Queen

Source: Wikipedia

Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1970 by Freddie Mercury (lead vocals,
piano), Brian May (guitar, vocals), and Roger Taylor (drums, vocals), later joined by John
Deacon (bass). Their earliest works were influenced by progressive rock, hard rock and
heavy metal, but the band gradually ventured into more conventional and radio-friendly
works by incorporating further styles, such as arena rock and pop rock.

Before forming Queen, May and Taylor had played together in the band Smile. Mercury was
a fan of Smile and encouraged them to experiment with more elaborate stage and
recording techniques. He joined in 1970 and suggested the name "Queen". Deacon was
recruited in February 1971, before the band released their self-titled debut album in 1973.
Queen first charted in the UK with their second album, Queen II, in 1974. Sheer Heart
Attack later that year and A Night at the Opera in 1975 brought them international success.
The latter featured "Bohemian Rhapsody", which topped the UK singles chart for nine
weeks and helped popularise the music video format. The band's 1977 album News of the
World contained "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions", which have become
anthems at sporting events. By the early 1980s, Queen were one of the biggest stadium
rock bands in the world. "Another One Bites the Dust" from The Game (1980) became their
best-selling single, and their 1981 compilation album Greatest Hits is the best-selling
album in the UK and has been certified 9× Platinum in the US by the Recording Industry
Association of America (RIAA). Their performance at the 1985 Live Aid concert is ranked
among the greatest in rock history by various publications. In August 1986, Mercury gave
his last performance with Queen at Knebworth, England.

Mercury was diagnosed with AIDS in 1987. The band released two more albums, The
Miracle in 1989 and Innuendo in 1991. On 23 November 1991, Mercury publicly revealed
his AIDS diagnosis, and the next day died of bronchopneumonia, a complication of AIDS.
One more album was released featuring Mercury's vocals, 1995's Made in Heaven. Deacon
retired in 1997, while May and Taylor continued to make sporadic appearances together.
Since 2004, they have toured as "Queen +", with vocalists Paul Rodgers until 2009 and
Adam Lambert since 2011.
Queen have been a global presence in popular culture for more than half a century.
Estimates of their record sales range from 250 million to 300 million, making them one of
the world's best-selling music artists. In 1990, Queen received the Brit Award for
Outstanding Contribution to British Music. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame in 2001, and with each member having composed hit singles, all four were
inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003. In 2005, they received the Ivor Novello
Award for Outstanding Song Collection from the British Academy of Songwriters,
Composers, and Authors. In 2018, they were presented the Grammy Lifetime Achievement
Award, and they were awarded the Polar Music Prize in 2025.

History

1968–1971: Foundations

The founding members of Queen met in west London during the late 1960s. Guitarist Brian
May had built his own guitar with his father in 1963, and formed the group 1984 (named
after Orwell's novel) the following year with singer Tim Stajell.[1] May left the group in early
1968 to focus on his degree in Physics and Infrared Astronomy at Imperial College and find
a group that could write original material.[2] He formed the group Smile with Stajell (now
playing bass) and keyboardist Chris Smith.[3] To complete the line-up, May placed an
advertisement on a college notice board for a "Mitch Mitchell/Ginger Baker type" drummer;
Roger Taylor, a young dental student, auditioned and got the job.[4] Smith left the group in
early 1969, immediately before a gig at the Royal Albert Hall with Free and the Bonzo Dog
Doo-Dah Band.[5]

Queen in 1970. Left to right; Mike Grose (who was the first of the band's three early bass
players before John Deacon joined in 1971), Roger Taylor, Freddie Mercury and Brian May

While attending Ealing Art College in west London, Stajell became friends with fellow
student Farrokh "Freddie" Bulsara, who was from Zanzibar and of Indian Parsi
descent.[6][7] Bulsara had studied fashion design for a year before switching to graphic art
and design,[8] and soon became a keen fan of Smile. He asked if he could join the group as
lead singer, but May felt Stajell would not give up that role.[9] He also ran a stall in
Kensington Market with Taylor.[10]
PRS for Music heritage award at Prince Consort Road commemorating Queen's first
performance in London

In 1970, Stajell quit Smile, feeling his interests in soul and R&B clashed with the group's
hard rock sound and being fed up with the lack of success. He formed the group Humpy
Bong with former Bee Gees drummer Colin Petersen.[11] The remaining members
accepted Bulsara as lead singer, and recruited Taylor's friend Mike Grose as bassist. The
four played their first gig at a fundraising event in Truro on 27 June 1970.[12] Bulsara
suggested the group should be renamed to "Queen". The others were uncertain at first, but
he said, "it's wonderful, dear, people will love it".[12] At the same time, he decided to
change his surname to Mercury, inspired by the line "Mother Mercury, look what they've
done to me" in the song "My Fairy King".[13] The group played their first London gig on 18
July.[14] The early set consisted of material that later appeared on the first two albums,
along with various rock and roll covers, such as Clij Richard and the Shadows' "Please
Don't Tease". They attracted the attention of producer John Anthony, who was interested in
the group's sound but thought they had the wrong bass player.[13] After three live gigs, Mike
Grose decided not to continue with the band and was replaced by Barry Mitchell (ex
Crushed Butler). Mitchell played thirteen gigs with Queen between August 1970 and
January 1971.[15] In turn, Mitchell left in January 1971 and was replaced by Doug Bogie for
two live gigs.[16]

1971–1974: Queen and Queen II

In February 1971, John Deacon joined Queen. In addition to being an experienced bassist,
his quiet demeanour complemented the band, and he was skilled in electronics.[17] On 2
July, Queen played their first show with the classic line-up of Mercury, May, Taylor and
Deacon at a Surrey college outside London.[18] May called Terry Yeadon, an engineer at
Pye Studios where Smile had recorded, to see if he knew anywhere where Queen could go.
Yeadon had since moved to De Lane Lea Studios' new premises in Wembley, and they
needed a group to test out the equipment and recording rooms. He tried asking the Kinks
but couldn't get hold of them. Therefore, he told Queen they could record some demos in
exchange for the studio's acoustic tests.[19] They recorded five of their own songs, "Liar",
"Keep Yourself Alive", "Great King Rat", "The Night Comes Down" and "Jesus". During the
recording, producers John Anthony and Roy Thomas Baker visited the band. The two were
taken with "Keep Yourself Alive" and began promoting the band to several record
companies.[20]
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

Promoter Ken Testi managed to attract the interest of Charisma Records, who ojered
Queen an advance of around £25,000, but the group turned them down as they realised the
label would promote Genesis as a priority. Testi then entered discussions with Trident
Studios' Norman Shejield, who ojered the band a management deal under Neptune
Productions, a subsidiary of Trident, to manage the band and enable them to use their
facilities, while the management searched for a deal. This suited both parties, as Trident
were expanding into management, and under the deal, Queen were able to make use of the
hi-tech recording facilities used by signed musicians.[21] Taylor later described these early
oj-peak studio hours as "gold dust".[22]

