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Queen Orchestral at the 3Arena Dublin

Queen Orchestral at the 3Arena Dublin

Irish Queen fans, check out “Queen Orchestral” coming to the 3Arena on November 23rd 2024.

Irish Queen fans can expect an extraordinary live musical experience with the amazing QUEEN Orchestral ; This wonderful musical evening takes center stage at the renowned 3Arena on Saturday, 23 November 2024 (Only 1 day before the 33rd anniversary of the death of Freddie Mercury). The Queen Orchestral experience is brought to you by the same creators of much-loved arena shows, ABBA Orchestral and 80s Orchestral. This show brings fans and all music lovers an unrivaled celebration of the iconic Freddie Mercury and the enduring hits of Queen, probably the best band in the world (well, according to me anyway !).

Featuring one of the World’s most authentic portrayals of Freddie Mercury, hailed as the most remarkable ever seen, Queen Orchestral will bring you an extravagant experience that transcends the traditional concert setting. Immerse yourself in the magic of Queen’s music, spanning four decades, culminating in the iconic Live Aid performance. Infusing a symphonic dimension into this Queen experience, the show will feature the phenomenal Radio Ga Ga Concert Orchestra, a fifty-piece ensemble to enhance the iconic rock of this legendary band. Joining our Freddie with the full concert orchestra and rock band onstage will be The Bohemian Rhapsody’s Choir, to stay true to the big sound vocals of anthems such as We Will Rock You, Killer Queen, Another One Bites The Dust, I Want It All and many more.

An all-immersive arena production, boasting innovative sound, dazzling lights, captivating visuals, and unforgettable special effects, QUEEN Orchestral is not merely a performance; it’s an unforgettable spectacular, promising huge surprises and an abundance of fun in true Freddie style. With unforgettable songs like We Are the Champions, I Want to Break Free, Who Wants to Live Forever and the ultimate rock anthem Bohemian Rhapsody, this is an event you will not want to miss whether you’re a Queen fan or love excellent music and high-quality productions!

Do not miss your chance to be part of a unique celebration of Queen’s legacy and the incomparable Freddie Mercury. Avoid disappointment, mark your calendars, and secure your place for a night of pure musical magic!

To Book Tickets to Queen Orchestral visit the official website at https://3arena.ie/events/queen-orchestral for details

Queen Rock Montreal in IMAX format

Queen Rock Montreal in IMAX format

Queen have released the show which was filmed in 1981, Queen Rock Montreal, and this time it is in the wonderful IMAX format.

This new IMAX version of Queen Rock Montreal has been amazingly digitally re-mastered and now is available in the highest sound quality and the highest image quality in line with the IMAX Experience®️.

This reimagining of the Queen Rock Montreal show, which was filmed over 2 days in November 1981 includes 12-channel surround sound and the most crystal-clear images you can imagine. Experience the greatest Queen hits including “Sheer Heart Attack”, “Save Me” (one of my favourites from the set), “We Will Rock You,” “Somebody To Love,” “Under Pressure,” Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Another One Bites the Dust,” and “We Are The Champions.”

This is Queen and IMAX experience is like something you’ve never seen before – Queen in a way larger-than-life format … pretend you are at the Queen show and in the front row – only in IMAX.

My Only criticism of this is that here in Ireland, we only have IMAX cinemas in Dublin. So for me in Waterford, it is a 2h 20 minute drive up and the same back down. It is a huge pity that this show cannot be shown on the larger screens of regular cinemas. There is no way I can catch this as the dates just don’t fit and so does the location of where this is showing. Anyway, if you are going, I hope you enjoy the experience. It is sure to be an amazing one.

Please leave a comment below if you are going or if you are not able to go because IMAX cinemas are too far from you.

Is Bohemian Rhapsody 2 going to happen?

Is Bohemian Rhapsody 2 going to happen?

Is Bohemian Rhapsody 2 going to happen?

Recently Sir Dr. Brian May commented regarding a follow-up to the Bohemian Rhapsody Movie. What most people are calling “Bohemian Rhapsody 2” is apparently in the works and Brian May is after commenting on this.

Brian has already said that he found the idea of working on a sequel to Bohemian Rhapsody “exciting” and “very attractive” and the chances are that the Bohemian Rhapsody 2 movie would probably be called The Show Must Go On.

Brian May has said that they are talking about it and that he would love to make a sequel but that they are looking mainly at the script and that the right script would allow them to do Bohemian Rhapsody 2. Considering it took 12 years to find the script for the original movie it may not be as easy to do as one may think.

There is a lot to cover. After Live Aid in 1985, Freddie and Queen still had over six years together and this saw the release of 3 more albums in this time with 1 more studio album (Made in Heaven) being released after Freddie’s death in 1991

Brian has said that even if they came up with a script whether it would be a film he wasn’t sure. He did go on to say that the only way Bohemian Rhapsody 2 would happen is if it works and also moves people the same way the original movie did. At the moment they haven’t found a way of doing that right now.

