Everything about Queen Band totally explained
Queen are an
English rock band formed in 1970 in
London by guitarist
Brian May, lead vocalist
Freddie Mercury, and drummer
Roger Taylor, with bass guitarist
John Deacon joining the following year. Queen rose to prominence during the 1970s and are arguably Britain's most successful band of the past three decades.
The band is 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 had moderate success 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. Since 1975, eighteen of the band's albums have reached number one on numerous charts around the world. Since 1973, they've released fifteen
studio albums, five
live albums, and numerous
compilation albums.
Following Mercury's death in 1991 and Deacon's retirement later in the decade, May and Taylor have performed infrequently under the Queen name. Since 2005, they've been collaborating with
Paul Rodgers, under the moniker
Queen + Paul Rodgers, which has led to Queen recording their first
studio album in 13 years.
History
Early days (1968–1973)
In 1969,
guitarist Brian May, a student at London's
Imperial College, and
bassist Tim Staffell decided to form a group. May placed an advertisement on the college notice board for a "
Mitch Mitchell/
Ginger Baker type" drummer; Roger Taylor, a young dental student, auditioned and got the job. They called the group
Smile and served as a support act for bands such as
Jimi Hendrix,
Pink Floyd,
Yes and the original
Genesis. Smile were signed to
Mercury Records in 1969, and had their first session in a recording studio in Trident Studios that year. Staffell was attending
Ealing Art College with
Farrokh Bulsara, later known as Freddie Mercury, and introduced him to the band. Bulsara soon became a keen fan. Staffell left in 1970 to join another band,
Humpy Bong; the remaining Smile members, encouraged by Bulsara, changed their name to "Queen" and continued working together.
In 1973, after a series of delays, Queen released their
first album, a self-titled project influenced by the heavy metal and progressive rock of the day. The album was received well by critics; Gordon Fletcher of
Rolling Stone said "their debut album is superb," and Chicago's
Daily Herald called it an "above average debut". However, it drew little mainstream attention and the lead single "
Keep Yourself Alive," a Brian May composition, sold poorly. Greg Prato of
All Music Guide called it "one of the most underrated hard rock debuts of all time."
The album
Queen II was released in 1974. The album reached number five on the British album charts, while the Freddie Mercury-written lead single "
Seven Seas of Rhye," featuring long complex instrumental passages, fantasy-themed lyrics and musical virtuosity. The band toured as support to
Mott the Hoople in the UK & United States during this period, and they began to gain notice for their energetic and engaging stage shows. However, album sales in the US were, like those of its predecessor, low.
Breakthrough era (1974–1979)
Because of medical complications, May was absent when the band started work on their third album,
Sheer Heart Attack, released in 1974. The album reached number two in the United Kingdom, sold well throughout
Europe, and went gold in the United States. It gave the band their first real taste of commercial success. The album experimented with a variety of musical genres, including
British Music Hall ("
Killer Queen"),
heavy metal ("
Flick of the Wrist", "
Brighton Rock", "
Tenement Funster", "
Now I'm Here", and "
Stone Cold Crazy" – a song which
Metallica would later cover and earn a
Grammy for), ballads ("
Lily Of The Valley" and "
Dear Friends"), ragtime ("
Bring Back That Leroy Brown") and
Caribbean ("
Misfire"). At this point Queen started to move away from the progressive tendencies of their first two releases into a more radio-friendly, song-oriented style.
Sheer Heart Attack introduced new sound and melody patterns that would be refined on their next album
A Night at the Opera.
The single "
Killer Queen" reached number two on the British charts, It combines camp,
vaudeville, British music hall with May’s guitar virtuosity. The album’s second single, "Now I’m Here", a more traditional
hard rock composition, was a number eleven hit in Britain.
In 1975, the band left for a world tour with each member in
Zandra Rhodes-created costumes and banks of lights and effects. They toured the US, headlining for the first time, and played in Canada for the first time in April. Also at this time, the band's manager Jim Beach negotiated the band out of their Trident contract. They considered options, one of whom was
Led Zeppelin’s manager,
Peter Grant. Grant wanted them to sign with Led Zeppelin’s own production company,
Swan Song Records. This was unacceptable to Queen, so instead they contacted
Elton John’s manager,
John Reid, who accepted the position. In April 1975 the band toured Japan for the first time.