Queen began 1972 with a gig at Bedford College, London where only six people turned up.
After a few more shows, they stopped live performances for eight months to work on the
album with Anthony and Baker.[21] During the sessions at Trident, they saw David Bowie
with the Spiders from Mars live and realised they needed to make an impact with the
album, otherwise they would be left behind.[23] Co-producers Anthony and Baker initially
clashed with the band (May in particular) on the direction of the album, bringing the band's
inexperience in the studio to bear.[24] The band's fighting centered around their ejorts to
integrate technical perfection with the reality of live performances, leading to what Baker
referred to as "kitchen sink overproduction".[25] The resulting album was a mix of heavy
metal and progressive rock.[24] The group were unhappy with the re-recording of "The Night
Comes Down", so the finished album uses the De Lane Lea demo. Another track, "Mad the
Swine" was dropped from the running order after the band and Baker could not agree on a
mix.[26] Mike Stone created the final mix for "Keep Yourself Alive", and he went on to work
on several other Queen albums.[27] By January 1972, the band finished recording their
debut album, but had yet to secure a record contract.[24] In order to attract record
company interest, Trident booked a "showcase" gig on 6 November at The Pheasantry,
followed by a show at the Marquee Club on 20 December.[28]

Queen promoted the unreleased album in February 1973 on BBC Radio 1, still unsigned.
The following month, Trident managed to strike a deal with EMI Records. "Keep Yourself
Alive" was released as a single on 6 July, with the album Queen appearing a week later. The
front cover showed a shot of Mercury live on stage taken by Taylor's friend Douglass
Puddifoot. Deacon was credited as "Deacon John" while Taylor used his full name, Roger
Meddows-Taylor.[29] The album was received well by critics; Gordon Fletcher of Rolling
Stone called it "superb",[30] and Chicago's Daily Herald called it an "above-average
debut".[31] However, it drew little mainstream attention, and "Keep Yourself Alive" sold
poorly. Retrospectively, it is cited as the album's highlight, and in 2008 Rolling Stone ranked
it 31st in the "100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time", describing it as "an entire album's
worth of rijs crammed into a single song".[32] The album was certified gold in the UK and
the US.[33][34]

"The March of the Black Queen"

Duration: 29 seconds.0:29

A sample of "The March of the Black Queen" from Queen II (1974). The band's earlier songs
(such as this) leaned more towards progressive rock and heavy metal compared to their
later work.

Problems playing this file? See media help.

The group began to record their second album, Queen II in August 1973. Now able to use
regular studio time, they decided to make full use of the facilities available. May created a
multi-layer guitar introduction "Procession", while Mercury wrote "The Fairy Feller's Master
Stroke" based on the painting of the same name by Richard Dadd.[35] The group spent the
remainder of the year touring the UK, supporting Mott the Hoople, and began to attract an
audience.[36] The tour ended with two shows at the Hammersmith Odeon on 14
December, playing to 7,000 people.[37]

In January 1974, Queen played the Sunbury Pop Festival in Australia. They arrived late, and
were jeered and taunted by the audience who expected to see home grown acts. Before
leaving, Mercury announced, "when we come back to Australia, Queen will be the biggest
band in the world!"[38][39] Queen II was released in March, and features Mick Rock's
iconic Dietrich-inspired image of the band on the cover.[40] This image would later be used
as the basis for "Bohemian Rhapsody" music video production.[41][42] The album reached
number five on the British album chart and became the first Queen album to chart in the
UK. The Mercury-written lead single "Seven Seas of Rhye" reached number 10 in the UK,
giving the band their first hit.[43] The album featured a 'layered' sound which would
become their signature, and features long complex instrumental passages, fantasy-
themed lyrics, and instrumental virtuosity.[44][45] Aside from its only single, the album
also included the song "The March of the Black Queen", a six-minute epic which lacks a
chorus.[46] Critical reaction was mixed; the Winnipeg Free Press, while praising the band's
debut album, described Queen II as an "over-produced monstrosity".[47] AllMusic has
described the album as a favourite among the band's hardcore fans,[48] and it is the first of
three Queen albums to feature in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[49]
The group ended their early 1974 UK tour with a show at the Rainbow Theatre on 31 March.
Mercury chose to a wear a Zandra Rhodes-designed tunic for the gig, changing into a
slashed black top midway through the show.[50]

1974–1976: Sheer Heart Attack to A Night at the Opera

In May 1974, a month into the band's first US tour opening for Mott the Hoople, May
collapsed and was diagnosed with hepatitis, forcing the cancellation of their remaining
dates.[44] May was still absent when the band started work on their third album, but he
returned midway through the recording process.[51] Released in 1974, Sheer Heart Attack
reached number two in the UK,[52] sold well throughout Europe, and went gold in the
US.[34] It gave the band their first real experience of international success, and was a hit on
both sides of the Atlantic.[53] The album experimented with a variety of musical genres,
including British music hall, heavy metal, ballads, ragtime, and Caribbean. May's "Now I'm
Here" documented the group's curtailed American tour, and "Brighton Rock" served as a
vehicle for his regular on-stage solo guitar spot. Deacon wrote his first song for the group,
"Misfire", while the live favourite "Stone Cold Crazy" was credited to the whole band.
Mercury wrote the closing number, "In the Lap of the Gods… Revisited", with the intention
that the audience could sing along to the chorus when played live. This would be repeated
later on, more successfully, in songs such as "We Are the Champions.[54]

Queen performed "Killer Queen" at BBC Television Centre (pictured) on the music chart
show Top of the Pops in December 1974. This was their second appearance on the show;
their previous (performing "Seven Seas of Rhye") brought them overnight fame.[55]

The single "Killer Queen" was written by Mercury about a high-class prostitute.[56] It
reached number two on the British charts,[33] and became their first US hit, reaching
number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100.[57] The song was partly recorded at Rockfield Studios
in Wales.[58] With Mercury playing the grand piano, it combines camp, vaudeville, and
British music hall with May's guitar. "Now I'm Here" was released as the second single,
reached number eleven.[59] In 2006, Classic Rock ranked Sheer Heart Attack number 28 in
"The 100 Greatest British Rock Albums Ever",[60] and in 2007, Mojo ranked it No.88 in "The
100 Records That Changed the World".[61] It is also the second of three Queen albums to
feature in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[49]

In January 1975, Queen left for a world tour with an upgraded light show. They toured the
US as headliners, and played in Canada for the first time.[62] Several dates were cancelled
after Mercury contracted laryngitis.[63] The band then toured Japan from mid-April to the
beginning of May. They were greeted by thousands of screaming fans, and played eight
times in seven cities.[64][65] Despite the success, Queen were still tied to the original
Trident deal and wages. They were all living in relative poverty in bedsits, and Deacon was
refused money for a deposit on a house. EMI contacted lawyer Jim Beach, who tried to find
a way of extracting them from their contract. Trident complained that they had invested
£200,000 in Queen and wanted their money back first.[66] In August, after an acrimonious
split with Trident, the band negotiated themselves out of their contract and searched for
new management.[67] One of the options they considered was an ojer from Led Zeppelin's
manager, Peter Grant, who wanted them to sign with Led Zeppelin's own production
company, Swan Song Records. The band were concerned about being a lower priority than
Zeppelin and Bad Company (also signed to Swan Song) and instead contacted Elton John's
manager, John Reid, who accepted the position.[67][68] Reid's first instruction to the band
was "I'll take care of the business; you make the best record you can".[69]

Queen started work on their fourth album A Night at the Opera, taking its name from the
popular Marx Brothers movie. At the time, it was the most expensive album ever produced,
costing £40,000 and using three dijerent studios.[70] Like its predecessor, the album
features diverse musical styles and experimentation with stereo sound. Mercury wrote the
opening song "Death on Two Legs", a savage dig at perceived wrongdoers (and later
dedicated to Trident in concert)[71][62] and the camp vaudeville "Lazing on a Sunday
Afternoon" and "Seaside Rendezvous".[71] May's "The Prophet's Song" was an eight-minute
epic; the middle section is a canon, with simple phrases layered to create a full-choral
sound. The Mercury penned ballad, "Love of My Life", featured a harp and overdubbed vocal
harmonies.[72]
He knew exactly what he was doing. It was Freddie's baby. We just helped him bring it to
life. We realized we'd look odd trying to mime such a hugely complex thing on TV. It had to
be presented in some other way.

