75 Facts About Queen (Band)

Queen first charted in the UK with their second album, Queen II, in 1974.

Queen have been a global presence in popular culture for more than five decades.

In 1990, Queen received the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music.

Queen formed the group Smile with Staffell and keyboardist Chris Smith.

Queen formed the group Humpy Bong with former Bee Gees drummer Colin Petersen.

Related searches

Queen tried asking the Kinks but couldn't get hold of them.

Queen began 1972 with a gig at Bedford College, London where only six people turned up.

Queen promoted the unreleased album in February 1973 on BBC Radio 1, still unsigned.

In January 1974, Queen played the Sunbury Pop Festival in Australia, where they were jeered and taunted by the audience.

Single "Killer Queen" was written by Mercury about a high-class prostitute.

Queen started work on their fourth album A Night at the Opera, taking its name from the popular Marx Brothers movie.

Queen was given a promotional copy on the condition he didn't play it, but ended up doing so fourteen times over a single weekend.

Queen were certainly the first band to create a 'concept' video.

The most recognisable 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 performed "'39" a cappella.

Queen played a landmark gig on 18 September 1976, a free concert in Hyde Park, London, organised by the entrepreneur Richard Branson.

Queen were late arriving onstage and ran out of time to play an encore; the police informed Mercury that he would be arrested if he attempted to go on stage again.

Queen commenced the News of the World Tour in November 1977, and Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times called this concert tour the band's "most spectacularly staged and finely honed show".

In 1978, Queen released Jazz, which reached number two in the UK and number six on the Billboard 200 in the US.

In 1978, Queen toured the US and Canada, and spent much of 1979 touring in Europe and Japan.

Queen released the very successful single "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", a rockabilly inspired song done in the style of Elvis Presley.

On 26 December 1979, Queen played the opening night at the Concert for the People of Kampuchea in London, having accepted a request by the event's organiser, Paul McCartney.

In September 1980, Queen performed three sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden.

In 1980, Queen released the soundtrack they had recorded for Flash Gordon.

In February 1981, Queen travelled to South America as part of The Game Tour, and became the first major rock band to play significant shows in Latin America.

Queen chalked up a major international "first" by becoming the band to do for popular music in South America what The Beatles did for North America 17 years ago.

Related searches

Queen played two sell out nights at the Montreal Forum, Quebec, Canada.

Queen worked with David Bowie on the 1981 single "Under Pressure".

In October, Queen released their first compilation album, titled Greatest Hits, which showcased the group's highlights from 1974 to 1981.

Queen toured to promote Hot Space, but found some audience unreceptive to the new material.

Year, Queen began The Works Tour, the first tour to feature keyboardist Spike Edney as an extra live musician.

Queen donated to a school for the deaf and blind as a philanthropic gesture but were fined by the British Musicians' Union and placed on the United Nations' blacklisted artists.

In January 1985, Queen headlined two nights of the first Rock in Rio festival at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and played in front of over 300,000 people each night.

Queen ended 1985 by releasing the single "One Vision" and a limited-edition boxed set of Queen albums, The Complete Works.

In early 1986, Queen recorded the album A Kind of Magic, containing several reworkings of songs written for the fantasy action film Highlander.

In mid-1986, Queen went on the Magic Tour, their final tour with Mercury.

Queen began the tour at the Rasunda Stadium in Stockholm, Sweden, and later performed a concert at Slane Castle, Ireland, in front of an audience of 95,000, which broke the venue's attendance record.

Queen's popularity was stimulated in North America when "Bohemian Rhapsody" was featured in the 1992 comedy film Wayne's World.

The compilation album Classic Queen reached number four on the Billboard 200, and is certified three times platinum in the US.

In 1997, Queen returned to the studio to record "No-One but You ", a song dedicated to Mercury and all those who die too soon.

In January 1997, Queen performed "The Show Must Go On" live with Elton John and the Bejart Ballet in Paris on a night Mercury was remembered, and it marked the last performance and public appearance of John Deacon, who chose to retire.

The Paris concert was only the second time Queen had played live since Mercury's death, prompting Elton John to urge them to perform again.

On 18 October 2002, Queen were awarded the 2,207th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, for their work in the music industry, which is located at 6358 Hollywood Blvd.

