411 Music Hall of Fame Class of 2009: Queen

Posted by Michael Melchor on 02.13.2009

Rock Band
Pop/Rock, Progressive Rock
Inducted On: 02.13.09

No synthesizers were used on this induction...



QUEEN'S MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

Over 150 million albums sold worldwide

Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (US) in 2001

Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (UK) in 2004

Inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame in 2002 – the only band, rather than individual, to hold that honor

Entered into the Guiness Book of World records for the UK's best single of the past 50 years (for "Bohemian Rhapsody") and for the "largest Rock Star Benefit concert"

A grand total of 1,322 weeks (equating 27 years) on the UK album charts - more than any other act including The Beatles and Elvis Presley

A total of eighteen number one albums, eighteen number one singles, and ten number one DVDs worldwide

Best live rock performers of all-time

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Queen started out as an entirely different band, as guitarist Brian may and drummer Roger Taylor were both members of the psychadelic hard rock act Smile back in 1967. In 1971, fortune would smile upon them, as singer Tim Staffel would leave the band, paving the way for Zanzibar-born Freddie Mercury (real name Farookh Bulsara), then a member of the band Wreckage, to join the group. Within a few months, they were complete as bassist John Deacon would join the fold, and the four decided upon a name change given their new style.

Queen spent the next two years rehearsing and playing together to perfect their niche. The band was a perfect mesh of all personalities involved and became much more than the sum of its parts. Mercury, one of the most flamboyant and charismatic frontmen rock would ever know, served as the face and voice of Queen. Roger Taylor and Brian May (prone to theatrics themselves, though not to the degree of Mercury) kept the band's sound grounded yet bombastic and heavier, while quiet, unassuming John Deacon provided the backbone and foundation. Based on this combination of histrionics, tone, and personality, Queen joined up with producer Roy Thomas Baker (almost considered the fifth member of the band) and set about to make their mark beginning with an eponymous debut release in 1973.

More of a straight rock and roll record (though heavier than much of what was around at the time), Queen came and went with very little fanfare. It would be Queen II that garnered the band national attention in the UK, as their performance of "Seven Seas Of Rhye" on the British show "Top Of The Pops" garnered great attention. Based on that performance and single, Queen II became their breakthrough release in the UK and laid the seeds for their American following as well; their affected yet powerful performances opening for Mott The Hopple stateside were enough to raise Queen II to #43 on Billboard's album charts.

Sheer Heart Attack would be released a year later and, with the help of the single "Killer Queen," would help grow the band's reputation. By this time, they were ready to make it big, and that ambition would show. Queen spent several months on the next album, stated by many reports at the time to be the most expensive ever made. At the end of it all, though, A Night At The Opera would launch them to superstardom.

The album is marked, along with other trademark pieces such as "You're My Best Friend" and "I'm In Love With My Car," by what is considered their signature. "Bohemian Rhapsody" is the six-minute embodiment of all that is Queen – soft balladry, heavy metal, camp theatrics, and bombast all its own...all in one song. The track alone took weeks to record and is legendary in the tale that, by the time all the vocal overdubs were added in, the master recording tape was worn to the point of being clear in several places. On top of that, Queen also recorded a concept video for the single – the first of its kind – to be shown on whatever outlet would take it. Queen had seemingly gambled everything on the song's success...

...And that gamble paid off in spades, as "Bohemian Rhapsody" – and, by extension, A Night At The Opera – catapulted the band into superstardom. The single spent nine weeks at #1 in the UK, breaking the previous record. The song also helped break the band in the US, as the album climbed the Top 10 and ultimately went platinum. Queen were now bona-fide superstars, and the band took full advantage of its newfound success. Despite excessive revelry (and tales of their parties that soon became legendary in and of themselves), Queen continued working at a rapid rate. Following a free concert at London's Hyde Park that broke attendance records, the band released their follow-up, A Day At The Races, in 1976. Queen's streak continued as the album charted high on both sides of the Atlantic, despite the revulsion of the band by many in the music press.