Brian has confirmed that he would love to reunite the original cast for Bohemian Rhapsody 2; Brian had high praise for all the actors especially Gwilym Lee who played Brian in the movie as he was able to capture Brian’s voice so well that people thought Brian had dubbed the voice in the movie.

So what would a Bohemian Rhapsody Movie Sequel look like?

The Bohemian Rhapsody Sequel would continue from where the first movie left off, that being the amazing success of Live Aid. There are 6 years to cover during Freddie’s life and a possible 4 further years afterwards which could have some role in the script.

The following are 12 key Queen milestones that occurred after Live Aid;

  • The recording and release of the ‘Kind of Magic’ Album.
  • Freddie recording the Barcelona album with Monseratt Carballe
  • Some of Freddie’s other solo releases such as The Great Pretender
  • Freddie’s AIDs diagnosis and how the band took the news
  • The recording and release of ‘The Miracle’ album in 1989.
  • Brian May’s Dads death and his marriage break-up.
  • The recording and release of the  last Queen album during Freddie’s lifetime ‘Innuendo’
  • Freddie Mercury’s death in November 1991
  • The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in April 1992
  • The completion of ‘Made in Heaven’ using Freddie’s vocals from 1991.
  • The Release of tracks like ‘Living on my Own’ in 1993 – a Number 1 for Freddie
  • The legacy of Queen … Queen and Paul Rogers / Adam Lambert …. new generations of fans

There are many other options for Bohemian Rhapsody 2   … but will it ever happen?

In a recent poll, more Queen fans were opposed to a sequel than wanted one – the results being that 67% of fans polled wanted no sequel.

What are your thoughts? Leave a comment below !

 

Queen to Play Concert Queen Jubilee at Platinum Party at the Palace

Queen to Play Concert Queen Jubilee at Platinum Party at the Palace


Queen on the Line-up for the Platinum Party at the Palace

Queen have been given the honour of opening the Platinum Party at the Palace which celebrates the Queen’s 70th year as Monarch.

Queen will open the Platinum Party at the Palace and Diana Ross will close the proceedings. It is going to be an amazing evening of entertainment and I’m just sorry that I’m not in London on this date as it should be a great concert. Other stars involved in the Queen’s 70th year celebration include Alicia Keys, Duran Duran, Sam Ryder, Sir Rod Stewart, Hans Zimmer, Celeste, Sir Elton John, Ella Eyre, Craig David, Mabel, Elbow, Andrea Bocelli, Mimi Webb, Sam Ryder, Jax Jones, Celeste, Nile Rodgers, Sigala and more.

The BBC and Buckingham Palace unveiled this amazing group of performers from the world’s of music and dance for the Platinum Party at the Palace concert, which takes place on Saturday June 4th at Buckingham Palace. This concert will be performed live on BBC One, BBC iPlayer and BBC Radio 2 – all acts performing their biggest hits in a star-studded tribute to Her Majesty’s unprecedented anniversary.

Other Stars from the stage, sport and screen will be appearing at the event and on film will include Sir David Attenborough, Emma Raducanu, David Beckham, Stephen Fry, Dame Julie Andrews, The Royal Ballet, Ellie Simmonds, and a specially recorded performance from Sir Elton John. Sam Ryder, the United Kingdom’s Eurovision hero, will also perform live, fresh from his success in Italy.

The evening will also have special guest appearance by Lloyd Webber and Lin-Manuel Miranda plus performances featuring casts and special guests from The Phantom of the Opera, Hamilton, Six, The Lion King and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat.

Queen + Adam Lambert will open the concert with a very special one-off spectacular production, which will no doubt summon memories of Brian May’s historic appearance on the Palace roof at the Golden Jubilee Concert back in 2002.

The show is going to be 2hours 30 mins in length, so I’m not sure how long Queen will actually get based on the number of performers on the bill – however there are 3 stages so this probably explains it. The legend that is Diana Ross will clse the show, with her first UK live performance in fifteen years.

The concert will be hosted by Roman Kemp and Kirsty Young and the concert is expected to have 22,000 people inattendance with 10,000 tickets allocated in a public ballot and over 7,500 tickets for key workers, members of the Armed Forces, volunteers, and charities.

Speaking for Queen + Adam Lambert, Brian May said; “Twenty years after playing The Queen’s glorious Golden Jubilee we’re very happy to be invited again. Then there was a moment when I wondered … after Buckingham Palace roof where can you go? Well … you will see!!!”

Further details and additional artists will be confirmed closer to the event – with some surprises left for the evening itself.

Queen perform at Platinum Party at the Palace
Are Brian May & Roger Taylor planning a Sequel, Bohemian Rhapsody 2?

Are Brian May & Roger Taylor planning a Sequel, Bohemian Rhapsody 2?

Will there be a Bohemian Rhapsody Sequel?

Over the last few days I have seen many facebook posts and online articles stating that Brian may and Rogert Taylor are planning a Bohemian Rhapsody Sequel.

