HISTORY • The beginnings of Queen can be traced to 1968, when Brian May and Roger Taylor formed the trio Smile, at Imperial College, London. • After the group's bassist and lead singer Tim Staffel departed in the spring of 1970, May and Taylor took on vocalist Freddie Mercury to form Queen. • In 1971 John Deacon completed the lineup as bass guitarist.
ABOUT THE NAME‌ • Freddy explained: "It's just a name, but it's very royal obviously, and it sounds splendid. It's a strong name, very universal and immediate. It had a lot of visual potential and was open to all sorts of interpretations. I was certainly aware of gay connotations, but that was just one facet of it".
INFLUENCE BRITISH ROCK • BANDS: The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Who, Black Sabbath, Slade, Deep Purple and David Bowie. • GENRES: Progressive rock, glam rock, hard rock, heavy metal, pop rock, psychedelic rock, blues rock and dance/disco.
BAND MEMBERS
Freddie Mercury
Brian May
Roger Taylor
John Deacon
DISCOGRAPHY
LIVE PERFORMANCES • Queen played approximately 700 live performances during their career with roughly two-thirds during the seventies. • Their early performances were generally hard rock and/or heavy metal, but the band developed a noticeably more pop-oriented sound in later years. Many of their future trademarks first appeared in these early shows, although some could be traced back to the members' previous bands and artistic outlets. • The eighties were dominated by pop music and the subsequent arrival of the ¨MTV generation¨ and Queen, along with many other bands of their generation, were not immune to these new influences.
THE GAME TOUR
• Queen played to approximately 700,000 people in the space of just 13 concerts, with the show at São Paulo in Brazil setting the world record for the biggest paying audience at 131,000 people. • In Buenos Aires, Queen drew a crowd of 300,000 - in 5 concerts at Velez Sarfield’s stadium.