QUEEN BAND MAGAZINE

QUEEN

How they Rule the 70sHow they Rule the 70s

WHO ARE QUEEN ?

Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1970. The band comprised Freddie Mercury (lead vocals, pi ano), Brian May (guitar, vocals), Roger Taylor (drums, vocals) and John Deacon (bass). Their earli est works were influenced by pro gressive rock, hard rock and heavy metal, but the band gradually ven tured into more conventional and radio-friendly works by incorpo rating further styles, such as arena rock and pop rock.

Before forming Queen, May and Taylor had played together in the band Smile. Mercury was a fan of Smile and encouraged them to experiment with more elaborate stage and recording techniques. He joined in 1970 and suggested the name “Queen”. Deacon was re cruited in February 1971, before the band released their epony mous debut album in 1973. Queen

first charted in the UK with their second album, Queen II, in 1974. Sheer Heart Attack later that year and A Night at the Opera in 1975 brought them international suc cess. The latter featured “Bohe mian Rhapsody”, which stayed at number one in the UK for nine weeks and helped popularise the music video format.

The band’s 1977 album News of the World contained “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions”, which have become anthems at sporting events. By the early 1980s, Queen were one of the biggest stadium rock bands in the world. “Another One Bites the Dust” from The Game (1980) became their best-selling single, while their 1981 compilation al bum Greatest Hits is the best-sell ing album in the UK and is cer tified nine times platinum in the US. Their performance at the 1985

Live Aid concert is ranked among the greatest in rock history by var ious publications. In August 1986, Mercury gave his last performance with Queen at Knebworth, En gland. In 1991, he died of bron chopneumonia, a complication of AIDS. Deacon retired in 1997. Since 2004, May and Taylor have toured as “Queen +”, with vocalists Paul Rodgers and Adam Lambert.

Queen have been a global presence in popular culture for more than five decades. Estimates of their re cord sales range from 250 million to 300 million, making them one of the world’s best-selling music artists. In 1990, Queen received the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, and with each member having com posed hit singles all four were in ducted into the Songwriters Hall

HISTORY

Thefounding members of Queen met in West London during the late 1960s. Gui tarist Brian May had built his own guitar with his father in 1963, and formed the group 1984 (named after Orwell’s novel) the following year with singer Tim Staffell.[1] May left the group in early 1968 to focus on his degree in Physics and Infrared Astronomy at Impe rial College and find a group that could write original material.[2] He formed the group Smile with Staffell (now playing bass) and keyboardist Chris Smith.[3] To complete the line-up, May placed an advertisement on a college no tice board for a “Mitch Mitchell/

1968–1971: Foundations

Ginger Baker type” drummer; Roger Taylor, a young dental student, audi tioned and got the job.[4] Smith left the group in early 1969, immediately before a gig at the Royal Albert Hall with Free and the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band.[5]

While attending Ealing Art Col lege in west London, Staffell be came friends with fellow student Freddie Bulsara, who was from Zanzibar and of Indian Parsi de scent.[6][7] Bulsara had studied

fashion design for a year before switching to graphic art and de sign,[8] and soon became a keen fan of Smile. He asked if he could join the group as lead singer, but May felt Staffell would not give up that role.[9] He also ran a stall in Kensington Market with Taylor.

In 1970, Staffell quit Smile, feel ing his interests in soul and R&B clashed with the group’s hard rock sound and being fed up with the lack of success. He formed the group Humpy Bong with former Bee Gees drummer Colin Peters en.[11] The remaining members accepted Bulsara as lead singer, and recruited Taylor’s friend Mike

Queen and 1974–1976: Sheer Heart Attack to A Night at the Opera

February 1971, John Deacon joined Queen. In addition to being a seasoned bassist, his quiet demeanour complemented the band, and he was skilled in electronics.[17] On 2 July, Queen played their first show with the classic line-up of Mercury, May, Taylor and Deacon at a Surrey college outside London.[18] May called Terry Yeadon, an engineer at Pye Studios where Smile had recorded, to see if he knew any where where Queen could go. Yeadon had since moved to De Lane Lea Studios’ new premises in Wembley, and they needed a group to test out the equipment and recording rooms. He tried asking the Kinks but couldn’t get hold of them. Therefore, he told Queen they could record some demos in exchange for the studio’s acoustic tests.[19] They record ed five of their own songs, “Liar”, “Keep Yourself Alive”, “Great King Rat”, “The Night Comes Down” and “Jesus”. During the recording, John Anthony visited the band with Roy Thomas Baker. The two were taken with “Keep Yourself Alive” and began promoting the band to several record companies

