Queen is a British rock band founded in London in 1970, whose fusion of heavy metal, glam rock, and camp theater made it one of the most popular groups of the 70s.
Members include Freddie Mercury on vocals and pianist, Brian May on guitar, Roger Taylor on drums, and John Deacon on bass.
The band held several small concerts for close friends before being given the chance to test a new recording studio called “De Lane Lea”.In exchange for testing the studio and equipment, they could make their demonstration tapes
In 1972, they signed a recording contract with Trident and were given a “break time” in the studio to record an album.
In July 1973, their debut album “Queen” was released, after which they were given a long break playing support for Mott The Hoople, on a tour that began in November.
The second album “Queen II” was released in March 1974, postponed due to a minor printing error.
Work on the third album began without Brian, who was eventually good enough to return to the studio to record vocals and guitar. The resulting album, called “Sheer Heart Attack”, was released in November 1974 and gave Queen her first album and number 2 single, “Killer Queen”.
They revealed their new single “Bohemian Rhapsody”, but at 5 minutes and 55 seconds, everyone told them it was too long. However, Freddie gave a copy to his close friend, DJ Kenny Everett, who managed to broadcast it on national radio 14 times in 2 days. This, and the first true promotional video, helped the single reach no. 1, where he remained for 9 weeks
“A Night At The Opera” was the Queen’s fourth album and, at the time, the most expensive ever recorded.
Launched in November 1975, it went directly to no. 1 and gave the band their first “platinum-selling album”
“A Day At The Races” was released in December 1976 and gave the band a second no. 1 album and single number 2 “Somebody To Love”
The album “News Of The World” followed in October 1977, which contained the classics “We Will Rock You” and “We Are The Champions”, which again reached number 2 on the singles chart.
The last single from the album, “Another One Bites The Dust”, became the band’s biggest single worldwide and gave Queen the second no. 1 in less than a year.
By the end of 1980, Queen had sold over forty-five million albums worldwide
In July 1985, “Live Aid” took place, where many top bands gathered to raise money for the people of Ethiopia. Queen was unanimously considered the best act of the show, ahead of artists such as David Bowie, Paul McCartney, Status Quo, The Who, and many others.
On November 23, 1991, Freddie announced in a press release that he had the AIDS virus, but it was not until the next day that it was announced that he had died.
Freddie’s last wish was for Bohemian Rhapsody to be released after his death to raise money to fight AIDS.
After the singer’s death, an album with the band’s biggest hits was released, a commemorative concert was held and the album Made in Heaven and the song “No-One, but You” were released.
The band entered the Hall of Fame in 2001 and the following year received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In 2004, Brian May and Roger Taylor announced that they would join Paul Rodgers to reform the Queen.
In 2008, the new band released the album The Cosmos Rocks and finally split in 2009.