Later that year the band recorded and released
A Night at the Opera. At the time, it was the most expensive album ever produced. Like its predecessor, the album features diverse musical styles and experimentation with stereo sound. In "
The Prophet's Song", an eight-minute epic, the middle section is a
canon, with simple phrases layered to create a full-choral sound. The album was very successful in Britain,
The album also featured the hit single "
Bohemian Rhapsody", which was number one in the United Kingdom for nine weeks, The band decided to make a video to go with the single. The second single from the album, "
You're My Best Friend", peaked at sixteen in the United States It again borrowed the name of a
Marx Brothers' movie, and its cover was similar to that of
A Night at the Opera, a variation on the same Queen Crest. Musically, the album was by both fans’ and critics’ standards a strong effort, and reached number one on the British charts.
Also in 1976, Queen played one of their most famous gigs, a 1976 free concert in
Hyde Park, London. It set an attendance record, with 150,000 people confirmed in the audience.
News of the World was released a year later. It contained many songs tailor-made for live performance, including "
We Will Rock You" and the rock ballad "
We Are the Champions", both of which reached number four in the United States and became enduring international
sports anthems.
Rolling Stone typically criticised it for being "dull", saying "Queen hasn’t the imagination to play jazz – Queen hasn't the imagination, for that matter, to play rock & roll." They also released the very successful single "
Crazy Little Thing Called Love", a
rockabilly song done in the style of
Elvis Presley. The song made the top 10 in many countries, and was the band’s first number one single in the United States. Queen began the 1980s with
The Game. It featured the singles "
Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and "
Another One Bites the Dust", both of which reached number one in the United States. and sold over four million copies. The band were immediately pleased with the results, but Bowie didn't play the song live for several years. Upon its release, the song was extremely successful, reaching number one in Britain. The
bass line was later used for
Vanilla Ice's 1990 hit "
Ice Ice Baby", prompting the threat of a lawsuit over the use of the sample. The lawsuit didn't make it to court and was settled for an undisclosed amount.
Later that year, Queen released their first
compilation album, entitled
Greatest Hits, which showcased the group's highlights from 1974-1981. It was highly successful, and as of 2007, it's the United Kingdom's best selling album. Taylor became the first member of the band to release his own solo album in 1981, entitled
Fun In Space.
In 1982 the band released the
funk album
Hot Space. The band stopped touring
North America after their
Hot Space Tour, as their success there had waned, although they'd perform on American television for the first and only time during the eighth season premiere of
Saturday Night Live. Queen left
Elektra Records, their label in the United States, Canada, Japan,
Australia, and
New Zealand, and signed onto
EMI/
Capitol Records.
After working steadily for over ten years, Queen decided that they wouldn't perform any live shows in 1983. During this time, they recorded a new album, and several members of the band explored side projects and solo work. May released a mini-album entitled
Star Fleet Project, on which he collaborated with
Eddie Van Halen. A computer musician composer in Canada, Kevin Chamberlain, helped with vocals and background music for Mercury's solo project, which was later canceled due to creative differences.
In 1984, Queen released the album
The Works, which included the successful singles "
Radio Ga Ga" and "
I Want to Break Free". Despite these hit singles, the album failed to do well in the United States. "Radio Ga Ga" was the band's last original American Top Forty hit until 1989's "
I Want It All".
Queen embarked that year on a set of dates during their
The Works Tour in
Bophuthatswana,
South Africa at the arena at
Sun City. Upon returning to England, they were the subject of outrage, having played there during the height of
apartheid and in violation of worldwide
divestment efforts. The band stated that they were playing music for fans in that country, and stressed that the concerts were played before integrated audiences. However, they've since been colloquially known as the "Sun City Rockers", a term used in a disparaging sense to reflect how their actions were condemned as 'hard to defend' by many people.
In early 1985, the band headlined two nights of the
Rock in Rio festival. They were booked for
January 11 and
January 18, but since on both nights the band only got to the stage well past midnight, so some sources mention
January 12 and
January 19. On each night, they played for 325,000 people. Mercury also released his first solo album,
Mr. Bad Guy, in April. At
Live Aid, held at Wembley on
July 13 1985, Queen performed some of their greatest hits in what has been considered their best performance to date.