In

A Day at the Races to Live Killers

In

May 1974, a month into the band’s first US tour opening for Mott the Hoople, May col lapsed and was diagnosed with hepatitis, forcing the cancella tion of their remaining dates.[44] While recuperating, May was ini tially absent when the band start ed work on their third album, but he returned midway through the recording process.[51] Released in 1974, Sheer Heart Attack reached number two in the UK,[52] sold well throughout Europe, and went gold in the US.[34] It gave the band their first real experience of inter national success, and was a hit on both sides of the Atlantic.[53] The album experimented with a vari ety of musical genres, including British music hall, heavy metal, ballads, ragtime, and Caribbean. May’s “Now I’m Here” document ed the group’s curtailed Amer ican tour, and “Brighton Rock” served as a vehicle for his regular on-stage solo guitar spot. Deacon wrote his first song for the group, “Misfire”, while the live favourite “Stone Cold Crazy” was credited to the whole band. Mercury wrote the closing number, “In the Lap of the Gods”, with the intention that the audience could sing along to the chorus when played live. This would be repeated later on, more successfully, in songs such as “We Are the Champions.

By 1976, Queen were back in the studio recording A Day at the Races, which is often regarded as a sequel album to A Night at the Opera.[94][95] It again borrowed the name of a Marx Brothers movie, and its cov er was similar to that of A Night at the Opera, a variation on the same Queen logo.[96] The most rec ognisable of the Marx Brothers, Groucho Marx, invited Queen to visit him in his Los Angeles home in March 1977; there the band thanked him in person, and per formed “’39” a cappella.[97] Bak er did not return to produce the album; instead the band self-pro duced with assistance from Mike Stone, who performed several of the backing vocals.[98] The major hit on the album was “Somebody to Love”, a gospel-inspired song in which Mercury, May, and Taylor

F E D D Y

M E R C U R Y

Freddie

Mercury (born Far rokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991)

[2] was a British singer and song writer, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. Regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of rock music, he was known for his flamboyant stage persona and four-octave vocal range. Mercury defied the conventions of a rock frontman with his theatrical style, influencing the artistic direc tion of Queen.

Born in 1946 in Zanzibar to Parsi-Indian parents, Mer cury attended English-style boarding schools in India from the age of eight and returned to Zan zibar after secondary school. In 1964, his family fled the Zan zibar Revolution, moving to Middle sex, England. Hav ing studied and writ ten music for years, he formed Queen in 1970 with guitarist Bri an May and drummer

Roger Taylor. Mercury was di agnosed with AIDS in 1987. He continued to record with Queen, and posthumously featured on their final album, Made in Heaven (1995). He announced his diagno sis the day before his death, from complications from the disease, in 1991 at the age of 45. In 1992, a concert in tribute to him was held at Wembley Stadium, in benefit of AIDS awareness. His career with Queen was dramatised in the 2018 biopic Bohemian Rhapsody.

As a member of Queen, Mercury was posthumous ly inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, the Song writers Hall of Fame in 2003, and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2004. In 1990, he and the other Queen members were awarded the Brit Award for Out standing Con tribution to British Music, and one year af

ter his death, Mercury was award ed it individually. In 2005, Queen were awarded an Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Song Col lection from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers, and Authors. In 2002, Mercury was voted number 58 in the BBC’s poll

of the 100 Greatest Britons. By 1985, he began another longterm relationship with Irish-born hairdresser Jim Hutton (1949–2010), whom he referred to as his husband.[100] Mercury described their relationship as one built on solace and understanding, and said that he “honestly couldn’t ask for better”.[101] Hutton, who test ed HIV-positive in 1990, lived with Mercury for the last seven years of his life, nursed him during his ill

EARLY LIFE

Mercury was born Far rokh Bulsara in Stone Town in the British pro tectorate of Zanzibar (now part of Tanzania) on 5 September 1946. [3][4] His parents, Bomi (1908–2003) and Jer Bulsara (1922–2016),[a][5] were from the Parsi community of western India. The Bulsaras had origins in the city of Bulsar (now Valsad) in Gujarat.[b] [3] He had a younger sister, Kash mira.[6][7]

The family had moved to Zanzi bar so that Bomi could continue his job as a cashier at the British Colonial Office. As Parsis, the Bul saras practised Zoroastrianism.[8]

Mercury was born with four extra incisors, to which he attributed his enhanced vocal range.[9][10] As Zanzibar was a British protector ate until 1963, Mercury was born a British subject, and on 2 June

1969 was registered a citizen of the United Kingdom and colonies after the family had emigrated to England.