—Brian May on Mercury writing "Bohemian Rhapsody" and the groundbreaking music
video.[73]

The best-known song on the album, "Bohemian Rhapsody", originated from pieces of
music that Mercury had written at Ealing College. Mercury played a run-through of the track
on piano in his flat to Baker, stopping suddenly to announce, "This is where the opera
section comes in".[74] When the rest of the band started recording the song they were
unsure as to how it would be pieced together. After recording the backing track, Baker left a
30-second section of tape to add the operatic vocals. Reportedly, 180 overdubs were used,
to the extent that the original tape wore thin.[74] EMI initially refused to release the single,
thinking it too long, and demanded a radio edit which Queen refused. Mercury's close
friend and advisor, Capital London radio DJ Kenny Everett, played a pivotal role in giving the
single exposure.[75] He was given a promotional copy on the condition he didn't play it, but
ended up doing so fourteen times over a single weekend.[76] Capital's switchboard was
overwhelmed with callers inquiring when the song would be released.[75] With EMI forced
to release "Bohemian Rhapsody" due to public demand, the single reached number one in
the UK for nine weeks.[33][77] It is the third-best-selling single of all time in the UK,
surpassed only by Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?" and Elton John's "Candle in
the Wind 1997", and is the best-selling commercial single (i.e. not for charity) in the UK. It
also reached number nine in the US (a 1992 re-release reached number two on the
Billboard Hot 100 for five weeks).[57] It is the only single ever to sell a million copies on two
separate occasions,[78] and became the Christmas number one twice in the UK, the only
single ever to do so. It has also been voted the greatest song of all time in three dijerent
polls.[79][80][81]

"Bohemian Rhapsody" was promoted with a music video directed by Bruce Gowers, who
had already shot several of Queen's live concerts. The group wanted a video so they could
avoid appearing on the BBC's Top of the Pops, which would clash with tour dates, and it
would have looked strange miming to such a complex song.[82] Filmed at Elstree Studios in
Hertfordshire, the video cost £3,500, five times the typical promotional budget, and was
shot in three hours. The operatic section featured a reprise of the Queen II cover, with the
band member's heads animated.[77][83] On the impact of the "Bohemian Rhapsody"
promotional video, Rolling Stone states: "Its influence cannot be overstated, practically
inventing the music video seven years before MTV went on the air."[84] Ranking it number
31 on their list of the 50 key events in rock music history, The Guardian stated it "ensured
videos would henceforth be a mandatory tool in the marketing of music".[85] Radio
broadcaster Tommy Vance states, "It became the first record to be pushed into the
forefront by virtue of a video. Queen were certainly the first band to create a 'concept'
video. The video captured the musical imagery perfectly. You cannot hear that music
without seeing the visuals in your mind's eye."[87]

A Night at the Opera was very successful in the UK,[33] and went triple platinum in the
United States.[34] The British public voted it the 13th-greatest album of all time in a 2004
Channel 4 poll.[88] It has also ranked highly in international polls; in a worldwide Guinness
poll, it was voted the 19th-greatest of all time,[89] and an ABC poll saw the Australian
public vote it the 28th-greatest of all time.[90] A Night at the Opera has frequently appeared
in "greatest albums" lists reflecting the opinions of critics. Among other accolades, it was
ranked number 16 in Q magazine's "The 50 Best British Albums Ever" in 2004, a poll done in
collaboration with British music and entertainment retailer HMV.[91] It was also placed at
number 230 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" in
2003.[92] A Night at the Opera is the third and final Queen album to be featured in the book
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[49] The second single from the album was
Deacon's "You're My Best Friend", which peaked at number sixteen on the US Billboard Hot
100,[57] and went on to become a worldwide top-ten hit.[78] The band's A Night at the
Opera Tour began in November 1975, and covered Europe, the US, Japan, and
Australia.[93] On 24 December, Queen played a special concert at the Hammersmith
Odeon which was broadcast live on the BBC show The Old Grey Whistle Test, with the
audio being later broadcast on BBC Radio 1. It became one of the band's most popular
bootleg recordings for decades before being ojicially released in 2015.[94]

1976–1979: A Day at the Races to Live Killers

By 1976, Queen were back in the studio recording A Day at the Races, which is often
regarded as a sequel album to A Night at the Opera.[95][96] It again borrowed the name of
a Marx Brothers movie, and its cover was similar to that of A Night at the Opera, a variation
on the same Queen logo.[97] The most recognisable of the Marx Brothers, Groucho Marx,
invited Queen to visit him in his Los Angeles home in March 1977; there the band thanked
him in person, and performed "'39" a cappella.[98] Baker did not return to produce the
album; instead the band self-produced with assistance from Mike Stone, who performed
several of the backing vocals.[99] The major hit on the album was "Somebody to Love", a
gospel-inspired song in which Mercury, May, and Taylor multi-tracked their voices to create
a gospel choir.[100] The song went to number two in the UK,[33] and number thirteen in the
US.[57] The album also featured one of the band's heaviest songs, May's "Tie Your Mother
Down", which became a staple of their live shows.[101][102] Musically, A Day at the Races
was by both fans' and critics' standards a strong ejort, reaching number one in the UK and
Japan, and number five in the US.[33][97]

Queen played a landmark gig on 18 September 1976, a free concert in Hyde Park, London,
organised by the entrepreneur Richard Branson.[103] It set an attendance record at the
park, with 150,000 people confirmed in the audience.[103][104] Queen were late arriving
onstage and ran out of time to play an encore; the police informed Mercury that he would
be arrested if he attempted to go on stage again.[96] May enjoyed the gig particularly, as he
had been to see previous concerts at the park, such as the first one organised by Blackhill
Enterprises in 1968, featuring Pink Floyd.[105]

Queen press photo in early 1977 in promotion of News of the World

On 1 December 1976, Queen were the intended guests on London's early evening Today
programme, but they pulled out at the last-minute, which saw their late replacement on the
show, EMI labelmate the Sex Pistols, give their infamous expletive-strewn interview with Bill
Grundy.[106][107] During the A Day at the Races Tour in 1977, Queen performed sold-out
shows at Madison Square Garden, New York, in February, supported by Thin Lizzy, and
Mercury and Taylor socialised with that group's leader Phil Lynott.[108] They ended the tour
with two concerts at Earls Court, London, in June, which commemorated the Silver Jubilee
of Queen Elizabeth II, and at the cost of £50,000 the band used a lighting rig in the shape of
a crown for the first time.[109][110][111]

