Imperial College, London 1968 Brian May and Tim Staffell, two long-time
friends and students at the college who had previously played in a band together, decide
to start a new band. May would play guitar and Staffel would play
bass and sing. They placed an ad for a “Mitch Mitchell/Ginger
Baker type” drummer, and another Imperial College student named Roger Taylor auditioned
and got the job. They named the band Smile, and soon began
playing gigs all over town. Soon, they got the attention of the American
record label Mercury Records, who signed them in 1969. They recorded three songs at Trident Studios
in June. Meanwhile, Staffell’s friend Freddie Bulsara,
who had been in various bands, had probably become Smile’s biggest fan. He was at all their shows, and kind of like
an unofficial fourth member. However, Staffell didn’t like the direction
Smile was going, and left the band to form a new one called Humpy Bong. Brian May and Roger Taylor still wanted to
perform their songs, but they needed a new lead singer. Enter Freddie Bulsara, who enthusiastically
took Staffell’s spot. Bulsara convinced them to change the band’s
name to Queen. The next year, he would change his own name
to Freddie Mercury. Freddie sang beautifully, but wasn’t big
on playing instruments, so Queen would need a bassist. The band went through three before John Deacon
ended up joining the band, who not only excelled at bass but also at tinkering around with
electronics. After that, Queen practiced relentlessly. As a four piece, they played their first show
on July 2, 1971 at Surrey College. By that point, they had already recorded a
four-song demo but had no luck attracting record labels with it. Using his graphic design skills, Mercury designed
a logo for the band based on the zodiac signs of its members. Those two lions represent Deacon and Taylor,
both Leo, the crab represents May, who is Cancer, and the two fairies represent Mercury,
who was Virgo. In 1972, the band got their first break thanks
to producers John Anthony and Roy Thomas Baker. They got them a management deal under Neptune
Productions to try to help them get a record label. One of the biggest perks was access to Trident
studios, one of the best recording studios in the world at the time. The band got lots of quality time learning
how to produce magnificent recordings in those studios and recorded quite a few songs with
Anthony and Baker. The next year, Nepute Productions got them
a contract with both Trident and EMI Records. On July 13, 1973, EMI released Queen’s self-titled
debut studio album. Elektra Records released it in the United
States. It was a mix of heavy metal and progressive
rock, and the few critics who reviewed it generally loved it. However, the lead single, “Keep Yourself
Alive,” didn’t do well, and the album failed to get much mainstream success. In November, Queen went on their first major
tour to support the band Mott the Hoople. After that tour, the band went right back
to Trident Studios to finish recording songs for their second studio album. EMI and Elektra both released those songs
as the album Queen II on March 8, 1974. The album ultimately also didn’t do that
well, but the cover of the album first featured this iconic picture of the band, taken by
Mick Rock. Also, the album featured the band’s first
true hit song in the UK, “Seven Seas of Rhye.” Why was the song a hit? Well mostly because back in February the band
appeared on the popular BBC program Top of the Pops after David Bowie had to cancel. Yep, they were a last-minute replacement. To promote Queen II, the band went on their
first-ever headlining tour of the United Kingdom. In April, they went on their first-ever tour
in the United States. However, in May May, er...Brian May, that
is, in May got really sick with hepatitis, and Queen had to cancel the rest of their
tour dates. The band decided to record some new material
while May recovered. May had also developed a stomach ulcer, and
was so sick he couldn’t even join them to record his guitar parts, so producer Roy Thomas
Baker stepped in quite a bit. Finally, May was able to join the band in
the studio, but apparently spent a lot of time in the bathroom between takes. Poor guy. Regardless, they eventually finished what
would become a masterpiece, their third studio album, Sheer Heart Attack, released by EMI
and Elektra on November 8, 1974. The album was a hit both in the United Kingdom
and United States, thanks in large part to the lead single “Killer Queen.” Sheer Heart Attack definitely had catchier
and radio-ready songs, drifting away from the progressive rock of their first two albums. That said, by this album Queen had developed
a stunningly original sound, highlighted by the musicianship of the four members, the
more than 3-octave vocal range of Freddie Mercury, and the advanced and innovative production. Sheer Heart Attack also featured the hits