Mercury spent most of his child hood in India where he began tak ing piano lessons at the age of sev en while living with relatives.[12]

In 1954, at the age of eight, Mer cury was sent to study at St. Peter’s School, a British-style boarding school for boys, in Panchgani near Bombay.[13] At the age of 12, he formed a school band, the Hec tics, and covered rock and roll art ists such as Cliff Richard and Little Richard.[14][15] One of Mercu ry’s former bandmates from the Hectics has said “the only music he listened to, and played, was Western pop music”.[16] A friend recalls that he had “an uncanny ability to listen to the radio and re play what he heard on piano”.[17]

It was also at St. Peter’s where he began to call himself “Freddie”. In February 1963, he moved back to Zanzibar where he joined his par ents at their flat.

In the spring of 1964, Mercury and his family fled to England from Zanzibar to escape the violence of the revolution against the Sultan of Zanzibar and his mainly Arab government,[19] in which thou sands of ethnic Arabs and Indians

VOCALY

Although Mercury’s speaking voice naturally fell in the bari tone range, he delivered most songs in the tenor range.[33] His known vocal range extended from bass low F (F2) to soprano high F (F6).[34] He could belt up to tenor high F (F5).

ARTISTY

SONGWRITING

Mercury wrote 10 of the 17 songs on Queen’s Greatest Hits album: “Bo hemian Rhapsody”, “Seven Seas of Rhye”, “Killer Queen”, “Somebody to Love”, “Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy”, “We Are the Champions”, “Bicy cle Race”, “Don’t Stop Me Now”, “Cra zy Little Thing Called Love”, and “Play the Game”.

LIVE PERFORMER

Mercury was noted for his live performances, which were often delivered to stadium audiences around the world. He displayed a highly theatrical style that often evoked a great deal of participa tion from the crowd.

INSTRUMENTALIST

As a young boy in India, Mercu ry received formal piano train ing up to the age of nine. Later on, while living in London, he learned guitar. Much of the mu sic he liked was guitar-orien tated: his favourite artists at the time were the Who, the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, and Led Zeppelin.

DEATH

On the evening of 24 November 1991, about 24 hours after issu ing the statement, Mercury died at the age of 45 at his home in Kensington.[149] The cause of death was bronchial pneumo nia resulting from AIDS.[150] His close friend Dave Clark of the Dave Clark Five was at the bedside vigil when Mercury died. Austin phoned Mercury’s

SOLO CARIER

As well as his work with Queen, Mer cury put out two solo albums and sev eral singles. Although his solo work was not as commercially successful as most Queen albums, the two offQueen albums and several of the sin gles debuted in the top 10 of the UK Music Charts. His first solo effort goes back to 1972 under the pseudonym

Larry Lurex

parents and sister to break the news, which reached newspaper and tele vision crews in the early hours of 25 November.

R M I A A Y N

Brian

Harold May CBE (born 19 July 1947) is an English guitarist, singer, composer, and astrophysicist. He achieved fame as lead guitarist of the rock band Queen. May was a co-found er of Queen with lead singer Fred die Mercury and drummer Roger Taylor. His songwriting contribu tions helped Queen become one of the most successful bands in rock history.

May previously performed with Taylor in the blues rock band Smile, which he had joined while he was at university. After Queen’s formation in 1970, bass player John Deacon joined to complete the line-up in 1971. They became one of the biggest rock bands in the world with the success of the album A Night at the Opera and its single “Bohemian Rhap sody”. From the mid-1970s until the early 1990s, Queen played at some of the biggest venues in the world, including at Live Aid in 1985. As a member of Queen, May became re garded as a virtuoso mu sician. He was identified with a distinctive sound

created through his layered gui tar work, often using a home-built electric guitar called the Red Spe cial.[3] May wrote numerous hits for Queen, including “We Will Rock You”, “I Want It All”, “Fat Bot tomed Girls”, “Flash”, “Hammer to Fall”, “Save Me”, “Who Wants to Live Forever”, “Too Much Love Will Kill You”, and “The Show Must Go On”.