The band's sixth studio album News of the World was released in 1977, which has gone
four times platinum in the US, and twice in the UK.[34] The album contained many songs
tailor-made for live performance, including two of rock's most recognisable anthems, "We
Will Rock You" and the rock ballad "We Are the Champions", both of which became
enduring international sports anthems, and the latter reached number four in the
US.[57][112] Queen commenced the News of the World Tour in November 1977, and
Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times called this concert tour the band's "most
spectacularly staged and finely honed show".[113] During the tour they sold out another
two shows at MSG, and in 1978 they received the Madison Square Garden Gold Ticket
Award for passing more than 100,000 unit ticket sales at the venue.[114]

l-r: John Deacon, Brian May, and Freddie Mercury seen live in 1978

Queen in New Haven, Connecticut in November 1977

In 1978, Queen released Jazz, which reached number two in the UK and number six on the
Billboard 200 in the US.[115] The album included the hit singles "Fat Bottomed Girls" and
"Bicycle Race" on a double-sided record. Critical reviews of the album in the years since its
release have been more favourable than initial reviews.[116][117] Another notable track
from Jazz, "Don't Stop Me Now", provides another example of the band's exuberant vocal
harmonies.[118]

In 1978, Queen toured the US and Canada, and spent much of 1979 touring in Europe and
Japan.[119] They released their first live album, Live Killers, in 1979; it went platinum twice
in the US.[120] Queen also released the very successful single "Crazy Little Thing Called
Love", a rockabilly inspired song done in the style of Elvis Presley.[121][122] The song made
the top 10 in many countries, topped the Australian ARIA Charts for seven consecutive
weeks, and was the band's first number one single in the US where it topped the Billboard
Hot 100 for four weeks.[57][123] Having written the song on guitar and played rhythm on
the record, Mercury played rhythm guitar when performing the song live, the first time he
ever played guitar in concert.[122] On 26 December 1979, Queen played the opening night
at the Concert for the People of Kampuchea in London, having accepted a request by the
event's organiser, Paul McCartney.[122] The concert was the last date of their Crazy Tour of
London.[124]

1980–1982: The Game, Hot Space and stadium tours

Queen began their 1980s career with The Game. It featured the singles "Crazy Little Thing
Called Love" and "Another One Bites the Dust", both of which reached number one in the
US.[57] After attending a Queen concert in Los Angeles, Michael Jackson suggested to
Mercury backstage that "Another One Bites the Dust" be released as a single, and in
October 1980 it spent three weeks at number one.[125] The album topped the Billboard
200 for five weeks,[126] and sold over four million copies in the US.[34] It was also the first
appearance of a synthesiser on a Queen album. Heretofore, their albums featured a
distinctive "No Synthesisers!" sleeve note. The note is widely assumed to reflect an anti-
synth, pro-"hard"-rock stance by the band,[127] but was later revealed by producer Roy
Thomas Baker to be an attempt to clarify that those albums' multi-layered solos were
created with guitars, not synths, as record company executives kept assuming at the
time.[128] In September 1980, Queen performed three sold-out shows at Madison Square
Garden.[42] In 1980, Queen also released the soundtrack they had recorded for Flash
Gordon.[130] At the 1981 American Music Awards in January, "Another One Bites the Dust"
won the award for Favorite Pop/Rock Single, and Queen were nominated for Favorite
Pop/Rock Band, Duo, or Group.[131]

In February 1981, Queen travelled to South America as part of The Game Tour, and became
the first rock band outside the Americas to play stadiums in Latin America.[132] On playing
the concerts, Classic Rock magazine states, "They were under the spotlight from all
quarters, as the entire music industry waited to see if their ambitious plans would bear
fruit".[132] Tom Pinnock in the March 1981 issue of Melody Maker wrote,

Queen chalked up a major international "first" by becoming the band to do for popular
music in South America what The Beatles did for North America 17 years ago. Half a million
Argentinians and Brazilians, starved of appearances of top British or American bands at
their peak, gave Queen a heroic welcome which changed the course of pop history in this
uncharted territory of the world rock map. The ecstatic young people saw eight Queen
concerts at giant stadia, while many more millions saw the shows on TV and heard the
radio broadcasts live.[133]

Queen played to over 250,000 over two concerts at the Morumbi Stadium in São Paulo,
Brazil during the South American part of The Game Tour.

The tour included five shows in Argentina, one of which drew the largest single concert
crowd in Argentine history with an audience of 300,000 in Buenos Aires[134] and two
concerts at the Morumbi Stadium in São Paulo, Brazil, where they played to more than
131,000 people in the first night (then the largest paying audience for a single band
anywhere in the world)[135] and more than 120,000 people the following night.[136] A
region then largely ruled by military dictatorships, the band were greeted with scenes of
fan-fever, and the promoter of their first shows at the Vélez Sarsfield Stadium in Buenos
Aires was moved to say: "For music in Argentina, this has been a case of before the war and
after the war. Queen have liberated this country, musically speaking."[133] The group's
second show at Vélez Sarsfield was broadcast on national television and watched by over
30 million. Backstage, they were introduced to footballer Diego Maradona.[137]

Topping the charts in Brazil and Argentina, the ballad "Love of My Life" stole the show in
South American concerts. Mercury would stop singing and would then conduct the
audience as they took over, with Lesley-Ann Jones writing "the fans knew the song by heart.
Their English was word-perfect."[138] Later that year Queen performed for more than
150,000 on 9 October at Monterrey (Estadio Universitario) and 17 and 18 at Puebla (Estadio
Zaragoza), Mexico.[139] Though the gigs were successful, they were marred by a lack of
planning and suitable facilities, with audiences throwing projectiles on stage. Mercury
finished the final gig saying, "Adios, amigos, you motherfuckers!"[140] On 24 and 25
November, Queen played two nights at the Montreal Forum, Quebec, Canada.[141] One of
Mercury's most notable performances of The Game's final track, "Save Me", took place in
Montreal, and the concert is recorded in the live album, Queen Rock Montreal.[142]

Queen worked with David Bowie on the 1981 single "Under Pressure". The first-time
collaboration with another artist was spontaneous, as Bowie happened to drop by the
studio while Queen were recording. Mercury and Bowie recorded their vocals on the track
separately to each other, each coming up with individual ideas. The song topped the UK
charts.[143] In October, Queen released their first compilation album, titled Greatest Hits,
which showcased the group's highlights from 1974 to 1981.[144] The best-selling album in
UK chart history, it is the only album to sell over seven million copies in the UK.[145] As of
July 2022, it has spent over 1000 weeks in the UK Album Chart.[146][147] According to The
Telegraph, approximately one in three families in the UK own a copy.[148] The album is
certified nine times platinum in the US.[34] As of August 2024, it has spent over 600 weeks
on the US Billboard 200.[149] Greatest Hits has sold over 25 million copies worldwide.[150]

We moved out to Munich to isolate ourselves from normal life so we could focus on the
music. We all ended up in a place that was rather unhealthy. A dijicult period. We weren't
getting along together. We all had dijerent agendas. It was a dijicult time for me,
personally – some dark moments.
— May on the recording of Hot Space during a dijicult period for the band.[151]

In 1982, the band released the album Hot Space, a departure from their trademark
seventies sound, this time being a mixture of pop rock, dance, disco, funk, and R&B.[152]
Most of the album was recorded in Munich during the most turbulent period in the band's
history.[153] Mercury and Deacon enjoyed the new soul and funk influences, but Taylor and
May were less favourable, and were critical of the influence Mercury's personal manager
Paul Prenter had on him.[154] According to Mack, Queen's producer, Prenter loathed rock
music and was in Mercury's ear throughout the Hot Space sessions.[155] May was also
scathing of Prenter—Mercury's manager from 1977 to 1984—for being dismissive of the
importance of radio stations and their vital connection between the artist and the
community, and for denying them access to Mercury.[156] May states, "this guy, in the
course of one tour, told every record station to fuck oj".[155] Queen roadie Peter Hince
wrote "None of the band cared for him [Prenter], apart from Freddie", with Hince regarding
Mercury's favouring of Prenter as an act of "misguided loyalty".[155] During the Munich
sessions, Mercury spent time with Mack and his family, becoming godfather to Mack's first
child.[157] Q magazine would list Hot Space as one of the top fifteen albums where great
rock acts lost the plot.[158] Though the album confused some fans with the change of
musical direction, it still reached number 4 in the UK.[159]

