British rock band formed by Freddie Mercury (voice), Brian May (guitar), Roger Taylor (drums) and John Deacon (bass). The group enjoyed great fame in the late seventies and throughout the eighties, and their records were bestselling even after the death in 1991 of Freddie Mercury.
Its origins go back to the early sixties, when young guitarist Brian Harold May (born in 1947) began playing in a semi-professional group called 1984. Brian, an expert connoisseur of several string instruments, even designed his own guitars, known later Like the May model.
Brian May later became part of another band, called Smile, with which he released a single. Unexpectedly, Tim Stafell, the band's singer, left the group; To find their replacement, Smile members decided to test the Sour Milk Sea singer, who was none other than Freddie Mercury, and was quickly admitted.
By that time Freddie Mercury was already accustomed to appear in public and on stage with showy and daring clothes. Freddie had a prodigious voice and great piano skills. To this was joined a rhythmic base signed by John Richard Deacon (born in 1951) to bass and drummer Roger Meadows Taylor (born in 1949).
The group began to record models and the record company EMI, after seeing them to act in the Marquee of London, took interest for them. Already in 1973, Queen was first locked in the Trident Studios of London to record, under the supervision of Roy Thomas Baker in the controls, its first work, Queen I, demonstration of an aggressive rock, with the sound that would characterize To the band. It was followed, in early 1974, Queen II, in full evolution and search for maturity.
A 1974 Sheer Heart Attack was for many a transition album. It included songs like Brighton rock or Now I'm here. The next one, A night at the opera, would be the record that would lead to stardom to Queen. In 1975, the single release Bohemian Rhapsody was a worldwide success. The most notable difference with respect to previous works is the participation of all the members of the group in the composition of the songs that make up the album, which was previously in the hands of May and Mercury.
The following year they edited another elepé that was the continuation of the previous success: A day at the races. In News of the World (1977), however, new elements are appreciated; The composing ability of each one of the components reached its peak in songs like We are the champions, that would be an essential subject in all the concerts of the band
The album Jazz (1978) came to start a time of transition in which the tours came to save the group from what looked like a creative crisis. In 1979 the direct one called Live killers was published. Roy Thomas Baker's departure from the controls contributed in 1980 to continuing the evolution of the group, as evidenced in The game (1980). That same year Queen had her first experience in the cinema, composing the soundtrack of Flash Gordon of Dino de Laurentis.
After the compilation of 1981, was published Hot space, in which they shared the subject Under Pressure with David Bowie; The album was criticized by its most arduous followers. Three years later, in 1984, The Works was released, the disc that would return to the group the lost popularity. The commercial success came back from the hand of A kind of magic, which contains the famous theme Who wants to live forever. The album was used in the soundtracks of the films Iron Eagle and The Immortals. After a Macrogira Live Live would come, and the group decided to take a breather.
In 1989 the miracle was released. The latest studio album released prior to the death of Mercury, a victim of AIDS, took the title of Innuendo. After Freddie's death, Brian May began to edit solo, and in November of 1995 his album Made in Heaven was released, recorded in the studios of Montreaux, in whose vicinity resided the leader of the group in his moments of rest.
In 2002, May and Taylor projected the launch of the musical We Will Rock You, a show to bring the most popular themes of the group to the half-world stage. Meanwhile, May announced in December 2004 that the band would embark during 2005 on a world tour in which Mercury's place would be occupied by Paul Rodgers, who was singer of Bad Company (before they had shuffled other names such as George Michael).