“Now I’m Here” and “Lily of the Valley.” Oh, and the album’s song “Stone Cold Crazy”
might have accidentally created speed metal. By January 1975, Queen was now in the mainstream,
and went on a world tour, returning to the United States as headliners this time. They sold out so much that they had to add
more shows, sometimes playing two shows in one day. The band dressed up in elaborate costumes
and the shows had all kinds of special effects. In April, Queen arrived in Japan with more
than 3,000 adoring fans there to greet them. Throughout the year, the band tried to get
out of their contract with Trident Studios, which was kind of screwing them over since
they didn’t see much money at all from the first three albums. They finally split with Trident in September
and got a new manager named John Reid, who also happened to be Elton John’s manager. Meanwhile, they had been recording at various
studios what would become their fourth studio album, A Night at the Opera, named after the
classic film. Supposedly, it was the most expensive album
ever recorded at the time of its release...around $425,000 in today’s money. They multi-tracked the heck out of it, and
especially layered harmonies on top of each other in a way not done in recordings ever
before, with May singing lower parts, Taylor singing higher parts, and Mercury everything
else. They used a wide variety of instruments and
explored a wide variety of styles. The songs were complex, yet
still immediately catchy. The most epic of epic songs recorded for the
album was “Bohemian Rhapsody.” If you’ve never heard this song before,
for crying out loud, go listen to it right now. It’s only six minutes. Just come right back. Welcome back. Uh, yeah, like I said, the song was nearly
six minutes long, which is why the record label executives and friends of the band were
all like “that’s too long of a song, it will never be a hit.” The band disagreed, and Mercury snuck a copy
of the song to his friend, a popular DJ named Kenny Everett, only if he promised not to
play it. Wink wink. Oh Everett played it alright. 14 times in 2 days. And everybody loved it, and it ended up being
one of their biggest hits, ultimately becoming the UK’s third-highest single of all time. Queen even made a music video for it, which
bands typically didn’t do back then. Keep in mind that this was seven years before
MTV existed. EMI and Elektra released A Night at the Opera
on November 21, 1975. By Christmas, “Bohemian Rhapsody” was
at the top of the UK Singles Chart, and stayed there for nine weeks. Another stand out hit from A Night at the
Opera was “You’re My Best Friend.” Queen went on another world tour to support
the album and by now were one of the biggest bands in the world. On September 18, 1976, the band played a free
concert at Hyde Park, which drew a crowd of over 150,000. It was organized by Richard Branson. Yes, THAT Richard Branson. Meanwhile, Queen had also been recording what
would become their fifth studio album, A Day at the Races, named after another Marx Brothers
film. It was the first album in which they completely
produced it themselves. Released again by EMI and Elektra on December
10, 1976, A Day at the Races was another smash hit. It featured the singles “Somebody to Love,”
“Tie Your Mother Down,” “Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy,” and “Long Away.” Critics generally praised it, and today it’s
on many greatest albums of all time lists. Queen toured to support the album for the
first half of 1977. This was the tour in which the crowd began
to often just take over singing all of their songs, and was the inspiration for two new
songs, which would make their next album. Those two songs? “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions.” Today, the two songs, which of course are
usually played back to back since they were released together and radio DJs just started
playing them that way, are known for being two of the most famous songs of all time. They are especially known as sports anthems. EMI and Elektra released the band’s sixth
studio album, News of the World, on October 28, 1977. Other than “We Are the Champions” and
“We Will Rock You,” the album featured the singles “Spread Your Wings” and “It’s
Late.” This album saw the band abandoning their symphonic
rock sound a bit and returning more to their hard rock roots. Yeah, 1977 was an interesting year in music. That’s the year when punk rock exploded
around the world, and many music fans were turning against progressive rock bands like
Queen, who was a seemingly easy target since they had such popular appeal. This might be why critics at the time were
generally not as excited about News of the World. However, today many argue it’s one of the
best Queen albums. The band once again went on a worldwide tour
to support the album. By this tour, their shows were more spectacular
than ever before, with amazing special effects and crazy costume changes. From July to October 1978, they recorded their