Queen performing in Norway during the Hot Space Tour in 1982

Queen toured to promote Hot Space, but found some audience unreceptive to the new
material. At a gig in Frankfurt, Mercury told some people heckling the new material, "If you
don't want to listen to it, go home!"[160] Former Mott the Hoople keyboardist Morgan
Fisher joined as an additional touring member.[161] Shows were planned at Arsenal
Stadium and Old Trajord, but these were cancelled as Pope John Paul II was touring
Britain, leading to a lack of available outdoor facilities such as toilets. The gigs were moved
to the Milton Keynes Bowl and Elland Road, Leeds instead. The Milton Keynes concert was
filmed by Tyne Tees Television and later released on DVD.[159] On 14 and 15 September
1982, the band performed their last two gigs in the US with Mercury on lead vocals, playing
at The Forum in Inglewood, California.[162] Fisher was replaced as touring keyboardist by
Fred Mandel for the North American shows.[163] The band stopped touring North America
after their Hot Space Tour, as their success there had waned, although they performed on
American television for the only time during the eighth-season premiere of Saturday Night
Live on 25 September of the same year;[164] it became the final public performance of the
band in North America before the death of their frontman. Their fall in popularity in the US
has been partially attributed to homophobia:[165] Mercury had adopted what Rolling
Stone's Mikal Gilmore referred to as a "gay clone look," with a thick mustache. Gilmore
wrote, "At some shows on the band's 1980 American tour, fans tossed disposable razor
blades onstage: They didn't like this identity of Mercury—what they perceived as a brazenly
gay rock & roll hero—and they wanted him to shed it."[166] The group finished the year with
a Japanese tour.[167]

1983–1984: The Works

After the Hot Space Tour concluded with a concert at Seibu Lions Stadium in Tokorozawa,
Japan in November 1982, Queen decided they would take a significant amount of time oj.
May later said at that point, "we hated each other for a while".[167] The band reconvened
nine months later to begin recording a new album at the Record Plant Studios, Los Angeles
and Musicland Studios, Munich.[168] Several members of the band also explored side
projects and solo work. Taylor released his second solo album, Strange Frontier. May
released the mini-album Star Fleet Project, collaborating with Eddie Van Halen.[169]
Queen left Elektra Records, their label in the US, Canada, Japan, Australia, and New
Zealand, and signed onto EMI/Capitol Records.[155]

Queen on stage in Frankfurt, West Germany in 1984

In February 1984, Queen released their eleventh studio album, The Works. Hit singles
included "Radio Ga Ga", which makes a nostalgic defence of the radio format, "Hammer to
Fall" and "I Want to Break Free".[170][171] Rolling Stone hailed the album as "the Led
Zeppelin II of the eighties."[155] In the UK The Works went triple platinum and remained in
the albums chart for two years.[172] The album failed to do well in the US, where, in
addition to issues with their new record label Capitol Records (who had recently severed
ties with their independent promotions teams due to a government report on payola),[155]
the cross-dressing video for "I Want to Break Free", a spoof of the British soap opera
Coronation Street, proved controversial and was banned by MTV.[173] The concept of the
video came from Roger Taylor via a suggestion from his girlfriend.[155] He told Q magazine:
"We had done some really serious, epic videos in the past, and we just thought we'd have
some fun. We wanted people to know that we didn't take ourselves too seriously, that we
could still laugh at ourselves."[174] Director of the video David Mallet said Mercury was
reluctant to do it, commenting "it was a hell of a job to get him out of the dressing
room".[155]

That year, Queen began The Works Tour, the first tour to feature keyboardist Spike Edney as
an extra live musician. The tour featured nine sold-out dates in October in
Bophuthatswana, South Africa, at the arena in Sun City.[175][176] Upon returning to
England, they were the subject of outrage, having played in South Africa during the height of
apartheid and in violation of worldwide divestment ejorts and a United Nations cultural
boycott. The band responded to the critics by stating that they were playing music for fans
in South Africa, and they also stressed that the concerts were played before integrated
audiences.[177] Queen donated to a school for the deaf and blind as a philanthropic
gesture but were fined by the British Musicians' Union and placed on the United Nations'
blacklisted artists.[178] In 2021, Taylor voiced his regret for the decision to perform at Sun
City, saying that "we went with the best intentions, but I still think it was kind of a
mistake."[179]

1985–1986: Live Aid, A Kind of Magic and tours

In January 1985, Queen headlined two nights of the first Rock in Rio festival at Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil, and played in front of over 300,000 people each night.[180] The Boston
Globe described it as a "mesmerising performance".[181] Highlights from both nights were
released on VHS as Queen: Live in Rio, which was broadcast on MTV in the US.[181][182] In
April and May 1985, Queen completed the Works Tour with sold-out shows in Australia and
Japan.[183]

Queen were absolutely the best band of the day ... they just went and smashed one hit
after another ... it was the perfect stage for Freddie: the whole world.

—Bob Geldof, on Queen's performance at Live Aid.[184]

At Live Aid, held at Wembley on 13 July 1985, in front of the biggest-ever TV audience of an
estimated 400 million, Queen performed some of their greatest hits. Many of the sold-out
stadium audience of 72,000 people clapped, sang, and swayed in unison.[185][186] The
show's organisers, Bob Geldof and Midge Ure; other musicians such as Elton John and Clij
Richard; and journalists writing for the BBC, CNN, Rolling Stone, MTV, The Guardian and
The Daily Telegraph, among others, described Queen as the highlight.[187][188][189]
Interviewed backstage, Roger Waters stated: "Everybody's been buzzing about Queen that
I've run into. They had everybody completely spellbound."[190] An industry poll in 2005
ranked it the greatest rock performance of all time.[187][191] Mercury's powerful,
sustained note—"Aaaaaay-o"—during the call-and-response a cappella segment came to
be known as "The Note Heard Round the World".[192][193] The band were revitalised by the
response to Live Aid—a "shot in the arm" Roger Taylor called it—and the ensuing increase
in record sales.[194] In 1986 Mercury commented: "From our perspective, the fact that Live
Aid happened when it did was really lucky. It came out of nowhere to save us. For sure that
was a turning point. Maybe you could say that in the history of Queen, it was a really special
moment."[195]

Queen ended 1985 by releasing the single "One Vision" and a limited-edition boxed set of
Queen albums, The Complete Works. The package included the 1984 Christmas single
"Thank God It's Christmas" and previously unreleased material.[196] In early 1986, Queen
recorded the album A Kind of Magic, containing several reworkings of songs written for the
fantasy action film Highlander.[197] The album was successful in the UK, West Germany
and several other countries, producing a string of hits including "A Kind of Magic", "Friends
Will Be Friends", "Princes of the Universe" and "Who Wants to Live Forever"; the latter
featuring an orchestra conducted by Michael Kamen. The album was less successful in
North America, reaching 46 in the US, and was described by biographer Mark Blake as "a
so-so album" and "a somewhat uneven listening experience".[198] In 2007, Classic Rock
ranked it the 28th greatest soundtrack album of all time.[199]

