queen have been regarded as a consistent hit maker. Many of their songs reached either #1, or high positions in charts around the world. Queen have released three Greatest Hits Compilations though due to the definition of a hit, there should have been more singles in their Greatest Hits catalogs as some songs reached the top 40# or 30# in countries and have made the UK Top 75 or US Top 100. The following singles reached the UK Top 75 or the US Top 100
* 1974 - Seven Seas of Rhye
* 1974 - Killer Queen
* 1975 - Now I'm Here
* 1975 - Bohemian Rhapsody
* 1976 - You're My Best Friend
* 1976 - Somebody to Love
* 1977 - Tie Your Mother Down
* 1977 - Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy
* 1977 - We are the Champions and We Will Rock You
* 1978 - Spread Your Wings
* 1978 - Fat Bottomed Girls and Bicycle Race
* 1978 - Don't Stop Me Now
* 1979 - Love of My Life (Live)
* 1979 - Crazy Little Thing Called Love
* 1980 - Save Me
* 1980 - Play the Game
* 1980 - Another One Bites the Dust
* 1980 - Flash"
* 1981 - Under Pressure
* 1982 - Body Language
* 1982 - Las Palabras de Amor
* 1982 - Back Chat
* 1984 - Radio Ga Ga
* 1984 - I Want to Break Free
* 1984 - It's a Hard Life
* 1984 - Hammer to Fall
* 1984 - Thank God It's Christmas
* 1985 - One Vision
* 1986 - A Kind of Magic
* 1986 - Friends Will Be Friends
* 1986 - Who Wants to Live Forever
* 1989 - I Want It All
* 1989 - Breakthru
* 1989 - The Invisible Man
* 1989 - Scandal
* 1989 - The Miracle
* 1991 - Innuendo
* 1991 - I'm Going Slightly Mad
* 1991 - Headlong
* 1991 - The Show Must Go On
* 1991 - Bohemian Rhapsody and These Are the Days of Our Lives
* 1995 - Heaven for Everyone
* 1995 - A Winter's Tale
* 1996 - Too Much Love Will Kill You
* 1996 - Let Me Live
* 1996 - You Don't Fool Me
* 1998 - No-One But You (Only the Good Die Young)
* 2008 - C-lebrity