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| Queen II Album cover (1974) |
1. Brian May's guitar was handmade.
The famous Red Special, also called by Brian the Old Lady or the Fireplace, was handmade by him and his father with materials that they found at home. To make the neck, they used the wood from a mantlepiece. Hence the name The Fireplace.
Now, May runs his own business Brian May Guitars and sells replicas of this special instrument.
2. Freddie Mercury never left the band.
According to the movie 'Bohemian Rhapsody', Freddie Mercury breaks with the band to go solo after signing a deal with a record label. This, actually, is inaccurate. What really happened was: the band decided to take a break in 1983, but they stayed in contact with each other and, a few months later that year, they started to work on the album The Works, which was released in early 1984. (Source Rollingtone.com)
3. John Deacon: 'It is impossible to replace Freddie.'
After Freddie's death, Brian May and Roger Taylor decided to carry on with the band, first with the singer Paul Rodgers and then (at present) with Adam Lambert.
However, Deacon did not continue. He said: "As far as we are concerned, this is it. There is no point carrying on. It is impossible to replace Freddie."
4. Smile
Before forming Queen, Brian May and Roger Taylor were playing in a Rock band called Smile.
Freddie Mercury, who was called then Farrokh Bulsara, was a big fan of Smile. When their lead singer and bass guitarist Tim Staffell left, they disbanded. But Farrokh convinced May and Taylor to continue and ended up joining them as the lead singer. Then, Smile became Queen and they hired John Deacon.
Click on the below link to listen to the Smile song "Doin' Alright'
Smile - Doin' Alright - YouTube
5. Bohemian Rhapsody
This pioneer opera rock song was recorded in 3 weeks. Mercury, May and Taylor continually sang for nearly twelve hours a day, recording 180 overdubs.
This song hit the top of the charts and it is considered one of the greatest songs in the history of rock. However, before that, many figures in the music industry told the band that a six minute long opera song would never be a hit.
But they were all wrong. Freddie passed a copy of Bohemian Rhapsody to his friend the DJ Kenny Everett, who worked for Capital Radio, a very popular radio stations in London. Kenny played the track 14 times during the weekend and "Boom", it became a real hit.