In November 2004, Queen were among the inaugural inductees into the UK Music Hall of Fame, and the award ceremony was the first event at which Rodgers joined May and Taylor as vocalist.

Queen received the inaugural VH1 Rock Honors at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on 25 May 2006.

Rodgers stated: "My arrangement with [Queen] was similar to my arrangement with Jimmy [Page] in The Firm in that it was never meant to be a permanent arrangement".

Related searches

On 30 October 2009, May wrote a fanclub letter on his website stating that Queen had no intentions to tour in 2010 but that there was a possibility of a performance.

Many of you will have read bits and pieces on the internet about Queen changing record companies and so I wanted to confirm to you that the band have signed a new contract with Universal Music.

In May 2011, Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell noted that Queen are currently scouting their once former and current live bassist Chris Chaney to join the band.

At the 2011 Broadcast Music, Incorporated Awards held in London on 4 October, Queen received the BMI Icon Award in recognition for their airplay success in the US.

Queen were scheduled to headline Sonisphere at Knebworth on 7 July 2012 with Adam Lambert before the festival was cancelled.

Queen performed with Lambert on 3 July 2012 at Moscow's Olympic Stadium, and on 7 July 2012 at the Municipal Stadium in Wroclaw, Poland.

On 12 August 2012, Queen performed at the closing ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

The album is largely a compilation of previously-released material but features three new Queen tracks featuring vocals from Mercury with backing added by the surviving members of Queen.

Queen were not able to tour due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they released a live album with Adam Lambert on 2 October 2020.

On 31 December 2020, Queen performed on the Japanese New Year's Eve television special Kohaku with composer Yoshiki and vocalist Sarah Brightman.

In 2021 Queen received the Japan Gold Disc Award for the fourth time as the most popular Western act in Japan.

Queen drew artistic influence from British rock acts of the 1960s and early 1970s, such as the Beatles, the Kinks, Cream, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, the Who, Black Sabbath, Slade, Deep Purple, David Bowie, Genesis and Yes, with Mercury inspired by the rock and roll singers Little Richard, Elvis Presley and the gospel singer Aretha Franklin.

Queen composed music that drew inspiration from many different genres of music, often with a tongue-in-cheek attitude.

Several Queen songs were written with audience participation in mind, such as "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions".

Queen uses a sixpence as a plectrum to get the sound he wants.

Besides vocal harmonies, Queen were known for multi-tracking voices to imitate the sound of a large choir through overdubs.

In May 2002, a musical or "rock theatrical" based on the songs of Queen, titled We Will Rock You, opened at the Dominion Theatre in London's West End.

Queen's music appears in the Off-Broadway production Power Balladz, most notably the song "We Are the Champions", with the show's two performers believing the song was "the apex of artistic achievement in its day".

Queen have been featured multiple times in the Rock Band franchise: a track pack of 10 songs which are compatible with Rock Band, Rock Band 2, and Rock Band 3.

In March 2009, Sony Computer Entertainment released a Queen branded version of the company's karaoke franchise, SingStar.

Related searches

Queen were profiled in season 1, episode 16 of VH1's Legends, broadcast in 1998.

Also in 2005, with the release of their live album with Paul Rodgers, Queen moved into third place on the list of acts with the most aggregate time spent on the British record charts.

In January 2020, Queen became the first band to join Queen Elizabeth II on a British coin.

In July 2020, Queen became the third band to feature on a series of UK postage stamps issued by the Royal Mail.

Queen are one of the most bootlegged bands ever, according to Nick Weymouth, who manages the band's official website.

In 2004, Queen became the first Western rock act to be officially accepted in Iran following the release of their Greatest Hits album.

Queen were named 13th on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock list, and in 2010 were ranked 17th on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of All Time list.

Queen had stopped touring the US in 1982 as their success there had started to wane, but they remained a touring "juggernaut", filling stadiums and arenas internationally in the 1980s until their final tour in 1986.

Queen have been credited with making a significant contribution to genres such as hard rock and heavy metal.

Why Queen were able to cut across such an incredibly wide range of musicians is easy to see – they are one of the most versatile bands that rock has ever had.