Revitalised by the response to Live Aid and the resulting increase in record sales, Queen ended 1985 by releasing the single "
One Vision". The song was used in the film
Iron Eagle. Also, a limited-edition boxed set containing all Queen albums was released under the title of "The Complete Works".
In early 1986, Queen recorded the album
A Kind of Magic, containing several songs written for the
Russell Mulcahy film
Highlander. The album was very successful, producing a string of hits including the title track "
A Kind of Magic", which contains the key lyrics 'There can be only one', a reference to the movie's plot; "
Friends Will Be Friends", "
Who Wants to Live Forever" and "
Princes of the Universe".
Later that year, Queen went on a sold-out tour (the band's largest) in support of
A Kind of Magic. The
Magic Tour's highlight was at
Wembley Stadium in
London and resulted in the live double album,
Queen Live At Wembley Stadium, released on CD and as a live concert film. They couldn't book Wembley for a third night because it was already booked, but they did play at
Knebworth Park. The show sold out within two hours and over 120,000 fans packed the park for what proved to be Queen's final live performance with Mercury. More than 1 million people saw Queen on the tour – 400,000 in the United Kingdom alone, a record at the time.
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, working in a creative fervor. 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 finally confirmed that he'd AIDS. He died the following day at the age of 45. 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 B-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,
Joe Elliott,
Lisa Stansfield,
Elton John,
David Bowie,
Angus Young,
Malcolm Young,
Brian Johnson (of
AC/DC),
Robert Plant,
Tony Iommi,
Annie Lennox,
Axl Rose,
Slash and
Guns N' Roses,
Extreme,
Roger Daltrey,
George Michael,
Ian Hunter,
Mick Ronson,
Zucchero,
Metallica,
Liza Minnelli, 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. It raised over £20,000,000 for AIDS charities.
When "Bohemian Rhapsody" was revealed as
Radio 1's most played song ever at the end of
JK and Joel's last Chart Show before leaving, Roger Taylor told them via a phonelink to the studio that the band are currently halfway through the new album. It will be released sometime in 2008, with a tour to follow. In January 2008, Brian May confirmed that a European tour is planned to start from about September the same year.
In the digital realm
In conjunction with
Electronic Arts, Queen released the computer game in 1998, to commercial and critical failure. The music itself — tracks from Queen's vast catalogue, in many cases remixed into new instrumental versions — was by and large well received, but the game experience was hampered by poor game play. Adding to the problem was an extremely long development time, resulting in graphic elements that already seemed outdated by the time of release.
Under the supervision of May and Taylor, numerous restoration projects have been underway involving Queen's lengthy audio and video catalogue. DVD releases of their 1986 Wembley concert (titled
Live At Wembley Stadium) and 1982 Milton Keynes concert (
Queen on Fire - Live at the Bowl), and two Greatest Video Hits (Volumes 1 and 2, spanning the 1970s and 1980s) have seen the band's music remixed into
5.1 and
DTS surround sound. So far, only two of the band's albums,
A Night at the Opera and
The Game, have been fully remixed into high-resolution multichannel surround on
DVD-Audio.
A Night at the Opera was re-released with some revised 5.1 mixes and accompanying videos in 2005 for the 30th anniversary of the album's original release (CD+DVD-Video set). In 2007 an HD-DVD was released entitled Queen Rock Montreal & Live Aid.
In the
Guilty Gear fighting game series, there's a character named for each member of Queen.
In film and television
Queen contributed music directly to the movies
Flash Gordon (1980, directed by
Mike Hodges) and
Highlander (the original 1986 film, directed by
Russell Mulcahy). The theme song, "
Princes of the Universe", was also used in the (1992–1998). Also, we could hear "
One Year of Love" in the Highlander franchise' sequel, "
Highlander 2".
In the United States, "
Bohemian Rhapsody" was re-released as a single in 1992 after appearing in
Wayne's World. The single subsequently reached number two on the US Billboard chart (with "
The Show Must Go On" as the first track on the single) and helped rekindle the band's popularity in North America.