1977 saw the release of News of The World and its double-A side single, "We Will Rock You"/"We Are The Champions". The former was recorded in an old abandoned church with only the floorboards and hand-claps as percussion and was written specifically for audience-participation at their now renowned live shows. The latter would become an anthem to sports teams and many other causes around the world despite the fact that it was written by Mercury – a notorious bi-sexual – to champion gay rights. The band would pull a similar feat in 1978 when the single for "Fat Bottomed Girls"/"Bicycle Race" preceded the album Jazz. To promote the single, the band decided to stage a nude female bicycle race at London's Wembley Stadium, causing much controversy and nearly becoming a PR disaster. Despite that, Queen were still riding high.

The band entered the 1980's with The Game, which became their first #1 album in America. The songs "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and "Another One Bites The Dust" – the first by a mainstream rock band to capture #1 on the Billboard R&B charts – helped the album along. Shortly thereafter, however, the public grew weary of the band's excesses. The soundtrack for Flash Gordon and the following album, 1982's Hot Space (the first time the band ever employed keyboards in an effort to compete with the New Wave movement), fared poorly. The one redeeming single between the two was their duet with David Bowie, "Under Pressure". The band's downward slide continued with The Works; despite a return to their rock roots and a hit single in "Radio Ga-Ga", The Works failed to chart significantly. With their popularity and the need to tour untapped markets such as Latin America and Africa, it looked as though Queen were on their way to obscurity.

It would be at 1985's Live Aid concert that Queen would make their resurgence. In the company of not only many of their contemporaries but many millions more in live attendance and of most of the rest of the world via satellite, Queen nearly stole the entire, day-long show with a revitalized performance that reminded the world what they could do with a spotlight on them. Interest in the back catalogue picked up, but the next two albums, A Kind Of Magic and The Miracle, still didn't move well in the US. They were once again the tops in their homeland though, as the UK and the rest of the European market scooped them up. It was there that rumors about Mercury's health began to circulate...

1991's Innuendo, one of their strongest releases, made quite a bit of headway in Europe and North America, but many had picked up on the fact that Queen had not toured in five years. The rumors about Mercury's condition hit a fever pitch until they were put to rest in November of 1991 when Mercury publicly announced he had AIDS. The very next day, on November 24, 1991, Freddie Mercury passed away at the age of 45.

The surviving members of Queen and their fans worldwide mourned the loss, which was turned into a positive. The band formed the Mercury Phoenix Trust to help AIDS awareness and re-released "Bohemian Rhapsody", which became the first song to hit #1 twice. On April 20, 1992, the band held The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert at London's Wembley Stadium so that fans, friends, and the band could say goodbye to the compelling singer. The show was viewed by a worldwide audience of 1 billion people and is listed in the Guiness Book of World Records as "The largest rock star benefit concert".

Mercury continued to work even on his deathbed, and those efforts saw light four years after his passing. Made In Heaven was completed after the Tribute show when the band decided to add backing music to Freddie's final performances. The band laid mostly dormant in years after, performing only sporadically with a rotating slot of guest luminaries such as Elton John handling vocals.

It would be a decade later that May and Taylor (minus John Deacon, who retired from music altogether after the passing of Mercury) resurrected the band name. The duo recruited singer Paul Rodgers (formerly of Bad Company and Free) for a tour, and May liked the chemistry so much that the group Queen + Paul Rodgers released one more album, The Cosmos Rocks, in 2008.

Why Queen Was Selected:

The musical incarnation of excess, Queen had the talent to back up their theatrics. Known primarily for their over-the-top performances on record and live, Queen was more than camp, as several songs (as well as a collective induction into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame) has proven. The band has influenced generations of other musicians with their unorthodox yet balanced style as well as garnered a fanatical worldwide following.

Queen, on a more personal level to many, have written countless anthems to cover just about every emotional spectrum. From triumph to tragedy, from the highs to the lows, Queen has given every one of life's significant moments a voice to be remembered for the rest of time.