Following the death of Mercury in 1991, aside from the 1992 trib ute concert, the release of Made in

(1995) and the 1997 tribute sin gle to Mercury, “No-One but You (Only the Good Die Young)” (written by May), Queen were put on hiatus for several years but were eventually reconvened by May and Taylor for further performances featuring other vocalists. In 2005, a Planet Rock poll saw May voted the seventh-greatest guitarist of all time.[4] He was ranked at No. 26 on Rolling Stone’s list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time”. [5] In 2012, he was ranked the sec ond-greatest guitarist in a Guitar World magazine readers poll.[6] In 2001, May was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Queen and in 2018 the band received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.[7]

May was appointed a CBE by Queen Elizabeth II in 2005 for “services to the music industry and for charity work”.[8] May earned a PhD degree in astro physics from Imperial College London in 2007,[1][2] and was Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University from 2008 to 2013.[9] He was a “science team collaborator” with NA

EARLY LIFE

May was born 19 July 1947 in a nursing home at Hamp ton Hill, near Twickenham, Middlesex, the only child of Ruth Irving (née Fletcher) and Harold May, who worked as a draughtsman at the Ministry of Aviation.His mother who was Scottish, married his father who was English at Moulin in Perthshire, Scotland in 1946.[19] May attended the local Hanworth Road state primary school, and at the age of 11 won a scholarship to Hampton Grammar School,[16] then a voluntary aided school.During this time, he formed his first band, named 1984 after George Orwell’s novel of the same name, with vocalist and bassist Tim Staffell.

At Hampton Grammar School, May attained ten GCE Or dinary Levels and three GCE Advanced Levels in Physics, Mathematics, and Applied Mathematics. He studied Mathematics and Physics at Imperial College London, graduating with a BSc degree in Physics in 1968 with honours. Following his graduation, May received a personal invitation from Sir Bernard Lovell to work at the Jodrell Bank Observatory while continuing to prepare his doctorate. He declined, choosing instead to remain at Imperial College to avoid breaking from Smile, the London-based band he was in at the time.

In 2007, May was awarded a PhD degree in astrophysics from Imperial College London for work started in 1971 and completed in 2007.

MUSIC CAREER

1968–1970: Smile

May formed the band Smile in 1968. The group included Tim Staffell as thev lead singer and bassist, and later, drummer Rog er Taylor, who also went on to play for Queen. The band lasted for only two years, from 1968 to 1970, as Staffell departed in 1970, leaving the band with a catalogue of nine songs.

2000–2010

From his last solo release in 1998, May has been perform ing as a solo artist, as part of an ensemble, and infrequently as Queen with Roger Taylor. On 22 October 2000, he made a guest appearance at the Motörhead 25th Anniversary show at Brix ton Academy along with Ed die Clarke for the encore song

“Overkill”

1970–1995: Queen

In Queen’s three-part vocal harmo nies, May was generally the low er-range backing vocalist. On some of his songs, he sings the lead vocals, most notably the first verse of “Who Wants to Live Forever”, the final verse of “Mother Love”, the middle eight on “I Want It All” and “Flash’s Theme”, and full lead vocals on “Some Day One Day”

2004–2009: Queen + Paul Rod gers

At the end of 2004, May and Taylor announced that they would reunite and return to touring in 2005, with Paul Rodgers, the founder and former lead singer of Free and Bad Compa ny. Brian May’s website also stated that Rodgers would be “featured with” Queen as Queen + Paul Rodgers, not replacing the late Freddie Mercury. The retired John Deacon would not be participating.

1983–1999: Side projects and solo works

During 1983, several members of Queen explored side projects. On 21 and 22 April in Los An geles, May was in a studio with Eddie Van Halen, with no inten tion of recording anything. The result of the two-day session was a mini album titled Star Fleet Project, which was not originally going to be released.

2011–present

On 18 April 2011, Lady Gaga confirmed that May would play guitar on her track “You and I” from her latest album Born This Way, released on 23 May 2011. [71] May joined Gaga on stage during the performance of “You and I” at the 2011 MTV Vid eo Music Awards held at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles.

OR G E R AT Y L O R

RogerMeddows Taylor OBE (born 26 July 1949) is an English musician, singer and multi-instrumen talist, best known as the drummer for the rock band Queen.[1] As a drummer, Taylor was recognised early in his career for his unique sound.[2] He was voted the eighth-greatest drummer in classic rock music history in a listener poll conducted by Planet Rock in 2005.[3] He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001 as a member of Queen.

