What do you get if you cross a graphic designer, an astrophysicist, a dentist and an electrical engineer?

Two options: a very elaborate washing machine, or one of the greatest rock bands of all time.

2021 marks 50 years since the final line-up of Queen was finalised. Bassist John Deacon appears to have breezed into the band seamlessly, with little fuss and at the age of just 19. This was rather characteristic of him – apparently, Brian once jokingly told him to learn the 12-string if he wanted to play on a particular Sheer Heart Attack track. He came back three days later with the instrument mastered.

One of the greatest rock bands of all time

Deacon managed to avoid the early strife of Queen’s founding. Guitarist Brian May first recruited “Mitch Mitchell/Ginger Baker type drummer” Roger Taylor for a covers band he was in with his friend Tim Staffell. Later, they took pity on an enthusiastic young man who had taken to following them around after gigs. His name was Freddie Bulsara (not yet Mercury), and Taylor’s early evaluation was, “Good on showmanship, but not sure about the singing.” The quartet, then trio following Staffell’s departure, played as “Smile” (immortalised now by the motion picture “Bohemian Rhapsody” – Staffell did indeed leave to join Humpy Bong, who actually did rather well). Despite some song-writing success – ‘Doing All Right’ made it onto Queen’s debut album – Smile eventually died a death.

Many names were floated around following Smile’s collapse, including but not limited to “Rich Kids” (which holds a certain irony considering that Bulsara and Taylor were living off the profits of a second-hand clothes stand in Kensington at the time) and “Build Your Own Boat”. However, they were Queen – suitably regal, suitably outrageous – by the time Deacon made his debut, following a long string of unsuccessful bassists. The gig was at Surry College and rock history was made.

Bulsara found a name in one of the band’s early songs, ‘My Fairy King’ – “mother mercury/Look what they’ve done to me” – and for twenty years, Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon set the world alight with their music.

Queen’s Greatest Hits has spent more than 900 weeks in the UK charts, earning it the title of the best-selling UK album of all time

Of course, limiting their success to their twenty years as a quartet is doing them something of a disservice. On the release of its 40^th Anniversary edition, Queen’s Greatest Hits has spent more than 900 weeks in the UK charts, earning it the title of the best-selling UK album of all time. This is unlikely to come as a shock. Every self-respecting household owns a copy – perhaps even two, one for the house and one for the car – and it’s the magic of Queen that there is something on there for everyone.

It is perhaps to this that Queen owe their success. They were a band of four distinct members, all with a high level of creative control. They are in fact, the only band in history in which every member has produced a number one hit. We have Mercury, the anarchic opera-fanatic bringing the playful opulence of ‘The Millionaire Waltz’ and the whimsical battle hymn that is, of course, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody.’ We have May, classic rock to his core and master of the human condition, with the longing of ‘It’s Late’ and the frenzy of ‘Stone Cold Crazy’ (often cited as the first thrash metal piece ever produced). We have Taylor, embodying the spirit of punk with his politically anthemic ‘Fight from the Inside’ and harkening back to lazy teenage rebellion with ‘Drowse’. We have Deacon, cynical and witty in ‘Who Needs You’ and ripping up the disco hall in ‘Another One Bites the Dust.’

Queen became the tour-de-force they are because of their similarities and differences

Queen became the tour-de-force they are because of their similarities and their differences. They were the precision of scientists, (Deacon, May and Taylor all studied STEM) polished until they shone by the playfulness of an artist (Mercury studied graphic design). These elements made magic not only in the studio but on stage, too. The three scientists provide the solid, precise foundations and the artist builds the cathedral. The turrets are wailing high notes, the crenulations diaphragm-deep low notes and the flagpole sheer spectacle – items of clothing flung across the stage, spontaneous push-ups performed, and vocal warm-ups broken into with the crowd. As May said in November 2020, ‘he had all the presentation, he had that connection.’ 

They fought like children, loved each other like brothers and changed the world.

They have maintained a firm grip on the world of music for fifty years, and I for one hope that they maintain it for fifty more.

And fifty after that.

And another fifty after that.

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