Queen was an rock band from England. They were formed in London in 1970. The original line-up consisted of Brian May, Freddie Mercury, Roger Taylor, and John Deacon.

Intro (Edit)

Queen was an rock band from England. They were formed in London in 1970. The original line-up consisted of Brian May, Freddie Mercury, Roger Taylor, and John Deacon.

In 1968, Brian May and bassist Tim Staffel decided to form a band. They advertised for a drummer at their college. Roger Taylor, auditioned and got the job. Then they decided to use the band name Smile.

In 1969, they were signed to Mercury Records. In 1970, Staffel left the band to join another band. The remaining members changed their name to Queen. The name change was encouraged by a fan. His name was Freddie Mercury. This was before Freddie had joined as a vocalist.

The band has numerous bass guitarists during 1970 and 1971. No one seemed to fit with the chemistry of the band. They didn’t find the right person until February of 1971. They had settled on John Deacon and began to rehearse for their first album.

After many delays, the band finally released their first album in 1973, called “Queen.” In the United Kingdom, the album peaked at number 24 and went Platinum. In the United States, the album peaked at number 83 and went Gold. The album didn’t do that great commercially, but critics praised the bands efforts.

In 1974, Queen II was released. The album peaked at number 5 on the British album charts. The album featured the bands first hit, “Seven Seas of Rhye.” This album is Queen’s heaviest and darkest release.

During the writing of the next album, “Sheer Heart Attack,” Brian May had to be absent because of medical complications. Regardless, the album was released in 1974. It peaked at number 2 in the United Kingdom and went Gold in the United States. It gave the band their first taste of commercial success.

In 1975, the band embarked on a world tour. They toured the United States, Canada, and Japan for the first time.

Later on in 1975, the band recorded and released the album “A Night At The Opera.” At that time, it was the most expensive album produced. In Britain, the album was very successful and it went triple platinum in the United States. The album also featured the hit single, “Bohemian Rhapsody.” That single was at number 1 in the UK for nine straight weeks and is Britain’s third best selling single of all time. In the United States charts, the song reached number 9. The re-release of the song peaked out at number 2.

In 1976, the band hit up the studio again. This time they recorded “A Day At The Races.” The album’s major hits included “Somebody To Love” and “Tie Your Mother Down.” The song Tie Your Mother Down is one of the bands heaviest songs and was a staple to their live shows.

The year 1977 saw the release of “News of The World.” The album featured some of Queen’s biggest hits to date. “We Will Rock You” and “We Are The Champions.” Instantly, those songs became international sports anthems.

In 1978 the band released “Jazz.” The album included the singles “Fat Bottomed Girls” and “Bicycle Race.” The album was noted for including many musical styles and, ironically, jazz was not one of those styles mentioned. The album went Platinum in the United States and in their home country, the United Kingdom.

“The Game” was released by Queen in 1980. The album included the singles, “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” and “Another One Bites The Dust.” Both of these singles reached number 1 in the United States. The album also stayed at number 1 for four consecutive weeks on the US charts. This album has sold over four million copies since its release.

1981 saw the release of Queen’s first best of compilation album. It was simply called, “Greatest Hits.” It included the bands greatest hits from 1974-1981. It was, and continues to be, the United Kingdom’s best selling album of all time.

Queen released “Hot Space” in 1982. The album is noted for its heavy disco and funk influences. This became fault to a decline in popularity, as fans preferred their traditional rock style they had played before. Despite the fans receiving the album poorly, the single, “Body Language,” peaked out at number 11 on the US charts.

In 1984, the band released their next album. It was called, “The Works.” It included the successful singles, “Radio Ga Ga” and “I Want To Break Free.” Despite the success of these singles, the album failed in the United States.

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History (Edit)

In 1986, the band released “A Kind of Magic.” Most of the songs on this album were intended for the film, “Highlander.” The album was very successful. In the United States the album went Gold and in the United Kingdom, the album went four-times platinum.  The album was at number 1 in the UK for 63 weeks.

On this tour, the band played some of their most famous gigs. The highlight was at Wembley Stadium in London. The performance was recorded and released as a live CD and as a live video. After two nights of selling out Wembley Stadium, the band couldn’t book it a third night. Instead, they booked a show at Knebworth Park. It sold out within two hours and over 120,000 fans packed the park for the gig. This was Queen’s final performance with Freddie Mercury.

In 1989, the band released the album, “The Miracle.” The album had a pop-rock type of sound and a some heavier songs. The album also spawned the singles, “I Want It All”, “Breakthru”, “The Invisible Man”, “Scandal”, and the title track, “The Miracle.” The album went Gold in the United States, peaking at number 24, while the album went two-times Platinum in the United Kingdom and stayed at number 1 for 37 weeks.

The Miracle was followed up by 1991’s “Innuendo.” The album was recorded in 1990, but it wasn’t released until 1991 due to medical complications of Freddie Mercury. The album went Gold in the United States and peaked at number 30 on the Billboard charts. In the United Kingdom, the album peaked at number 1, for 37 weeks, and went two-times Platinum.

In October of 1991, the band released another best of compilation. This album was called, Greatest Hits II.

On October 23, 1991, a statement from Freddie’s deathbed was made, confirming that he did have AIDS. Twelve hours later, Freddie died of bronchial pneumonia, which was brought on by AIDS.

The song, “Bohemian Rhapsody” was re-released as a single shortly after Mercury’s death. The single went to number 1 for the second time in the UK. In 1992, the song was featured on the TV show, Wayne’s World. This propelled the song to number 2, for five straight weeks, in the United States.

After Mercury’s death, Queen never actually disbanded. Their last album of original material was released in 1995. The album was called, “Made In Heaven.” It was made up of Mercury’s final recording sessions of 1991 and unreleased material from their previously released albums.

During 2004-2009, May and Taylor annoucned that they would reunite and return to tour in 2005, with Paul Rodgers, of Free and Bad Company, on lead vocals. The band was not called “Queen.” It was called “Queen + Paul Rodgers,” so that it would not seem like the band had replaced, Freddie Mercury. Since John Deacon had already retired, Danny Miranda, of Blue Öyster Cult replaced him on bass.

During this tour, a live CD and DVD were released. They were called “Return of the Champions.” The recordings were from the show at Sheffield Arena in Sheffield, England.

Another live DVD from was released from this tour. It was called “Super Live in Japan.” The DVD was filmed at Saitama Super Arena on October 27, 2006.

The new version of the band has released an album called, “The Cosmos Rocks.” Following the album, the band embarked on the the “Rock The Cosmos Tour.” The album peaked at number 5 in the United Kingdom and at number 47 in the United States.

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Update (Edit)

Queen and Paul Rodgers officially split up on May 12, 2009.

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