As a songwriter, Taylor contributed songs to Queen’s albums from the beginning, composing at least one track on every album, and often singing lead vocals on his own compositions. He wrote or co-wrote three UK number ones

Hewrote or co-wrote three UK number ones (“These Are the Days of Our Lives”,[4] “Innuendo” and “Under Pressure”) and wrote a further five major hits (“Radio Ga Ga”, “A Kind of Mag ic”, “Heaven for Everyone”, “Breakthru”, and “The Invisible Man”).[5] He was also the main writer on the international top-ten hit “One Vision”, although the track is credited to the whole band.[6] He has collaborated with such artists as Eric Clapton, Roger Waters, Roger Daltrey, Robert Plant, Phil Collins, Genesis, Jimmy Nail, Kansas, Elton John, Gary Nu man, Shakin’ Stevens, Foo Fighters, Al Stewart, Steve Vai, Yoshi ki, Cyndi Almouzni, and Bon Jovi. As a producer, he has produced albums by Virginia Wolf, Jimmy Nail, and

In addition to his drum work, Taylor is well known for his falsetto vocal range. He sometimes played key boards, guitars and bass on his own songs. During the 1980s, in addition to his work with Queen, he formed a parallel band known as the Cross, in which he was the lead singer and rhythm guitarist. During the early 1980s, Taylor was also a panel list on the popular UK quiz show Pop Quiz, hosted by Mike Read. In 2014, he appeared in The Life of Rock with

has stated that his early role model as a drummer was Mitch Mitchell of the Jimi Hen drix Experience. He said: “I still think listening to Mitch Mitchell, especially the early stuff with Hendrix, is just fan tastic. This fusion of jazz technique and wonderful riffs but with this rolling fe rocious attack on the whole kit, it had lots of jazz influences I think. In fact for me he played the kit like a song, it was just wonderful. Total integration into the song. Not just marking time”.

Taylor

EARLY LIFE

Roger

Taylor was born on 26 July 1949 at West Norfolk & Lynn Hospital in King’s Lynn, Norfolk. The new maternity ward was opened by Princess Elizabeth (the future queen, Elizabeth II), where she was introduced to 16 new mothers including Winifred Taylor, his mother. Taylor first lived at 87 High Street in King’s Lynn and later moved to Beulah Street in the town. Taylor’s first school was Rosebury Avenue school.[7] Taylor moved to Truro, Cornwall, in south west England, with his mother Winifred, father Michael and younger sister Clare. When he was seven years old, he and some friends formed his first band, the Bubblingover Boys, in which he played the ukulele. He briefly attended Truro Cathedral School; at the age of 13, he joined Truro School as a day boy.[8] At the age of 15, Taylor became a member of the Reaction, a semi-professional rock band formed mainly of boys from Truro School. Taylor had originally learned guitar, but be came a drummer when he realised he had a more natural aptitude for it. Taylor taught himself to tune his drums, in spired by Keith Moon of the Who because of the “great drum sounds” on the early Who records.[9] Another key influence on Taylor was drummer Mitch Mitchell of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, who Taylor stated was his early role model.[10]

In 1967, Taylor went to London to study dentistry at the London Hospital Medical College,[11] but he became bored with it and changed to biology obtaining a BSc at East London Polytechnic.

1968–1970: Smile

Taylor met Brian May and Tim Staffell in 1968 after a friend saw an advert on a noticeboard at Imperial College for a drum mer. Smile included May on lead guitar, Staffell on lead vocals and bass, and later Taylor on drums. The band lasted for two years before Staffell departed to join Humpy Bong, leaving the band with a catalogue of nine songs.

favourite drummers

aylor has also expressed great admiration for John Bonham of Led Zeppelin. Speaking of Bonham, Taylor said, “The greatest rock and roll drum mer of all time was John Bon ham, who did things that no body had ever even thought possible before with the drum kit. And also the greatest sound out of his drums – they sound ed enormous, and just one bass drum. So fast on it

CAREER

1970s–present: Queen

In 1969, Taylor was working with Freddie Mercury at Kensington Mar ket in London (they were sharing a flat at around the same time).[14] Mercu ry, then known as Freddie Bulsara, was a fan of Smile. The band split up in 1970. In the same year, Taylor turned down the chance to become drummer for Genesis, which led to Phil Collins joining instead.

