Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Kristen Seurkamp
Professor Kerley
ENGL 2089-012
23 September 2018
Queen Biography
Queen was arguably one of the most influential and iconic bands in history. It was made
up of four musicians: Freddie Mercury -- born Farrokh Bulsara -- (lead singer/pianist), Brian
May (guitarist), John Deacon (bassist), and Roger Taylor (drummer). The four of them would go
on to sell multiple hit records, sell millions of albums, and become known as one of the most
Freddie Mercury was born in 1946 in Zanzibar, Tanzania. When Mercury turned eight, he
was sent to boarding school in Bombay where he joined his first band, the Hectics. He was the
piano player in this band, and they played covers of Little Richard’s songs. Mercury attended
London’s Ealing College of Art where he became friends with numerous other musicians. He
went on to spend decades singing, performing, and selling millions of albums with the band
Queen. In 1991, he died from AIDS-related bronchial pneumonia. He is remembered for his
amazing voice, bold music style, and being one of the most versatile and engaging performers in
history.
Brian May was born in 1947 in Hampton, England. He went to Hampton Grammar
School and was an exceptional student. May then went on to the London Imperial College,
studying astrophysics and getting a bachelor's degree in science. In 1971 he began his music
career with Queen playing lead guitar, after the previous band he was in, Smile, broke up. The
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guitar he used was actually homemade -- he had made it with his dad when he was a teenager,
and he called it the Red Special. Since the decline of the band after Freddie Mercury’s death,
May has received his Ph.D. in science and astrophysics, published numerous books, and has
devoted much time and effort to animal welfare causes. The majority of his time now is not
consumed by the band, but he does play lead guitar for the occasional Queen performance.
John Deacon was born in 1951 in Leicester, England. His music career started when he
was fourteen, playing guitar and bass in the band The New Opposition. He went on to the
auditioned for the role of bassist in the band Queen and the rest is history. Since the death of
Freddie Mercury, Deacon has chosen to live a private and quiet life with his family in London
Roger Taylor was born in 1949 in Kings Lynn, England. Growing up, Taylor really
enjoyed music and instrumentalism, moving him to learn how to play several instruments as a
child. In the mid-60s he played with a band named The Reaction before moving to London to
study dentistry and biology. In 1967, he became the drummer for the band Smile with guitarist
Brian May -- just three years before Queen was formed. Since the death of Freddie Mercury,
Taylor has been trying to maintain the band’s legacy by continuing to perform and promote
In the Beginning
Before the formation of Queen, Roger Taylor and Brian May had already been in a band
together called Smile. Brian May and his friend Tim Staffell created the band -- May on guitar
and Staffel on bass and vocals. Roger Taylor joined soon after when he saw an ad on a bulletin at
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his university of a band looking for a drummer. The three of them immediately clicked; however,
after two years together and only a few songs recorded, Staffell went on to play with another
band. This opened up the positions of lead singer and bassist in the band. Freddie Mercury had
become a fan and friends with the band members over the years -- they even shared an apartment
at one point. Once Staffell left, Mercury had been encouraging of May and Taylor to keep going
with their music careers and offered to sing for the band. This moment was the beginning of
The new band’s first two albums were both self titled as “Queen” (1973) and “Queen II”
(1974). “Queen” contained ten tracks, only one of which is recognized today as one of their more
iconic anthems -- “Keep Yourself Alive” (written by Brian May). However, the album as a
whole was held in high regard when it came out, as critics and fans enjoyed the band’s already
unique sound. According to music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine, “...they may have hit as hard
as Led Zeppelin but they didn't sound like anybody else, they were too odd in their theatricality
to be mistaken for another band” (Erlewine). Already with their first album, Queen had unique
and iconic sound -- sound in which would skyrocket their career as a band in the near future.
“Queen II” contained twelve tracks -- the most popular being “Seven Seas of Rhye”. This
second album was not received as warmly as their first album, with more negative reviews;
however, this did not hinder the band from continuing to take off. Although critics didn’t hold
this album in high esteem, this album is still a favorite of many fans. As for Taylor, he always
liked the sound the album had to offer, “We took so much trouble over that album, possibly too
much, but when we finished we felt really proud… Immediately, it got really bad reviews so I
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took it home to listen to again and thought 'Christ, are they right?' But after hearing it a few
weeks later, I still like it. I think it's great. We'll stick by it” (Jeff Giles).
Despite “Queen” and “Queen II” performing as vehicles gaining the band momentum, in
1974 they came out with their breakthrough album “Sheer Heart Attack”. This album contained
thirteen tracks, including the Queen anthem “Killer Queen” (written by Freddie Mercury).
Foreshadowing their albums to come, this album was hinting at the band’s new music stylings of
layered vocals and guitars. This album was received very well by critics and fans, making it their
As the band was met with more fans, rising stardom, and higher popularity -- they were
also met with more criticism. The music genre of “rock” in the 70s was still a controversial genre
as it was loud, fast-paced, and considered vulgar. However, Queen was very unique amongst
other rock bands of the time because every member of the band was a talented songwriter as well
as musician. Each member wrote at least two number one hits in the band’s lifetime, which was
not a common thing for bands to do. Queen also drew from many different musical influences
such as Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, David Bowie, Pink Floyd, and Little Richard.
