Queen

Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1970, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury (lead vocals, piano), Brian May (guitar, vocals), John Deacon (bass guitar), and Roger Taylor (drums, vocals). Queen's earliest works were influenced by progressive rock, hard rock and heavy metal, but the band gradually ventured into more conventional and radio-friendly works, incorporating further diverse styles into their music. Before joining Queen, Brian May and Roger Taylor had been playing together in a band named Smile with bassist Tim Staffell. Freddie Mercury (then known as Farrokh/Freddie Bulsara) was a fan of Smile, and encouraged them to experiment with more elaborate stage and recording techniques after Staffell's departure in 1970. Mercury himself joined the band shortly thereafter, changed the name of the band to "Queen", and adopted his familiar stage name. John Deacon was recruited prior to recording their eponymous debut album (1973). Queen enjoyed success in the UK with their debut and its follow-up, Queen II (1974), but it was the release of Sheer Heart Attack (1974) and A Night at the Opera (1975) that gained the band international success. The latter featured "Bohemian Rhapsody", which stayed at number one in the UK Singles Chart for nine weeks; it charted at number one in several other territories, and gave the band their first top ten hit on the US Billboard Hot 100. By the early 1980s, Queen were one of the biggest stadium rock bands in the world, and their performance at 1985's Live Aid is widely regarded as one of the greatest in rock history. In 1991, Mercury died of bronchopneumonia, a complication of AIDS, and Deacon retired in 1997. Since then, May and Taylor have infrequently performed together, including a collaboration with Paul Rodgers under the name Queen + Paul Rodgers which ended in May 2009. The band have released a total of 18 number one albums, 18 number one singles, and 10 number one DVDs. Estimates of their album sales generally range from 150 million to 300 million albums, making them one of the world's best-selling music artists.

Links To Peel
In a 1992 interview on Partners In Dispute, Peel mentioned that early Queen and Elton John's music work were radical, which nobody else was doing, but have since been copied. Peel was impressed with Queen's material and invited them for several sessions, which the band did in 1973 and 1977. Queen were the first act to be played on Peel's show but when punk started to become popular in the late 70's, Queen were dropped from Peel's playlist and he never really liked their music since then. However after Freddie Mercury died in 1991, Peel surprisingly played one of Queen's more commercial track, A Crazy Thing Called Love, on his show from 24 November 1991 as a tribute. After Peel's death in 2004, Roger Taylor paid the following tribute :


 * "John Peel was the first DJ in the world to play Queen. His was the only show in the 60's to bring us all the music from that era, of lasting interest. His contribution was pivotal and vital to the progression of popular music. What a huge gap he will leave."

Sessions
1. Recorded: 1973-02-05. Broadcast: 15 February 1973. Repeated: 22 March 1973 2. Recorded: 1973-12-03. Broadcast: 06 December 1973. Repeated: 27 December 1973
 * My Fairy King / Keep Yourself Alive / Doing Alright / Liar part 1 / Keep Yourself Alive / Liar part 2 / Son And Daughter / Ogre Battle / Great King Rat / Modern Times Rock & Roll


 * Ogre Battle / Great King Rat / Modern Times Rock 'N' Roll / Son And Daughter

3. Recorded: 1977-10-28. Broadcast: 14 November 1977. Repeated: 14 December 1977


 * Spread Your Wings / It's Late / Melancholy Blues / We Will Rock You

Other Shows Played
(The following list was compiled only from the database of this site and Lorcan's Tracklistings Archive and is certainly incomplete. Please add further details if known.)

1973 1979 1991 1993 2003 Others
 * 19 July 1973: Liar (LP: Queen) EMI
 * 26 July 1973: 'Great King Rat (LP-Queen)' (EMI)
 * 18 December 1973: 'Liar (LP-Queen)' (EMI)
 * 08 May 1979: We Are The Champions (According to the John Peel Papers, this was used instead of the usual Grinderswitch tune, due to Peel's favourite football team Liverpool beating Aston Villa 3-0)  
 * 24 November 1991: A Crazy Thing Called Love
 * 07 April 1993 (John Peel Is Jakki Brambles): Somebody To Love (EP - Five Live) Parlophone (duet with George Michael)
 * 21 January 2003: Flash (Smith And Selway Remix) (Stifled Love) Nebula
 * 01 July 1982 (TOTP): Las Palabras De Amor
 * 05 May 1983 (TOTP): Killer Queen (clip)
 * 02 February 1984 (TOTP): Radio Ga Ga
 * 10 May 1984 (TOTP): I Want To Break Free