seventh studio album, Jazz. Jazz had a more lighthearted feel to it, and
featured three of their most well-known songs today: “Bicycle Race,” “Fat Bottomed
Girls,” and “Don’t Stop Me Now.” However, when it was released by EMI and Elektra
on November 10, 1978, many critics trashed it. One famous critique came from Dave Marsh of
Rolling Stone magazine, who wrote that Queen had become too elitist, saying “This group
has come to make it clear exactly who is superior and who is inferior. Its anthem, ‘We Will Rock You,’ is a marching
order: you will not rock us, we will rock you. Indeed, Queen may be the first truly fascist
rock band.” Other journalists criticized the publicity
stunt of staging a nude female bicycle race to promote the album. But it wasn’t just critics. Band members Roger Taylor and John Deacon
both expressed they didn’t like how Jazz turned out. That didn’t matter. They were probably at the height of their
popularity, selling out shows as they continued to tour around the world. On June 22, 1979, EMI and Elektra released
Queen’s first live album, Live Killers, recorded from the European portion of their
Jazz world tour. On October 5, they released a single for the
song “Crazy Little Thing Called Love.” Freddie Mercury made the song as a tribute
to Elvis Presley, and completed it in less than ten minutes. It’s basically a rockabilly song, and sounded
nothing like anything Queen had created before. Strangely, the song ended up being the band’s
first number one single on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. Meanwhile, the band was continuing to experiment
in the studio. They began using synthesizers. Hey, just in time for the ‘80s! All this experimentation led to their most
diverse album to date, their eighth studio album, The Game, released by EMI and Elektra
on June 30, 1980. In addition to “Crazy Little Thing Called
Love,” the album featured the singles “Save Me,” “Play the Game,” and “Another
One Bites the Dust,” which features one of the best bass lines in music history. The Game was both a critical and commercial
success. In fact, it went on to become their best-selling
studio album in the United States. “Another One Bites the Dust” eventually
became the band’s biggest selling single, and it even became a crossover hit, getting
as high as number two on both the Hot Soul Singles chart and the Disco Top 100 chart. Disco? Yes, disco. In September 1980, Queen performed three sold out shows at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Meanwhile, the band had recorded their first
soundtrack for the space opera film Flash Gordon. Featuring the single “Flash,” EMI released
the Flash Gordon soundtrack on December 8, 1980 and Elektra released it in the States
the following February. It was their ninth studio album. In 1981, Queen toured South America for the
first time. In fact, they became the first big rock band
to play in Latin American stadiums. They played to 131,000 and 120,000 on two
consecutive nights in Sao Paulo. They played to a crowd of more than 300,000
in Buenos Aires. On April 6, 1981, EMI and Elektra released
Roger Taylor’s debut solo album, Fun in Space. While Queen toured throughout most of 1981,
they did return to the studio in the fall. Specifically, Mountain Studios, in the small
town of Montreux, Switzerland, one of their favorite studios over the years. Well guess who showed up one day? David freaking Bowie. In October, a Queen jam session featuring
Bowie led to the creation of “Under Pressure,” which today is considered one of both Queen’s
best songs ever AND David Bowie’s best songs ever. They quickly recorded and released it on October
26, 1981. It immediately was a worldwide hit. That same day, EMI and Elektra released Queen’s
first compilation album, Greatest Hits, which featured...uh...their greatest hits up to
that point. Now, this is not your typical “greatest
hits” album. It eventually became the best selling album-not
just greatest hits album, but ALBUM, period- in the UK. Queen’s Greatest Hits album has basically
been on and off the charts my entire life. It has spent over 900 weeks on the UK Albums
Chart-which is a record, by the way- and 400 weeks on the Billboard 200 chart. Go ahead and check your parents’ or grandparents’
record collection. It’s there, isn’t it. In 1982, Queen decided to stick with synthesizers
and disco, recording their tenth studio album, Hot Space. Released by EMI and Elektra on May 21, Hot
Space marked a big shift in direction from the band’s earlier music, not only embracing
disco but also going all in with funk, R&B, and even dance. So...um, yeah this shift scared some fans
away. Those who only adored their more familiar
rock sound did not dig Hot Space. Still, millions bought the album and the radio
played the heck out of it, especially the singles “Body Language” and “Staying
Power.” Hot Space had “Under Pressure” on it,