Despite drawing from so many other musicians, Queen still managed to sound incredibly original
and recognizable. They were also known to use very unique stylings in their songs such as
bravado and orchestral sound, beautiful a capella, flawless harmonies, and poetic and sensitive
lyrics.
Queen’ s fourth and most popular album was “A Night at the Opera” (1975), which
contained twelve tracks. Of which included many well known Queen songs such as “Death on
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Two Legs”, “Love of my Life”, (both written by Freddie Mercury), and “You’re my Best
Friend” (written by John Deacon). However, most notably, this album held Queen’ s most
popular and iconic song to date -- “Bohemian Rhapsody” (also written by Freddie Mercury).
“Bohemian Rhapsody” was a six minute long track -- first receiving many negative reviews and
skepticism. TIME Magazine said of the song, “Lyrically, Queen’s songs manage to be
pretentious and irrelevant… the songs still sound mostly pretty empty, all flash and calculation”
(Rothman). The Rolling Stones didn’t even mention the song when they first reviewed the
album, but later came to label the song as a “brazen hodgepodge” (Rothman). Despite negative
critic reviews, the song still managed to soar to the top of the charts, becoming the first song in
the UK to hit number one on the charts twice. The song also is now the most streamed song from
the twentieth century. This song is considered to be arguably the most iconic song of all time.
In 1976 the band came out with their fifth album, “A Day at the Races”, which contained
ten tracks. Of which, the two most popular being “Somebody to Love” and “Good Old
Fashioned Lover Boy” (both written by Freddie Mercury). This album is considered to be a
sequel to “A Night at the Opera” as both albums share similar cover art, the titles are both from
old Marx Brothers films, and they serve as counterparts to each other. However, this album never
did as well as the preceding album -- some critics believed this album would have done better if
The band’s sixth album was “News of the World” (1977), which contained eleven tracks
and was considered the last of the classic-period Queen albums. Two of which are well known
Queen anthems -- “We Will Rock You” (written by Brian May), and “We are the Champions”
(written by Freddie Mercury). This album was a hit in the U.S. -- going four times platinum. The
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success of this album was also partly because of the band’s lengthy tour with Thin Lizzy that
year. According to critic Daryl Easlea, “What News Of The World demonstrates perfectly is
Queen’s unerringly ability to sound absolutely like no-other group – even when parodying other
Queen’s final albums produced in the 70s were “Jazz”(1978) and “Live Killers” (1979).
“Jazz” contained thirteen tracks -- their more popular tracks from this album being “Fat
Bottomed Girls” (written by Brian May), “Bicycle Race” , and “Don’t Stop Me Now” (both
written by Freddie Mercury). After the release of this album, the band threw what was
considered one of rock’s most lavish parties, and the party became known as one of the most
infamous events ever thrown by a rock group. The album went platinum in the U.S. and the band
spent the winter of 1978 touring the U.S. “Live Killers” was the band’s first concert album,
containing twenty one tracks that the band had performed live throughout the 70s.
The 70s were a great period for Queen. They were quickly gaining a lot of popularity, the
reputation of being a unique-sounding rock group, as well as the reputation of being able to put
on amazing live-performances. Queen set records in many countries for the large audience sizes
Throughout the 80s, Americans were becoming more critical of Queen’s music and their
popularity in the U.S. was quickly declining. With the lack of American support, their albums
were not doing as well in sales. Queen’s sound changed and was unique on each album, and the
albums that came out in the 80s were not the sound that American critics were looking for, so
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their sales plummeted. However, Queen gained back some American fans and respect with their
song “Innuendo” which sounded like some of their original music that Americans enjoyed.
In 1980, Queen came out with their ninth album (eighth studio album), “The Game”,
which contained ten tracks -- the two most popular being “Another One Bites the Dust” (written
by John Deacon) and “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” (written by Freddie Mercury). This
album was considered a turning point for the band, as they began changing up their sound a bit
and introducing the use of synthesizers in their music. This album went number one on both the
Pop and R&B charts -- their first album to do well in the R&B charts. In the same year, Queen
released the original soundtrack for the science-fiction-action film, Flash Gordon, which has
The band didn’t come out with another studio album until 1982 when they released “Hot
Space” -- although in 1981, the band released their first “Greatest Hits” album which contained
seventeen of their most popular tracks to date. “Hot Space” contained eleven tracks, the most
popular being their collaborative song with David Bowie, “Under Pressure”. The album as a
whole is actually mostly only remembered for this song, as the rest of the album did poorly in the
charts. Fans criticized the band for the overuse of synthesizers and dance pop in their songs on
this album, and they desperately wanted the “old Queen sound” back. This album holds negative
The band took this criticism constructively, taking a year off and going back to their
typical Queen sound with their next album, “The Works” in 1984. This album contained nine
tracks. The three most popular songs from this album were “Radio Ga Ga” (written by Roger
Taylor), “I Want to Break Free” (written by John Deacon), and “Hammer to Fall” (written by
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Brian May). This album was a top ten hit internationally, but only reached number 23 on the
charts in the U.S. Despite this album not doing as well as past albums, this album was what put
the band back on track after many blows from critics in recent years.
