Queen (band) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Queen
Top: Brian May, Freddie Mercury Bottom: John Deacon, Roger Taylor
Background information
Origin	London, England
Genres	Rock
Years active	1970–present
Labels	EMI Parlophone Elektra Capitol Hollywood Island Virgin EMI
Associated acts	Smile Queen + Paul Rodgers Queen + Adam Lambert
Members	Brian May Roger Taylor
Past members	Freddie Mercury John Deacon See also: Early members

The two remaining members of Queen's classic line-up, May and Taylor (pictured in 2017), were creative consultants for Bohemian Rhapsody

Queen on stage in Frankfurt on 26 September 1984. Compatible with his performance and compositions, Mercury was also a multi-instrumentalist.

Queen performing with Adam Lambert during their 2017 tour

Queen are a British rock band that formed in London in 1970. They are one of the most commercially successful music acts of all time, selling over 300 million records worldwide. The members were Freddie Mercury (lead vocals, piano), Brian May (lead guitar, vocals), Roger Taylor (drums, vocals), and John Deacon (bass guitar).

Freddie Mercury died of an AIDS-related bronchopneumonia on November 24, 1991. In 1997 John Deacon retired to spend more time with his family. The other two former members toured with Paul Rodgers from 2005 to 2009. In December 2018 it was announced Queen & Lambert will bring its Rhapsody Tour to The Forum in 2019. Three of their biggest hits were "Bohemian Rhapsody, "We Will Rock You", and "We Are the Champions".

Queen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.

Formation

With his friend Tim Staffell, Brian May started a band called 1984 in the mid 1960's. The band broke up after a little bit and then May decided to make another band and teamed up with two other college students named Tim Staffell and Roger Taylor. They called themselves "Smile" with Roger Taylor on drums and vocals, Tim Staffell on vocals and bass and Brian May on guitar and vocals. They did a few hits such as "April Lady". Tim Staffell became friends with another college student, Farrokh Bulsara (to be later known as Freddie Mercury) and Farrokh became a big fan of "Smile" and encouraged them a lot. Later on, Tim left "Smile" to join "Humpy Bongs" and Farrokh Bulsara subsequently joined the band on vocals and piano in 1970. Then Farrokh came up with the name "Queen", so they changed it from "Smile" to "Queen". They then started auditions for a new bassist. They were going through several bassists during this time and none of them stuck, only lasting for about a few minutes. None of the auditioners managed to suit the place of the new bassist, but finally in 1971, they settled on John Deacon. Queen's first album was released in 1973 and it was called "Queen" with songs such as "Seven Seas Of Rhye" and "Liar". Farrokh Bulsara changed his name to Freddie Mercury after the lyrics "Mother Mercury, look what they've done to me" in "My Fairy King". Brian May has a degree in Astrophysics.

Bohemian Rhapsody Movie

Released in October 2018, Bohemian Rhapsody focuses on Queen's formative years and the period leading up to the celebrated performance at the 1985 Live Aid concert. The film has grossed over $900 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing musical biographical film of all time. Despite receiving mixed reviews, it won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama. Malek received wide acclaim and numerous accolades for his portrayal of Mercury, including the Academy Award for Best Actor.

After the release of the film, "Bohemian Rhapsody" re-entered the US Billboard Hot 100 for the third time (having previously charted in 1976 and 1992), charting at number 33 on 12 November 2018.

Personnel

Current members

• Brian May – lead guitar (1970–present)
• Roger Taylor – drums, vocals (1970–present)

Deceased members

• Freddie Mercury – vocals, piano (1970–1991)

Past members

• John Deacon – bass guitar (1971–1997)

Guest members

• Paul Rodgers – vocals (2004–2009)
• Adam Lambert – vocals (2009–present)

Album Hits

• Queen – Keep Yourself Alive – 1973
• Queen II – Seven Seas of Rhye – 1974
• Sheer Heart Attack – Killer Queen – 1974
• A Night at The Opera – Bohemian Rhapsody, You're My Best Friend, I'm In Love With My Car – 1975
• A Day at the Races – Somebody to Love, Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy  – 1976
• News of the World – We Are The Champions/ We Will Rock You (Double A side single) – 1977
• Jazz – Bicycle Race/ Fat Bottomed Girls (Double A side single), Don't Stop Me Now – 1978
• The Game – Another One Bites the Dust, Crazy Little Thing Called Love – 1980
• Flash Gordon – Flash's Theme – 1980
• Hot Space – Under Pressure – 1982
• The Works – Radio Ga Ga, I Want To Break Free, Hammer To Fall – 1984
• A Kind of Magic – One Vision, A Kind of Magic, Who Wants to Live Forever – 1986
• The Miracle – I Want It All – 1989
• Innuendo – The Show Must Go On, These Are the Days of Our Lives – 1991
• Made in Heaven – Heaven For Everyone – 1995
• The Cosmos Rocks – C-lebrity – 2008

Studio albums

• Queen (1973)
• Queen II (1974)
• Sheer Heart Attack (1974)
• A Night at the Opera (1975)
• A Day at the Races (1976)
• News of the World (1977)
• Jazz (1978)
• The Game (1980)
• Flash Gordon (1980)
• Hot Space (1982)
• The Works (1984)
• A Kind of Magic (1986)
• The Miracle (1989)
• Innuendo (1991)
• Made in Heaven (1995)

Images for kids

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  Queen in 1970. Left to right; Mike Grose, Roger Taylor, Freddie Mercury, Brian May

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  PRS for Music heritage award commemorating Queen's first performance, Prince Consort Road, London

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  Queen guitar (right, next to a Rolling Stones guitar) at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, marking a 31 October 1970 Queen concert at the venue

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  Queen poster for their 1977 A Day at the Races Tour

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  Queen with Argentine footballer Diego Maradona (middle) during the South American part of The Game Tour

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  Queen recorded six studio albums at Mountain Studios in Montreux, Switzerland from 1978 to 1995. In December 2013, the studio was opened to fans. Queen: The Studio Experience is free, with fans asked for a donation to the Mercury Phoenix Trust charity.

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  Statue of Mercury overlooking Lake Geneva in Montreux, Switzerland

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  Queen's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6358 Hollywood Boulevard

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  Queen performing with Paul Rodgers during their 2005 tour

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  Queen + Paul Rodgers concert in Kharkiv's Freedom Square, Ukraine, 12 September 2008

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  Queen + Adam Lambert concert at the TD Garden, Boston in July 2014

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  Brian May playing his custom-made Red Special at the O2 Arena in London in 2017. He has used this guitar almost exclusively since the band's advent in the early 1970s.

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  Queen logo (without the crest)

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  Mercury performing in a Harlequin outfit. He appeared in a half black, half white version in the music video for "We Are the Champions".

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  Statue of Mercury at the West End's Dominion Theatre where Queen and Ben Elton's musical We Will Rock You was performed from 2002 to 2014

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  We Will Rock You musical in Tokyo, Japan, November 2006

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  2012 DVD and CD set of Hungarian Rhapsody: Queen Live in Budapest

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  Robbie Williams, on stage in 2015 with the Queen image in the background, performed "We Are the Champions" for the 2001 medieval adventure film A Knight's Tale

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  Gold and silver discs issued by EMI in 1982 for Greatest Hits (1981). With more than 25 million copies sold it is Queen’s best selling album.

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  At 10 years old, Thom Yorke of Radiohead made a homemade guitar in an attempt to emulate Brian May.

See also

In Spanish: Queen para niños