too. Oh, and Michael Jackson, who by this time
was friends with the band, later cited Hot Space as a big influence for his own album,
Thriller. You’ve heard of that one, haven’t you? For most of the rest of 1982, Queen toured
to support their album. On September 25, they performed on Saturday
Night Live, their only performance on the show. However, by that point their popularity had
clearly declined in the United States, and over the next few years they would focus on
touring elsewhere. In 1983, however, they took a break from touring
altogether. Freddie began to record a solo album, and
Roger began to record a second solo album. In April, Brian began recording, joined in
the studio by folks like Edward Van Halen, Alan Gratzer, Phil Chen, and Fred Mandel. The result of these recordings would end up
being the Star Fleet Project, which Brian released on October 31, 1983. By that time, the band had reunited to record
what would become their eleventh studio album, The Works, released by EMI and oh...this time...CAPITOL
Records, on February 27, 1984. The Works saw the band bringing back at least
some of their more guitar-based, rock sound, yet still incorporating an electronic sound. The Works featured the singles “Radio Ga
Ga,” “It’s a Hard Life,” “Hammer to Fall,” and “I Want to Break Free.” The music video for “I Want to Break Free,”
which features the band dressed in drag, was controversial in the United States. MTV even banned it. Goodness, MTV. I thought you used to be cool. Anyway, on June 25, 1984, EMI, Capitol, and
Parlophone Records released Roger Taylor’s second solo album, Strange Frontier. Two months later, the band went on tour to
support The Works, and it was the first to feature Spike Edney on keyboards. On April 29, 1985, Freddie Mercury finally
released his solo album, Mr. Bad Guy, with the help of Columbia Records. 1985 was the year for gigantic shows for Queen. In January, the band headlined two nights
of the first Rock in Rio festival in Rio de Janeiro. They played to 300,000 fans each night. And then, the biggest and most famous Queen
performance of all time. On July 13, 1985, the band performed to one
of the biggest television audiences in history. An estimated 1.9 billion people- 72,000 of
them in person- saw Queen give a mesmerizing performance of their greatest hits at Live
Aid, a huge benefit concert to raise money for those affected by the Ethiopian famine. Queen was the highlight of Live Aid. Freddie’s call and response “Aaaaaaay-o”
segment later was called “The Note Heard Round the World.” Today, it’s regarded as one of the greatest
rock performances of all time. The Live Aid performance re-energized the
band, and they headed back to the studio in September. Over the next few months, they would record
what would become their twelfth studio album, A Kind of Magic. Meanwhile, John Deacon started a band called
The Immortals that recorded one song and then broke up. I guess they weren’t immortal after all. EMI and Capitol released A Kind of Magic on
June 2, 1986. Much of the album is part of the soundtrack
to the film Highlander. Singles on A Kind of Magic included the title
track and “One Vision.” The album was a commercial hit, but received
mixed reviews from critics. The tour to support the album, which was another
huge success, would sadly be Freddie Mercury’s final tour with the band. In April 1987, Mercury found out he had HIV,
a horrible virus that attacks the immune system and leads to AIDS. At the time, having AIDS meant you usually
didn’t have very long to live, since doctors were still trying to figure out how to treat
it. After Freddie told his bandmates about it,
the band agreed to no longer tour. The general public would not know about Freddie’s
AIDS diagnosis until right before he died. For the rest of the year, the band pursued
various solo projects. Freddie recorded with the opera singer Montserrat
Caballé. Roger Taylor started a band called The Cross. In January 1988, Queen returned to the studio,
and spent the next year recording what would become their thirteenth studio album, The
Miracle. Coming out on May 22, 1989, it featured the
singles “I Want It All,” “Breakthru,” and “Scandal.” It was the first album released in the United
Kingdom by Parlophone Records, and Capitol released it again in the United States. Critics were again mixed about The Miracle,
but it was another commercial success. By 1990, the public seemed to know something
was up with the band. The band had made fewer and fewer public appearances. When they did appear, Freddie seemed to be
weak and sickly. However, Freddie insisted it was just because
he was “exhausted.” In November 1990, Queen ended their contract
with Capitol and signed a huge North American recording deal with Hollywood Records. Hollywood caught the band up to modern times,
and got their entire catalog on CD. Meanwhile, Queen had been recording new stuff
