It’s been almost 30 years since British singer-songwriter Freddie Mercury, front man of legendary British rock band Queen, passed away on Nov. 24, 1991 in London. However, Queen has paved a majestic musical path that will never be forgotten.
Queen first formed in 1971 and consists of singer Freddie Mercury, bass player John Deacon, drummer Roger Taylor and guitarist Brian May.
In 1973, they released their first debut album, “Queen.”
While Queen didn’t lack success in their early music, their smash hit “Bohemian Rhapsody,” a beautiful ballad blended with a mixture of rock and opera, was released Oct. 31, 1975 and secured their place in music history.
In the ’70s, the average length of the song was around three minutes but Queen decided to break norms and make Bohemian Rhapsody a solid six minutes, a length that was deemed too long to ever see success, according to the band’s webpage.
Even with it’s unusual length, Bohemian Rhapsody saw mountains of success and stayed at No. 1 on the UK billboards for over nine weeks, according to the same webpage.
40 years later, the single is still popular internationally and has surpassed 1 billion views on Queen’s Official YouTube channel.
The first time I listened to Bohemian Rhapsody, I was hooked and played it on repeat. It’s number five in my top 10 favorite Queen songs.
While Bohemian Rhapsody is undoubtedly their most standout song, many other Queen tracks are widely recognized.
Thunderous cheers can still be heard from fans whenever “We Will Rock You” is played in sports stadiums.
Queen can also still be heard in movies including “Wayne’s World,” which was released on Feb. 14, 1992 and starred Mike Myers as Wayne Campbell and Dana Carvey as Garth Algar. When Campbell was cruising with Algar and his group, he inserted a tape containing Bohemian Rhapsody, which started in the middle of the song, and sang along.
“Another One Bites the Dust,” can be heard when Iron Man faces War Machine during Tony Stark’s birthday in “Iron Man 2” and “Flash’s Theme” can be heard in the 2012 movie “Ted.”
Queen has been so successful that on Oct. 23, 2018 Hollywood released the movie “Bohemian Rhapsody,” a biopic about Queen’s journey to fame. The movie did so well in the box office that it made over $900 million from its estimated $52 million budget, according to IMDB’s webpage of the movie.
The movie went on to win multiple awards, including four Oscars, according to a Feb. 25, 2019 Business Insider article.
Despite the film’s success, it does contain historical inaccuracies including when Mercury revealed his AIDS diagnosis to his band members before they went to play for an audience at Live Aid. In reality, Mercury didn’t know he had AIDS until after the concert.
The movie ended with Queen performing at Live Aid, touted to be one of the greatest live performances of all time.
The release of the film helped revive people’s interest in the band, according to the same Business Insider article.
Live Aid was a music-based fundraising initiative that held concerts in London and Philadelphia in 1985 to raise money for famine relief in Africa, according to a Nov. 24, 2009 History article.
Before the band played in the concert, they faced massive competition with performing acts including Elton John, David Bowie and The Who, according to a Feb 5. 2013 Rolling Stone article.
Queen stole the concert with a 20-minute lineup consisting of samples of their most popular songs, according to the same Rolling Stone article.
Many artists took notice of the path Queen laid out in music, allowing their legacy to continue long after their discontinuation.
Mercury’s untimely passing was a great tragedy but, as the final song in Queen’s “Innuendo” album says: “The Show Must Go On.”