Several films have featured their songs performed by other artists. A cover of
"Somebody to Love" by
Anne Hathaway featured in the 2004 film
Ella Enchanted. In 2006,
Brittany Murphy also recorded a cover of the same song for the 2006 movie
Happy Feet. In 2001, a version of "
The Show Must Go On" was performed by
Jim Broadbent and
Nicole Kidman in the movie musical
Moulin Rouge!. The closing credits of
A Knight's Tale released in 2001 has a version of "
We Are the Champions" performed by
Robbie Williams and Queen; the introduction to the same movie features
We Will Rock You played by the medieval audience. In 1992, the film "
Gladiator" featured snippets of "We Will Rock You" performed by
Warrant whereas their full version was released as a single.
Many other films have featured their songs or sections of their songs. These include:
Keeping in the tradition (since Season Five) of naming each season's episodes after songs from a famous 1970s era rock band (
Led Zeppelin for the fifth season,
The Who for the sixth and
The Rolling Stones for the seventh), the eighth and final season of
That '70s Show consisted of episodes named after Queen songs. "
Bohemian Rhapsody" served as the season premiere.
On
April 11,
2006 Queen appeared on the American singing contest television show
American Idol. Each contestant was required to sing a Queen song during that week of the competition. Songs which appeared on the show included "
Bohemian Rhapsody", "
Fat Bottomed Girls", "
The Show Must Go On", "
Who Wants to Live Forever", and "
Innuendo". Brian May later criticised the show for editing specific scenes, one which made the group's time with contestant
Ace Young look negative, despite it being the opposite.
Al Murray's Happy Hour has a Queen theme, as it uses "
Don't Stop Me Now" for the introduction and features guest performers along with host
Al Murray singing different Queen songs each episode. The remainder of Queen did appear at the end of a series of the show.
"
I Was Born to Love You" was used as the
theme song of the
Japanese
drama Pride on
Fuji Television in
2004, starring
Takuya Kimura and
Yūko Takeuchi. The show's soundtrack also contained other songs by Queen, including "
We Will Rock You, "
We Are the Champions" and "
Bohemian Rhapsody".
The band made tentative plans to provide material for use in "
The Hotel New Hampshire" but this project was abandoned although "Keep Passing The Open Windows" (which is an important catch-phrase line in the movie) did survive.
In musical theatre
In 2002, a
musical or "rock theatrical" based on the songs of Queen, titled
We Will Rock You, opened at the
Dominion Theatre on
London's
West End. The musical was written by British
comedian and
author Ben Elton in collaboration with Brian May and Roger Taylor, and produced by
Robert De Niro. It has since been staged in
Madrid and
Barcelona,
Spain;
Melbourne,
Sydney,
Perth, and
Brisbane,
Australia;
Cologne,
Germany;
Vienna,
Austria;
Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia;
South Africa,
Las Vegas United States;
Zurich,
Switzerland;
Tokyo,
Japan;
Seoul,
South Korea;
Moscow,
Russia;
Varberg,
Sweden;
Auckland,
New Zealand;
Toronto,
Canada; and
Singapore.
The original London production was scheduled to close on Saturday, October 7, 2006 at the Dominion Theatre, but due to public demand, the show has now been extended indefinitely.
We Will Rock You has become the longest running musical ever to run at this prime London theatre, overtaking the previous record holder, the
Grease musical.
The launch of the musical coincided with
Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee. As part of the Jubilee celebrations Brian May performed a
guitar solo of "
God Save the Queen", as featured on Queen's
A Night at the Opera, from the roof of
Buckingham Palace. The recording of this performance was used as video for the same song on the 30th Anniversary DVD edition of
A Night at the Opera.
Sean Bovim created "
Queen at the Ballet", a tribute to Freddie Mercury, which uses Queen's music as a soundtrack for the show’s dancers, who interpret the stories behind tracks such as "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Radio Ga Ga" and "Killer Queen."
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've been associated with are:
dance/
disco,
glam rock,
hard rock, Queen also wrote songs that were inspired by genres that are not or barely associated with
rock, such as
country,
ragtime,
opera,
symphonic rock,
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 comprised 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".
Influence on other musicians
More recently Queen has been recognised as having made significant contributions to such genres as arena rock, hard rock, heavy metal, pop rock and progressive rock, amongst others. Hence the band has been cited as an influence by many other musicians. Moreover, like their music, the collection of bands and artists that have claimed to be influenced by Queen is diverse and spans different generations, countries and genres.