all year long. This would be their last time recording with
Freddie, whose health had been deteriorating. And yet, one song they recorded during this
time was one of their masterpieces that most people don’t know about, the epic “Innuendo,”
which I would argue rivals almost anything they ever recorded. This would be the title track for their fourteenth
studio album, released by Parlophone and Hollywood Records on February 4, 1991. In addition to the title track, Innuendo featured
the singles “Headlong,” “These Are the Days of Our Lives,” and “The Show Must
Go On.” Oh and don’t forget “I’m Going Slightly
Mad” with Freddie and his bananas. Critics mostly praised Innuendo and fans adored
it. It was the band’s most successful album
in the United States since The Works. The music video for “These Are the Days
of Our Lives” would be the last time Freddie appeared on camera. On October 28, EMI, Parlophone, and Hollywood
Records released Greatest Hits II, which also ended up being one of the most successful
greatest hits albums of all time. On November 23, 1991, Freddie Mercury confirmed
to the world that he had AIDS. Within 24 hours of releasing that statement,
he had died from bronchial pneumonia, brought on as a complication of AIDS. While the world mourned Freddie’s death,
Queen’s popularity seemed to rise again. Shortly after Freddie’s death, the band
had 10 albums on the UK top 100 chart. On April 20,1992, the remaining members played
the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness, a benefit for the Mercury Phoenix
Trust, which raised money for AIDS research. Various rock singers sang Freddie’s parts,
and the show was broadcast around the world to an audience of around 1.2 billion. That same year, Bohemian Rhapsody went to
the top of the charts in North America after the song was featured prominently in the film
Wayne’s World. Meanwhile, Brian, Roger, and John had come
across vocal and piano parts Freddie had recorded before his death. They added their own instrumentation and ended
up turning that into an album. That would be Made in Heaven, Queen’s fifteenth
and final studio album, released by Parlophone and Hollywood Records on November 6, 1995. It included the singles “Heaven for Everyone,”
“A Winter’s Tale,” and “Too Much Love Will Kill You.” The album kind of did feel like heaven. It was so happy and carefree. Critics generally praised it, and it proved
that up until the day he died, even if his body was deteriorating, his voice and songwriting
skills remained incredibly strong. In the following years, there were many, many
compilation albums, the occasional reunion, lots of side projects and collaborations,
and even a few solo albums from Brian May and Roger Taylor. In 2001, Queen was inducted into the Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2004, the band was inducted into the UK
Music Hall of Fame. Later that year, Brian and Roger announced
that Queen would reunite for a world tour the next year, with Paul Rodgers, who founded
the bands Free and Bad Company, as the singer. Freddie had loved Paul as a singer, by the
way. John Deacon would not be involved with the
project, as he had retired from music by this time. But Spike Edney would. Heck yeah, Spike. Queen + Paul Rodgers would be a thing over
the next four and a half years, even recording an album together- The Cosmos Rocks, released
on September 15, 2008. Paul and Brian and Roger split ways in 2009. That year, Brian and Roger began working with
the popular show American Idol, and developed a liking for singer Adam Lambert. The three hit it off, and Queen + Adam Lambert
have been a thing ever since. They’ve played hundreds of shows around
the world, and when they couldn’t play in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they recorded
a song called “You Are the Champions,” and it was a minor hit. Today, Queen is just as relevant as ever before. They remain one of the biggest and influential
rock bands of all time. Some estimate that the band has sold around
200 million records, which is just insane. Their musicianship is mostly unrivaled. They further helped progressive rock, hard
rock, and heavy metal enter the mainstream, and over the years developed a completely
distinct sound all their own. They constantly pushed the envelope, yet still
constantly had broad appeal. There will never be another Queen, and Queen
will never die. Long live Queen. So what’s your favorite Queen song or album? Which band should I cover for this series
next? Let me know in the comments below. One more note...I should also mention the
2018 release of the film Bohemian Rhapsody, which captured much of the band’s magic. It was actually a film more about Freddie
Mercury, and yeah if you’ve seen it you know there are parts that are historically
inaccurate. Regardless, I recommend it purely for the
way it captures the spirit of how they came up with and made music. Thanks for watching!