In 1985, the band released “The Complete Works” which was a box set which contained
all of the band’s studio albums, live album, and non-live album singles to that point. More
notably, this was the year that Queen performed at Wembley stadium for Live Aid. This
performance has gone down in history as one of the most iconic and awe-inspiring live
performances of all time -- especially because no one was expecting it. In the early 80s, the band
had lost momentum and the band was set to play in between many iconic bands that were doing
much better than Queen at the time. Despite all of this, the band performed something that
In 1986, the band released their album “A Kind of Magic”, which contained nine tracks --
the most popular being the title track, “A Kind of Magic”. By the time this album was released,
the band’s popularity in the U.S. had dwindled a considerable amount; but, the band was still
soaring in other parts of the world, especially in Europe. “A Kind of Magic” was their biggest
album yet in England, holding the number one spot in the charts for over a year. After the release
of this album, the band embarked on what would be their last tour together -- a sold out stadium
tour across Europe. Later that year, the band released another concert album from this tour called
“Live Magic”.
The band didn’t come out with another studio album until 1989, when they came out with
“The Miracle”. This album contained twelve tracks, the most popular being “I Want it All”
(written by Brian May) and “Invisible Man” (written by Roger Taylor). This album went
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platinum in the U.K. and earned a spot in the top 25 in the U.S. This was also around the time
Freddie Mercury’s health began to rapidly decline, as he could no longer go on tours to promote
the band’s albums. However, Mercury remained silent about the subject. When asked about the
decline of Freddie’s health, Brian May said, “We never talked about it and it was a sort of
unwritten law that we didn't, because Freddie didn't want to. He just told us that he wasn't up to
doing tours, and that's as far as it went” (Deriso). This year, the band also released another live
The Decline
Into the 90s, the band was very limited in what it could accomplish, as lead singer and
frontman Freddie Mercury’s health continued to decline. In 1990, the band released another live
concert album from their performance at Wembley Stadium during their Magic tour (1986).
The last album to be released before the death of Freddie Mercury was “Innuendo” in
1991. This album contained twelve tracks -- the most popular being the title track, “Innuendo”
(written by Freddie Mercury and Roger Taylor) and “The Show Must Go On” (written by Brian
May). “The Show Must Go On” was considered Freddie Mercury’s final goodbye as the lyrics
heartbreakingly show the emotions he was feeling while he was dying. This album was so iconic
for the band as it marked the end of an era -- an era in which Queen still consisted of all four of
its original members. On November 24, 1991, Freddie Mercury died of bronchial pneumonia
Queen’s final studio album to be released was “Made In Heaven” in 1995, which
included the final recordings done with Freddie Mercury before his death. The album topped the
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charts in both Europe and the U.S. as fans listened to the emotion-filled final songs recorded by
After the death of Freddie Mercury, the other members of the band and their manager
formed an AIDS charity in Mercury’s name and they also put together a Freddie Mercury tribute
concert, which raised over a million dollars for the charity and other AIDS relief and research
efforts.
Throughout the rest of the 90s and 00s, the band continued to release greatest hits
albums, live concert albums, and different collections of songs, but never released another studio
album without Freddie Mercury. Brian May and Roger Taylor attempted to keep going with the
band, joining with a new lead singer, Paul Rodgers. However, the band was never the same
without Freddie Mercury; and, the music they tried to put out with Paul Rodgers was negatively
reviewed and did not do well in sales. The band split with Rogers in 2009. Queen played various
concerts throughout 2012 and 2013 with singer Adam Lambert, and are to go on a 2019 North
American tour with Lambert. Most recently, a biopic movie came out about the band called
“Bohemian Rhapsody” (2018), for which Brian May and Roger Taylor were the executive music
producers.
Queen’s legacy will never die, as they are remembered as one of the most legendary and
iconic rock bands in history. Their influential style of music and lyrics still inspire musicians
around the world. They introduced so many new ideas to the music world, and we may not be
Works Cited
www.udiscovermusic.com/behind-the-albums/queen-jazz/.
Chiu, David. “The History of Smile: The Band That Set the Stage for Queen.” Ultimate Classic
Deriso, Nick. “How Queen Overcame Trying Times to Release 'The Miracle'.” Ultimate Classic
Easlea, Daryl. “Music - Review of Queen - News Of The World.” BBC, BBC, 2007,
www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/98dp/.
Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. “Queen - Queen | Songs, Reviews, Credits.” All Music, RhythmOne
Group, www.allmusic.com/album/queen-mw0000195392.
Giles, Jeff. “Revisiting Queen's Second Album, 'Queen II'.” Ultimate Classic Rock, 8 Mar. 2016,
ultimateclassicrock.com/queen-queen-ii/.
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Jones, Chris. “Music - Review of Queen - Sheer Heart Attack.” BBC, BBC, 2007,
www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/xxhj/.
uc.kanopy.com/video/discovering-queen.
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/K1608004104/BIC?u=ucinc_main&sid=BIC&xid=c5f5bcef.