Some of the musicians that have cited the band as an influence include:
Anthrax,
Dream Theater,
Bang Camaro,
Ben Folds Five,
Boston,
Blind Guardian,
Kurt Cobain,
Def Leppard,
The Darkness,
Extreme,
Foo Fighters,
The Germs,
The Go Go's,
Davey Havok,
My Chemical Romance,
Jeff Scott Soto,
The Killers,
Green Day,
Guns N' Roses,
Helloween,
Iron Maiden,
Judas Priest,
Kansas,
Manic Street Preachers,
Metallica,
George Michael,
Marilyn Manson,
Kaiser Chiefs,
Muse,
Mika,
Nine Inch Nails,
Panic at the Disco,
Radiohead,
The Smashing Pumpkins,
Switches,
Max Cavalera,
Styx,,
Sweet,
Cesare Cremonini and
Threshold keyboardist
Richard West; amongst others.
Michael Jackson was a friend of Mercury's in the early 1980s and cited the
Hot Space album as a driving influence behind the making of his 1982 album
Thriller on which Mercury was originally scheduled to appear. Queen have also been cited as a major influence on the "
neo-classical metal" genre by Swedish guitarist
Yngwie Malmsteen. "
Stone Cold Crazy", from 1974's
Sheer Heart Attack album, is often cited as an early precursor of the
speed- or
thrash metal subgenre.
Metallica recorded a cover version of the song, which first appeared on the "Rubaiyat — Electra's 40th Anniversary" album in 1990, and won the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 1991. In the early '70s, Queen helped spur the
heavy metal genre's evolution by discarding much of its
blues influence;the
New Wave of British Heavy Metal followed in a similar vein, fusing the music with a
punk rock sensibility and an increasing emphasis on speed.
Historical success
As of 2005, according to
The Guinness Book of World Records, Queen albums have spent a total of 1,322 weeks or twenty-seven years on the United Kingdom album charts; more time than any other musical act including
The Beatles and
Elvis Presley. Also in 2005, with the release of their live album with Paul Rodgers, Queen moved into third place on the list of acts with the most aggregate time spent on the British record charts.
In 2006, the
Greatest Hits album was found to be the United Kingdom's all-time best selling album, with sales upwards of 5,407,587 copies, over 604,295 more copies than its nearest competitor, The Beatles'
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Their
Greatest Hits II album came in seventh with sales upwards of 3,631,321 copies.
One of rock's most successful, influential and popular acts, the band has released a total of eighteen number one albums, eighteen number one singles, and ten number one DVDs worldwide making them one of the world's
best-selling music artists. Their total album sales have been estimated at over 300 million worldwide including 32.5 million in the
United States alone as of 2004. The band is also the only group in which every member has composed more than one chart-topping single.
Accolades
Inductions
2001 - The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.
2002 - The band was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
2003 - The band became the first and remain the only band to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
2004 - "Bohemian Rhapsody" is inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
2004 - The band was inducted into the RockWalk of Fame (at Guitar Center on Hollywood's Sunset Boulevard)
2006 - The band was the first inducted into the VH1 Rock Honors.
