Biography - Queen

Published by ethney

1970s Britain was epitomised by mock-operatic hard rock band, 'Queen'. Even today, they are eclipsed only by the 'Beatles' in collectibility.
Queen was formed in 1971 when the hard rock group 'Smile', consisting of guitarist, Brian May and Drummer Roger Taylor took on a new singer, Eddie Mercury. Basist John Deacon later joined the band and in 1973, they released their first album. However, it was in 1975, after the release of their fourth album, 'A Night at the Opera' that Queen became superstars. The record featured what was to become their signature song: Bohemain Rhapsody remained at number 1 in the UK charts for 9 weeks, and was accompanied by one of the first conceptual music videos ever made.
A stream of platinum albums followed, including 'News of the World', 'Jazz' and 'The Game', with Queen hitting the height of their success in the early 80's. Both their popularity and productivity waned towards the end of the decade, with rumours spreading about Mercury's health. The flamboyant front-man who had never admitted to being bisexual, issued a statement on 23 November 1991 announcing that he had AIDS, he died the next day.
After Mercury's death, Bohemian Rhapsody underwent a renaissance and the remaining members paid him tribute with an all star concert at Wembley, raising millions for the the Mercury Pheonix Trust.