Mercury's yellow military jacket (one of three designed by Diana Moseley) worn during the
1986 Magic Tour

In mid-1986, Queen went on the Magic Tour, their final tour with Mercury.[200] They once
again hired Spike Edney.[201][202] Queen began the tour at the Råsunda Stadium in
Stockholm, Sweden, and later performed a concert at Slane Castle, Ireland, in front of an
audience of 95,000, which broke the venue's attendance record.[203] The band also played
behind the Iron Curtain when they performed to a crowd of 80,000 at the Népstadion in
Budapest (released in the concert film Hungarian Rhapsody: Queen Live in Budapest), in
what was one of the biggest rock concerts ever held in Eastern Europe.[204] More than one
million people saw Queen on the tour—400,000 in the UK alone, a record at the time.[176]
The Magic Tour's highlight was at Wembley Stadium and resulted in the live double album
Queen at Wembley, released on CD and as a live concert VHS/DVD, which has gone five
times platinum in the US and four times platinum in the UK.[34][205] The demand for
tickets saw extra dates added to the tour, with concert promoter Harvey Goldsmith stating
"they seem to have an endless market."[206] Queen could not book Wembley for a third
night, but played at Knebworth Park in Hertfordshire on 9 August. The show sold out within
two hours and over 120,000 fans packed the park for what was Queen's final performance
with Mercury.[207][208] At the end of the concert the band appeared on stage for the final
time to an encore of "God Save the Queen", with Mercury, in his crown and gown, bidding
the crowd "goodnight and sweet dreams".[206] Roadie Peter Hince states, "At Knebworth, I
somehow felt it was going to be the last for all of us"; Brian May recalled Mercury saying
"I'm not going to be doing this forever. This is probably the last time."[155]

1988–1992: The Miracle, Innuendo and Mercury's final years

There was all that time when we knew Freddie was on the way out, we kept our heads
down.

—Brian May[209]

In October 1986, two months after his final concert, Mercury, on his return to London from
holiday, was confronted by a tabloid frenzy at Heathrow Airport with the British newspapers
the News of the World and The Sun reporting he had his blood tested for HIV/AIDS at a
Harley Street clinic, but Mercury was quoted as saying he was "perfectly fit and
healthy".[206] Fans noticed his increasingly gaunt appearance in 1988, with Mercury
insisting he was merely "exhausted" and too busy to provide interviews; he was now 42
years old and had been involved in music for nearly two decades.[210] He had in fact been
diagnosed as HIV positive in 1987, but did not make his illness public, with only his inner
circle of colleagues and friends aware of his condition.[209]

Queen recorded six studio albums at Mountain Studios in Montreux, Switzerland from 1978
to 1995, with Mercury making his final recording here in June 1991.
The tribute wall in the studio. The free tour, Queen: The Studio Experience, was opened in
December 2013, with fans asked for a donation to the Mercury Phoenix Trust charity.[211]

After working on various solo projects during 1988 (including Mercury's collaboration with
Montserrat Caballé, Barcelona), the band released The Miracle in 1989. The album
continued the direction of A Kind of Magic, using a pop-rock sound mixed with a few heavy
numbers. It spawned the hit singles "I Want It All"—which became an anti-apartheid
anthem in South Africa—"Scandal", and "The Miracle".[212][213] The Miracle also began a
change in direction of Queen's songwriting philosophy. Beforehand, nearly all songs had
been written by and credited to a single member. With The Miracle, their songwriting
became more collaborative, and they vowed to credit the final product only to Queen as a
group.[214]

In 1990, Queen ended their contract with Capitol and signed with Hollywood Records;
through the deal, Disney acquired the North American distribution rights to Queen's
catalogue for $10 million, and remains the group's music catalogue owner and distributor
in the US and Canada; the band retained ownership of the global rights through the UK-
based Queen Productions Ltd.[215][216] In February that year, Mercury made what would
prove to be his final public appearance when he joined the rest of Queen onstage at the
Dominion Theatre in London to collect the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to
British Music.[217]

Their fourteenth studio album, Innuendo, was released in early 1991 with "Innuendo" and
other charting singles released later in the year. The music video for "The Show Must Go
On" featured archive footage of Queen's performances between 1981 and 1989, and along
with the manner of the song's lyrics, fuelled reports that Mercury was dying.[218][219]
Mercury was increasingly ill and could barely walk when the band recorded "The Show
Must Go On" in 1990. Because of this, May had concerns about whether he was physically
capable of singing it, but May recalled that he "completely killed it".[220] The rest of the
band were ready to record when Mercury felt able to come into the studio, for an hour or
two at a time. May says of Mercury: "He just kept saying. 'Write me more. Write me stuj. I
want to just sing this and do it and when I am gone you can finish it oj.' He had no fear,
really."[211] The band's second-greatest hits compilation, Greatest Hits II, followed in
October 1991; it is the tenth best-selling album in the UK,[221] the seventh best-selling
album in Germany,[222] is certified Diamond in France where it is one of the best-selling
albums,[223] and has sold 16 million copies worldwide.[224][225]
Following Mercury's death on 24 November 1991, his tribute concert was held at the
original Wembley Stadium in London on 20 April 1992, the same venue where Queen
performed at Live Aid in July 1985.

On 23 November 1991, in a prepared statement made on his deathbed, Mercury confirmed

that he had AIDS.[226] Within 24 hours of the statement, he died of bronchial pneumonia,
which was brought on as a complication of the disease.[227] His funeral service on 27
November in Kensal Green, West London was private, and held in accordance with the
Zoroastrian religious faith of his family.[228][229]

"Bohemian Rhapsody" was re-released as a single shortly after Mercury's death, with
"These Are the Days of Our Lives" as the double A-side. The music video for the latter
contains Mercury's final scenes in front of the camera. Ron Hart of Rolling Stone wrote,
"the conga-driven synth ballad "These Are the Days of Our Lives" is Innuendo's most
significant single, given that its video marked the last time his fans were able to see the
singer alive."[230] The video was recorded on 30 May 1991 (which proved to be Mercury's
final work with Queen).[231] The single went to number one in the UK, remaining there for
five weeks—the only recording to top the Christmas chart twice and the only one to be
number one in four dijerent years (1975, 1976, 1991, and 1992).[232] Initial proceeds from
the single—approximately £1,000,000—were donated to the Terrence Higgins Trust, an
AIDS charity.[233]

Queen's popularity was stimulated in North America when "Bohemian Rhapsody" was
featured in the 1992 comedy film Wayne's World.[234] Its inclusion helped the song reach
number two on the Billboard Hot 100 for five weeks in 1992 (including its 1976 chart run, it
remained in the Hot 100 for a combined 41 weeks),[234] and won the band an MTV Award
at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards.[235] The compilation album Classic Queen also
reached number four on the Billboard 200, and is certified three times platinum in the
US.[34][234] Wayne's World footage was used to make a new music video for "Bohemian
Rhapsody", with which the band and management were delighted.[236]

On 20 April 1992, The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert was held at London's Wembley
Stadium to a crowd of 72,000.[237] Performers, including Def Leppard, Robert Plant, Tony
Iommi, Roger Daltrey, Guns N' Roses, Elton John, David Bowie, George Michael, Annie
Lennox, Seal, Extreme, and Metallica performed various Queen songs along with the three
remaining Queen members (and Spike Edney.) The concert is listed in the Guinness Book of
Records as "The largest rock star benefit concert",[238] as it was televised to over 1.2
billion viewers worldwide,[176] and raised over £20,000,000 for AIDS charities.[233]