Awards
1974
- Sounds: 3rd Best New British Band, 9th Best International Band
- Disc: 10th Brightest Hope
- NME: 2nd Most Promising New Name
1975
- Melody Maker: 'Band of the Year'
- Record Mirror: 2nd Best British Newcomer, 2nd Best Single ("Killer Queen"), 9th International Group
- NME: 8th Best British Group, 7th Best Stage Band, 4th Most Promising Group In The World, 3rd Most Promising New Name, 17th Best World Group
- Disc: Top Live Band, Top International Group, Top British Group, Top Single ("Killer Queen"), 3rd Best Album (Sheer Heart Attack), 5th Best Album (Queen II)
- Ivor Novello Award to Mercury for "Killer Queen"
- Golden Lion Award (Belgium) to Mercury for "Killer Queen"
- Carl Allen Award for contribution to the Ballroom Dancing Industry
1976
- NME: 1st British Stage Band, 2nd Group, 5th World Group, 3rd World Stage Band, Mercury: 7th World Singer, May: 3rd Top Guitarist, 1st British Single ("Bohemian Rhapsody"), 2nd Album ("A Night at the Opera")
- Record Mirror / Disc: 1st Best British Group, 1st World Group, No. 1 Single ("Bohemian Rhapsody"), No. 6 Album ("A Night at the Opera"), Mercury: 5th British Singer, 6th World Singer, 4th British Songwriter, 5th World Songwriter, May: 4th British Musician, 4th World Musician
- Sound: Best Band, Best Album (A Night at the Opera), Best Single ("Bohemian Rhapsody")
- Ivor Novello Award to Mercury for "Bohemian Rhapsody"
- Europe One Radio: Most Potential Rock Band
- Daily Mail: Best Group
1979
- Music Life, Japan: Top Group, Top Album (Jazz), Top Single, Top Singer, Top Guitarist, Top Drummer, Top Bass Player
1980
- Juno Awards, Canada: Best Group, Best International Single ("Another One Bites the Dust"), Best International Album (The Game)
- Record World USA: Top Male Group, Top Producer, Top Disco Crossover (All awarded for "Another One Bites the Dust")
- Dick Clark Awards USA: Best Band
- Circus Magazine USA: 2nd Best Group, 1st Live Show, No. 1 Album (The Game), No. 1 Single ("Another One Bites the Dust"), No.3 Single ("Crazy Little Thing Called Love"), Mercury: 2nd Male Vocalist, 3rd Best Songwriter, 3rd Best Keyboard Player; 3rd Best Guitarist, 3rd Best Bassist, 3rd Best Drummer
1981
- American Music Awards: 'Favorite Pop/Rock Single' ("Another One Bites the Dust")
- Ivor Novello Award: Best Single ("These Are the Days of Our Lives"), May received a Best TV Commercial Music Award ("Driven By You")
- Golden Giraffe Award: Greatest Hits II (Award given by the Association of Hungarian Record Producers)
- MTV Awards: Best Video From A Movie (Wayne's World)
- US Film & Video Festival, Chicago: Gold Camera Awards (The Freddie Mercury Tribute), (Greatest Flix II), ("The Show Must Go On") ("These Are the Days of Our Lives")
1993
- Ivor Novello Award: to Mercury ("Living on My Own") (posthumous)
- American Society Of Composers, Authors & Publishers: Mercury posthumously awarded for "Bohemian Rhapsody" as the Most Played Record in the U.S. of 1993
- Monitor Awards, Hollywood: "Red Couch" Awards (Greatest Flix II and "I'm Going Slightly Mad")
1997
- Ivor Novello Award: Best Song Lyrically & Musically ("Too Much Love Will Kill You")
2001
- Golden Rose Film Festival, Montreux: Prix de la Presse (The Freddie Mercury Untold Story)
2002
- New York Film Festival: Gold World Medal for the Best Television and Entertainment Program (Variety Special Section), Gold World Medal for the Best Home Video (Music Video Section) for The Freddie Mercury Untold Story
- Capital FM Awards: Outstanding Contribution to Music
- Guinness World Records: UK’s best single of the past 50 years ("Bohemian Rhapsody")
- Annual DVD Awards: Best DVD-Audio/Non Video (A Night at the Opera)
- Surround Music Awards: "Most Adventurous Mix" and "Listener's Choice" (A Night at the Opera)
2003
- Annual DVD Awards: Best DVD-Audio (The Game)
- DVD Awards At The Universal Sheraton: DVD-Audio Of The Year (The Game)
- Capital Legends Awards: Legendary Group
- European Music DVD-Award: Best Live DVD (Live At Wembley Stadium)
- Surround Music Award: "Best Mix: Non-Orchestral" (The Game)
Polls
1999 - The band was voted the 2nd greatest band in music history.
2005 - The band's performance at Live Aid is voted two times by a large selection of musicians and critics to be the greatest live show of all time.
2008 - The band was voted the best rockband ever on the Internet site www.votenumber1.com. Millions of fans from over 40 countries voted.
Logo
The Queen logo, also known as the Queen Crest, was designed by Mercury (who gained a diploma in Illustration and Graphic Design from Ealing Art College in London) shortly before the release of their first album. The logo features the zodiac signs of all four members: two lions for Leo (Deacon and Taylor), a crab for Cancer (May), and two fairies for Virgo (Mercury).
Song samples
Sheer Heart Attack
News of the World
Jazz
Discography
Further Information
Get more info on 'Queen Band'.
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