By the time Queen appeared on the music scene, the world was already sick of the Beatlemania, fanatical about the Rolling Stones and philosophers Pink Floyd. However, this did not prevent the Queens from catching the wave and igniting their own star, the phenomenon of which can be understood by leafing through the pages of the group’s formative history.
“We Are the Champions”, “The Show Must Go On”, “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “Innuendo”, “We Will Rock You” and “Radio Ga Ga”. Well, who of the music lovers doesn’t know these outstanding compositions that made Queen a cult and reference group. They also became innovators in the production of music videos, for the first time using original special effects and testing editing techniques.
Musical dystopia
The history of the band began with the student band 1984, featuring Queen listeners Brian May and Tim Staffell of Ealing College of Art. Back in 1967, fascinated by the work of their compatriot George Orwell, they named their band after his famous dystopian novel 1984. After a year of performances in front of school audiences the guys renamed the band Smile. At that time the youngsters realized that it was time to expand and started looking for a drummer. Roger Taylor, who was studying to be a dentist, responded to the vacancy announcement.
Together they managed to negotiate with the Pink Floyd concert organizers and open the show. The first step to a music career was made, but then unexpectedly Tim Staffell decided to leave the band. I had to look for his replacement urgently. It was suggested that his roommate Faroukh Bulsar came to an audition. He repeatedly attended band rehearsals, but never showed the slightest sign that he himself could sing and wanted to.
The birth of the inimitable Queen
Farukh, nicknamed Freddy at an English boarding school in Bombay, had a clear idea of how to behave on stage, how to present his voice correctly to Queen and most importantly, how to organize the work of the whole band.
As soon as he was accepted into the band he decided to give it a new majestic name, Queen, and even designed a logo (he had studied at an art college for a reason!). The core of the band consisted of vocalist-keyboardist Freddie Bulsara, guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor. What was missing was a bass player. Mike Grose, Barry Mitchell and Doug Bogie each stayed for a few months. It wasn’t until 1971 that they managed to find a new member of the band, John Deacon, who solidified the core lineup of Queen for the next 20 years.
Almost all the critics are unanimous in the opinion that from the very beginning of their creative way the band Queen was distinguished by the unique style of progressive rock. The secret of their signature style was in the competent combination of several musical directions – heavy metal, hard rock, Queen disco, lyrical ballads, performed by the unique voice of Freddie with power of four octaves. By the way, Freddie considered the outstanding Jimi Hendrix and no less popular Led Zeppelin his idols.