1995–2003: Made in Heaven to 46664 Concert

Statue of Mercury overlooking Lake Geneva in Montreux, Switzerland

Queen's last album with Mercury, titled Made in Heaven, was released in 1995, four years
after his death.[239] Featuring tracks such as "Too Much Love Will Kill You" and "Heaven for
Everyone", it was constructed from Mercury's final recordings in 1991, material left over
from their previous studio albums and re-worked material from May, Taylor, and Mercury's
solo albums. The album also featured the song "Mother Love", the last vocal recording
Mercury made, which he completed using a drum machine, over which May, Taylor and
Deacon later added the instrumental track.[240] After completing the penultimate verse,
Mercury had told the band he "wasn't feeling that great" and stated, "I will finish it when I
come back, next time". Mercury never returned to the studio afterwards, leaving May to
record the final verse of the song.[211] Both stages of recording, before and after Mercury's
death, were completed at the band's studio in Montreux, Switzerland.[241] The album
reached number one in the UK following its release, their ninth number one album, and
sold 20 million copies worldwide.[242][243] On 25 November 1996, a statue of Mercury
was unveiled in Montreux overlooking Lake Geneva, almost five years to the day since his
death.[241][244]

You guys should go out and play again. It must be like having a Ferrari in the garage waiting
for a driver.

—Elton John, on Queen being without a lead singer since the death of Freddie
Mercury.[245]

In 1997, Queen returned to the studio to record "No-One but You (Only the Good Die
Young)", a song dedicated to Mercury and all those who die too soon.[246] It was released
as a bonus track on the Queen Rocks compilation album later that year, and features in
Greatest Hits III.[247] In January 1997, Queen performed "The Show Must Go On" live with
Elton John and the Béjart Ballet in Paris on a night Mercury was remembered, and it marked
the last performance and public appearance of John Deacon, who chose to retire; this left
May and Taylor as the two remaining original members.[248] The Paris concert was only the
second time Queen had played live since Mercury's death, prompting Elton John to urge
them to perform again.[245] Brian May and Roger Taylor performed together at several
award ceremonies and charity concerts, sharing vocals with various guest singers. During
this time, they were billed as Queen + followed by the guest singer's name. In 1998, the duo
appeared at Luciano Pavarotti's benefit concert with May performing "Too Much Love Will
Kill You" with Pavarotti, later playing "Radio Ga Ga", "We Will Rock You", and "We Are the
Champions" with Zucchero. They again attended and performed at Pavarotti's benefit
concert in Modena, Italy in May 2003.[249] Several of the guest singers recorded new
versions of Queen's hits under the Queen + name, such as Robbie Williams providing
vocals for "We Are the Champions" for the soundtrack of A Knight's Tale (2001).[250]

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

In November 1999, Greatest Hits III was released. This featured, among others, "Queen +
Wyclef Jean" on a rap version of "Another One Bites the Dust". A live version of "Somebody
to Love" by George Michael and a live version of "The Show Must Go On" with Elton John
were also featured in the album.[251] By this point, Queen's vast amount of record sales
made them the second-bestselling artist in the UK of all time, behind the Beatles.[243] In
November 2000, the band released the box set, The Platinum Collection. It is certified
seven times platinum in the UK and five times platinum in the US.[252][253] On 18 October
2002, Queen were awarded the 2,207th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, for their work
in the music industry, which is located at 6358 Hollywood Blvd.[254] On 29 November
2003, May and Taylor performed at the 46664 Concert hosted by Nelson Mandela at Green
Point Stadium, Cape Town, to raise awareness of the spread of HIV/AIDS in South
Africa.[255] A new song, "Invincible Hope", featuring Mandela's speech and credited to
Queen + Nelson Mandela, was performed during the concert and later released on the
46664: One Year On EP.[256] During that period May and Taylor spent time at Mandela's
home, discussing how Africa's problems might be approached, and two years later the
band were made ambassadors for the 46664 cause.[255]

2004–2009: Queen + Paul Rodgers

Main article: Queen + Paul Rodgers

l-r:Paul Rodgers, Roger Taylor, and Brian May live in 2005 for the Queen + Paul Rodgers tour

Queen performing with Paul Rodgers during their 2005 tour

At the end of 2004, May and Taylor announced that they would reunite and return to touring
in 2005 with Paul Rodgers (founder and former lead singer of Free and Bad Company).
Brian May's website also stated that Rodgers would be "featured with" Queen as "Queen +
Paul Rodgers", not replacing Mercury.[257] In November 2004, Queen were among the
inaugural inductees into the UK Music Hall of Fame, and the award ceremony was the first
event at which Rodgers joined May and Taylor as vocalist.[255]

Between 2005 and 2006, Queen + Paul Rodgers embarked on a world tour, which was the
first time Queen toured since their last tour with Freddie Mercury in 1986.[258] Taylor said:
"We never thought we would tour again, Paul came along by chance and we seemed to
have a chemistry. Paul is just such a great singer. He's not trying to be Freddie."[258] The
first leg was in Europe, the second in Japan, and the third in the US in 2006.[259] Queen
received the inaugural VH1 Rock Honors at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas,
Nevada, on 25 May 2006.[260] Foo Fighters performed "Tie Your Mother Down" to open the
ceremony before being joined on stage by May, Taylor, and Rodgers, who played a selection
of Queen hits.[261]

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

Queen + Paul Rodgers performed at the Nelson Mandela 90th Birthday Tribute held in Hyde
Park, London on 27 June 2008, to commemorate Mandela's ninetieth birthday, and again
promote awareness of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.[262] The first Queen + Paul Rodgers album,
titled The Cosmos Rocks, was released in Europe on 12 September 2008 and in the US on
28 October 2008.[242] The band again toured Europe, opening on Kharkiv's Freedom
Square in front of 350,000 Ukrainian fans;[263] the concert was released on DVD.[263] The
tour then moved to Russia, and the band performed two sold-out shows at the Moscow
Arena.[264] Having completed the first leg of the European tour, which saw the band play
15 sold-out dates across nine countries, the UK leg of the tour sold out within 90 minutes of
going on sale and included three London dates, the first of which was the O2 Arena on 13
October.[265] The last leg of the tour was in South America, and included a sold-out
concert at José Amalfitani Stadium, Buenos Aires.[264]
Queen and Paul Rodgers split up on 12 May 2009.[266] Rodgers stated: "My arrangement
with [Queen] was similar to my arrangement with Jimmy [Page] in The Firm in that it was
never meant to be a permanent arrangement".[266] Rodgers did not rule out the possibility
of working with Queen again.[267][268]

2009–2011: Departure from EMI, 40th anniversary

On 20 May 2009, May and Taylor performed "We Are the Champions" live on the season
finale of American Idol with winner Kris Allen and runner-up Adam Lambert providing a
vocal duet.[269] A new greatest hits compilation Absolute Greatest was released on 16
November and peaked at number 3 in the UK.[270] It contains 20 of Queen's hits spanning
their career and was released in four dijerent formats: single disc, double disc (with
commentary), double disc with feature book, and a vinyl record. Before its release, Queen
ran an online competition to guess the track listing as a promotion for the album.[271] On
15 November 2009, May and Taylor performed "Bohemian Rhapsody" live on the British TV
show The X Factor alongside the finalists.[272]

Many of you will have read bits and pieces on the internet about Queen changing record
companies and so I wanted to confirm to you that the band have signed a new contract
with Universal Music ... we would like to thank the EMI team for all their hard work over the
years, the many successes and the fond memories, and of course we look forward to
continuing to work with EMI Music Publishing who take care of our songwriting ajairs. Next
year we start working with our new record company to celebrate Queen's 40th anniversary
and we will be announcing full details of the plans over the next 3 months. As Brian has
already said Queen's next moves will involve 'studio work, computers and live work.