1977–present: Solo career

Taylor has had a productive solo career, releasing six albums. His first single was “I Wanna Tes tify” in 1977, recorded during Queen’s sessions for the News of the World album. The A-side, although a cover of the Parlia ments song of the same name, was completely different from the original.

O A H C N O N J ED

John

Richard Deacon (born 19 August 1951) is an English retired musician, best known for being the bassist for the rock band Queen. He composed several songs for the group, including Top 10 hits “You’re My Best Friend”, “Anoth er One Bites the Dust”, and “I Want to Break Free”; co-wrote “Under Pressure”, “Friends Will Be Friends” and “One Vision”; and he was involved in the band’s financial management.

Deacon grew up in Oadby, Leicestershire, playing bass in a local band, The Opposition, before moving to study electronics at Chelsea College, London. He joined Queen in 1971 on the strength of his musical and electronic skills, particularly the home-made Deacy Amp which gui tarist Brian May used to create guitar orchestras throughout Queen’s career. From the third album, Sheer Heart Attack, onwards, he wrote at least one song per album, several of which became hits. As well as bass, Deacon played some guitar, keyboards and piano on Queen’s studio work.

After the death of lead singer Freddie Mercury in 1991 and the fol lowing year’s Tribute Concert, Deacon performed only sporadically with the remaining members of Queen before retiring from the music industry in 1997 after recording “No-One but You (Only the Good Die Young)”. He has not performed on any of the other projects that the two remaining members, Brian May and Roger Taylor, have put together. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Queen in 2001 and into Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003.

Retirement

Deacon was so upset by Mercury’s death in November 1991, it resulted in a significant reduction in his musical activity.[18] He said, “As far as we are concerned, this is it. There is no point carrying on. It is impos sible to replace Freddie.”[18] After playing live with Queen three more times: at The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness on 20 April 1992, in a chari ty concert with Roger Taylor at Cowdray House in Midhurst on 18 September 1993, and at the opening of the Bejart Ballet in Paris on 17 January 1997, performing only

“The Show Must Go On” with Elton John on lead vocals – he decided to retire from music.

EARLY LIFE

JohnRichard Deacon was born on Sunday, 19 August, 1951 at St Francis Private Hospital, London Road, Leicester[1] to Arthur Henry and Lilian Molly Deacon (née Perkins).[2][3] His father worked at the Norwich Union insurance company and in 1960 the family moved to the neighbouring town of Oadby.[4] Deacon was known to friends and his bandmates as “Deacs” or “Deacy”[5] and attended Linden Junior School in Leicester, Gartree High School.

Deacon took an interest in electronics at an early age, reading magazines on the subject and building small de vices, including the modification of a reel-to-reel tape deck to record music directly from the radio.[6][7] He studied well at Beauchamp Grammar School in Oadby, and achieved 8 GCE O level and 3 A level passes, all at grade A.[8] He particularly enjoyed soul music.[9]

In 1965, at the age of fourteen, Deacon formed a school band, the Opposition. The band would go through many line-up and name changes, with Deacon even tually leaving the band altogether in 1969 to pur sue studies in electronics at Chelsea College in

CAREER

Deacon joined his first band, The Opposition, in 1965 at the age of 14. The band played covers of chart hits; Deacon played rhythm guitar using an in strument he had bought with money borrowed from the group’s founder, Richard Young.

In early 1971, Deacon was introduced to Taylor and May by a friend at a disco who told him that they were in a band that had just lost its bassist. A couple of days later he auditioned in a lecture room at Imperial College London and became the last member of Queen to join.

On Queen’s first album (1973) he was credited as “Deacon John”,[22] to make him “sound more interesting”.

Deacon’s first writing credit came on Queen’s third album, Sheer Heart Attack (1974). He wrote “Misfire”, a Caribbean-themed song on which he played almost all guitar parts, and co-wrote “Stone Cold Crazy” with the rest of the band.

By the mid-1980s Deacon had started to play with other bands as well. He performed on the single “Picking Up Sounds” by Man Friday & Jive Junior, a supergroup also featuring Thin Lizzy’s Scott Gorham, Bad Company’s Simon Kirke and Mick Ralphs, and The Pretenders’ Martin Chambers

Deacon considered his songwriting to be of equal importance to his musical skills in Queen. He later said: “If I’d just been a bass player all my life with the band, I wouldn’t be as satisfied ... I only consider that as part of what I do”

QUEEN

“You can do what you want with my music,” he said, “but don’t make me boring.”