Queen were formed in 1970 by singer Freddie Mercury, guitarist Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor, and bassist John Deacon. They decided on the name Queen because Mercury thought that it sounded “regal, splendid and immediate.”
A ROMAN GOD
Freddie Mercury’s original name was Farrokh Bulsara and he was born in Stone Island, Zanzibar. He moved to London with his family as a teenager to escape political unrest. He legally changed his name to Freddie Mercury when he joined Queen. Mercury is the Roman god of eloquence and messages – an ideal name for a songwriter!
US TOUR
At first, the band were not popular. One of their early concerts had just six people in the audience, their first two singles were unsuccessful. Queen’s big break came in 1973 when they supported a band called Mott The Hoople on a UK tour, accompanying them to America. These shows were a big success, with many in the audience preferring Queen.
FIRST MUSIC VIDEO
That same year Queen released Bohemian Rhapsody, their most famous song. It was nine weeks at the top of the UK charts. Queen were on tour at the time and recorded a video to promote the song. They decided to use digital effects – creating the first-ever music video!
A GREAT PERFORMER
Although Queen’s popularity was starting to fall in the 1980’s, their performance at the enormous Live Aid charity concert at Wembley Stadium in 1985 is considered to be the best of all bands that played that day. Mercury also produced original solo work, including an album called Barcelona recorded with the soprano Montserrat Caballé.
SUDDEN DEATH
On 24th of November 1991, Freddie Mercury died of bronchial pneumonia caused by AIDS. It was just 24 hours after he admitted publically that he had the virus. He became one of many famous figures who died from the illness. In 2010, Rolling Stone named Freddie Mercury number 18 on its list of the 100 greatest singers ever. His incredible story is told in a new biopic starring Rami Malek. It is called Bohemian Rhapsody.