—Jim Beach, Queen's Manager, on the change of record label.[273]

On 20 August 2010, Queen's manager Jim Beach announced that the band had signed a
new contract with Universal Music[273] after almost 40 years with EMI.[274] On 22
September, May confirmed that the band's new deal was with Island Records, a subsidiary
of Universal Music Group.[275][276] Hollywood Records remained as the group's label in
the US and Canada. For the first time since the late 1980s, Queen's catalogue now has the
same distributor worldwide, as Universal distributes for both the Island and Hollywood
labels (for a time in the late 1980s, Queen was on EMI-owned Capitol Records in the
US).[277]

On 14 March 2011, the band's 40th anniversary, Queen's first five albums were re-released
in the UK and some other territories as remastered deluxe editions; the US versions were
released on 17 May.[278] The second five albums of Queen's back catalogue were released
worldwide on 27 June, and on 27 September in the US and Canada.[279][280] The final five
were released in the UK on 5 September.[281]

In May 2011, Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell said that Queen were scouting their live
bassist Chris Chaney to join the band.[282] In the same month, Paul Rodgers stated he
might tour with Queen again in the future.[283] At the 2011 Broadcast Music, Incorporated
(BMI) Awards held in London on 4 October, Queen received the BMI Icon Award for their
airplay success in the US.[284][285] At the 2011 MTV Europe Music Awards on 6 November,
Queen received the Global Icon Award, which Katy Perry presented to Brian May.[286]
Queen closed the awards ceremony, with Lambert singing "The Show Must Go On", "We
Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions".[286] The collaboration received a positive
response from fans and critics, resulting in speculation about future projects together.[287]

2011–present: Queen + Adam Lambert, Queen Forever

Main article: Queen + Adam Lambert

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

On 25 and 26 April, May and Taylor appeared on the eleventh series of American Idol at the
Nokia Theatre, Los Angeles, performing a Queen medley with the six finalists on the first
show, and the following day performed "Somebody to Love" with the 'Queen Extravaganza'
band.[288] Queen were scheduled to headline Sonisphere at Knebworth on 7 July 2012
with Adam Lambert[289] before the festival was cancelled.[290] Queen said that they were
looking to find another venue.[291] Queen + Adam Lambert played two shows at the
Hammersmith Apollo, London on 11 and 12 July 2012.[292][293] Both shows sold out
within 24 hours of tickets going on sale.[294] A third London date was scheduled for 14
July.[295] On 30 June, Queen + Lambert performed in Kyiv, Ukraine at a joint concert with
Elton John for the Elena Pinchuk ANTIAIDS Foundation.[296] Queen also performed with
Lambert on 3 July 2012 at Moscow's Olympic Stadium,[297][298] and on 7 July 2012 at the
Municipal Stadium in Wroclaw, Poland.[299]

Lambert on stage with Queen at Madison Square Garden, New York City in July 2014
performing "Who Wants to Live Forever"

On 12 August 2012, Queen performed at the closing ceremony of the 2012 Summer
Olympics in London.[300] The performance at London's Olympic Stadium opened with a
remastered video clip of Mercury on stage performing his call and response routine during
their 1986 concert at Wembley Stadium.[301] Following this, May performed part of the
"Brighton Rock" solo before being joined by Taylor and solo artist Jessie J for a performance
of "We Will Rock You".[301][302]

On 20 September 2013, Queen + Adam Lambert performed at the iHeartRadio Music

Festival at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.[303] Queen + Adam Lambert
toured North America in 2014[304][305] and Australia and New Zealand in August and
September 2014.[306] In an interview with Rolling Stone, May and Taylor said that although
the tour with Lambert is a limited thing, they are open to him becoming an ojicial member,
and cutting new material with him.[307] In November 2014 Queen released a new album
Queen Forever.[308] The album is largely a compilation of previously released material but
features three new tracks featuring vocals from Mercury with backing added by the
surviving members of Queen. One new track, "There Must Be More to Life Than This", is a
duet between Mercury and Michael Jackson.[309] Queen + Adam Lambert performed in
Central Hall, Westminster, at the Big Ben New Year concert on New Year's Eve 2014 and
New Year's Day 2015.[310]

Queen performing with Lambert during their 2017 tour

In 2016, the group embarked across Europe and Asia on the Queen + Adam Lambert 2016
Summer Festival Tour. This included closing the Isle of Wight Festival in England on 12 June
where they performed "Who Wants to Live Forever" as a tribute to the victims of the mass
shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida earlier that day.[311] On 12 September they
performed at the Yarkon Park in Tel Aviv, Israel for the first time in front of 58,000
people.[312] As part of the Queen + Adam Lambert Tour 2017–2018, the band toured North
America in mid-2017, Europe in late 2017, then played Australia and New Zealand in
February and March 2018.[313] On 24 February 2019, Queen + Adam Lambert opened the
91st Academy Awards ceremony held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles.[314]
In July 2019 they embarked on the North American leg of The Rhapsody Tour, with the dates
sold out in April.[315] They toured Japan and South Korea in January 2020 followed by
Australia and New Zealand the following month.[316][317][318] On 16 February the band
reprised their Live Aid set for the first time in 35 years at the Fire Fight Australia concert at
ANZ Stadium in Sydney to raise money for the 2019–20 Australian bushfire crisis.[319]

Because Queen were not able to tour due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they released a live
album with Adam Lambert on 2 October 2020. The song collection, titled Live Around the
World, contains highlights selected by the band members from over 200 shows throughout
their history. It marked their first live album with Lambert who, as of 2020, has played 218
shows with the band.[320] On 31 December 2020, Queen performed on the Japanese New
Year's Eve television special Kōhaku with composer Yoshiki and vocalist Sarah
Brightman.[321] In 2021, Queen received the Japan Gold Disc Award for the fourth time
(having previously won it in 2005, 2019 and 2020) as the most popular Western act in
Japan.[322]

On 4 June 2022, Queen + Adam Lambert opened the Platinum Party at the Palace outside
Buckingham Palace to mark the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.[323] Performing a three-song
set, they opened with "We Will Rock You" which had been introduced in a comedy segment
where Queen Elizabeth II and Paddington Bear tapped their tea cups to the beat of the
song.[324][325] A previously unheard Queen song with Mercury's vocals, "Face It Alone",
recorded over thirty years previously and originally thought "unsalvageable" by May and
Taylor, was released on 13 October 2022; five more songs — "You Know You Belong to Me",
"When Love Breaks Up", "Dog With a Bone", "Water", and "I Guess We're Falling Out" —
were released on 18 November 2022 as part of The Miracle Collector's Edition box set.[326]

On 13 September 2025, May and Taylor performed "Bohemian Rhapsody" at the Last Night
of the Proms in celebration of the song's fiftieth anniversary, accompanied by the BBC
Symphony Orchestra and with theatrical tenor Sam Oladeinde providing the lead
vocal.[327]