Queen was formed in London in 1970 and originally consisted of Freddie Mercury, Brian May, John Deacon, and Roger Taylor. Before joining Queen, Brian May and Roger Taylor had been playing together in a band named Smile with bassist Tim Staffell. After Staffell’s departure in 1970, Mercury joined the band and John Deacon was recruited prior to recording their eponymous debut album in 1973. Queen enjoyed success in the U.K. with their debut and its follow-up, Queen II in 1974, but it was the release of Sheer Heart Attack later in 1974 and A Night at the Opera in 1975 that gained the band international success. The latter featured “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which stayed at number one in the U.K. Singles Chart for nine weeks, charted at number one in several other territories, and gave the band their first top ten hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Their 1977 album, News of the World, contained two of rock’s most recognizable anthems, “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions.” By the early 1980s, Queen were one of the biggest stadium rock bands in the world, with “Another One Bites the Dust” their best selling single, and their performance at 1985’s Live Aid regarded as one of the greatest in rock history. In 1991, Mercury died of bronchopneumonia, a complication of AIDS, and Deacon retired in 1997. Since then, May and Taylor have occasionally performed together, including collaborations with Paul Rodgers (2004–09) and with Adam Lambert (since 2011).
Flip through the gallery for 10 Things You Might Not Know About Queen!
In 1968, guitarist Brian May, a student at London's Imperial College, and bassist Tim Staffell decided to form a band. May placed an advertisement on the college notice board for a "Mitch Mitchell / Ginger Baker type” drummer. Roger Taylor, a young dental student, auditioned and got the job. The group called themselves Smile
Freddie Mercury, then known by his birth name of Farrokh Bulsara, was a fan of Smile. He encouraged them to experiment with more elaborate stage and recording techniques after Tim Staffell's departure in 1970. Mercury joined the band shortly thereafter, changed the name of the band to “Queen,” and adopted his familiar stage name
Having attended art college, Mercury designed Queen's logo, called the Queen crest, shortly before the release of the band's first album. The logo combines the zodiac signs of all four members: two lions for Leo (Deacon and Taylor), a crab for Cancer (May), and two fairies for Virgo (Mercury), and is over-shadowed by an enormous phoenix
Sheer Heart Attack was released November 8, 1974 and featured "Killer Queen,” the band's first international hit. It is one of the few songs for which Mercury wrote the lyrics first. The band initially recorded tracks for the song without May, because he was recovering from an ulcer, leaving spaces for him to fill when he was able to
Another One Bites the Dust" was featured on the group's eighth studio album, 1980’s The Game. The song was a worldwide hit, charting Number 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and Number 7 on the U.K. Singles Chart. The song is credited as Queen's best selling single, with sales of more than 7 million copies
In 1990, Freddie Mercury made his final public appearance when he joined the rest of Queen to collect the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music. On November 23, 1991, in a prepared statement made on his deathbed, Mercury confirmed that he had AIDS. Within 24 hours of the statement, he died at the age of 45