According to what I saw online, Brian May seems somewhat open to the possibility of a Sequel fo Bohemian Rhapsody. He was quoted to saying that it would take a lot of inspiration in order to create Bohemian Rhapsody 2.

The original Bohemian Rhapsody movie was released with a lot of varying viewpoints and reviews. Some people loved it and some hated it. Overall the movie got over $1 Billion in takings when you combine box office takings, sreaming and DVD/BluRay sales. I’m sure it’s a lot more when you consider all the merchandise which was sold. The biopic even won 4 Academy Awards (Oscars) and won best Picture at the Golden Globes.

What could a Bohemian Rhapsody Sequel involve?

As we all know Freddie died from AIDS on Sunday November 24th 1991, and the story would for sure include this harrowing storyline.

The Bohemian Rhapsody movie released in 2018, portrayed the history of the band Queen and it’s members from the early 70s, up until 1985 and the famous Live Aid concert. If there was to be a Bohemian Rhapsody Sequel the story would have to pick-up from Live Aid and show parts of the Queen story which would include the Magic Tour in 1986, the Miracle Album, Freddies diagnosis of being HIV positive, The Barcelon Album, The Innuendo, Freddies Death in 1991 and perhaps even the story of how Made in Heaven came to be.

I’m not sure that Roger and Brian would want to replay the death of their friend Freddie, and this is just one sticking point I have about why a Sequel to Bohemian Rhapsody will probably never happen – and if it does happen I doubt it will have the same box office success as the first. Freddie went through a lot in his final weeks and he kept his illness to himself. I’m not sure Queen fans will want to see such a depiction. Also, considering the first film took over 10 years from conception to release, how long will it take to generate good ideas for a new script and then film, edit and release a new movie.

The other question is, Do Queen Fans Want a Bohemian Rhaopsody 2?

In a brief Twitter Poll which I ran, 83% of 71 respondants said that they did NOT want to see a Bohemian Rhapsody Sequel.

Although Brian is more open to a sequel, he did say that they were open to the iodea but they haven’t made any progress. I doubt this will make any progress any time soon – unless someone writes an astronomical script.

What do you think? Should there be a Bohemian Rhapsody 2?

Please leave a comment below and let everyone know your thoughts on a second Bohemian Rhapsody movie. What do you think of ths idea? And if you are in favour of a second Queen movie, what main storylines would you like to see explored in such a script?

Celebrating Queen to play St. George Utah in March 2022 (New Date)

Celebrating Queen to play St. George Utah in March 2022 (New Date)

I’m delighted to announce that I will be joining Queen Tribute Band Celebrating Queen in the USA in March 2022 – The original date of Jan 15th 2022 had to be rescheduled. We will be playing in a city called St. George in Utah. If you are not familar with the place name, St. George is a city in Utah, United States located in the southwestern corner of the state on the Arizona border and near the Nevada border. The city is 118 miles (190 km) northeast of Las Vegas where I will be joining the band for a few days rehearsals prior to the gig.

Celebrating Queen at the Cox Centre for the Performing Arts, St. George, Utah, USA

Celebrating Queen will play at the Cox Center for the Performing Arts on March 17th, 2022 at 8 pm and they have big plans for this performance.  There will be all the hits of course plus a few surprises. We will be joined by David GreenThe World’s Tallest Guitarist” and audience members will have a lot to enjoy during the evening at the Cox Auditorium.

If you are interested in purchasing tickets to the Celebrating Queen St. George performance at the Cox Auditorium, St. George, Utah, the DSU Box office can assist you.

The Celebrating Queen Utah gig will be my first time playing with the Celebrating Queen band. I am so looking forward to this, as up to now, we have only met on Zoom. We will have 3 or 4 days of rehearsal in Las Vegas in advance of the gig, so I will get to experience the bright lights and casino atmosphere of Las Vegas, a location I have never been to. It’s going to be an awesome journey and I’m hoping to share some of the Celebrating Queen Utah journey with you via my YouTube channel, so please follow me at https://www.youtube.com/c/ShanesQueenSite and I will be uploading content from the gig as it happens to my channel.

More gigs are on the way including a date in June in Liberty Missouri.

Celebrating Queen Live at the Cox Centre, St. George, Utah on March 17th 2022

Buy Tickets for Celebrating Queen at the LPAT, Liberty Missouri on 10th June 2022

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Information on booking Celebrating Queen Tribute Band Las Vegas is available on celebratingaqueen.com. This internationally touring Queen Tribute Band have played venues from Utah to Connecticut and all over the USA and Europe.

Update – February 2022 : Celebrating Queen to Play Liberty, Missouri on Friday June 10th 2022

Celebrating Queen are playing the Liberty Performing Arts Center on Friday 10th June 2022 at 8pm.

Tickets are available from the LPAT box office or online at https://lpat.ticketspice.com/celebratingqueen 

 

New Queen Documentaries and Films Airing in November

New Queen Documentaries and Films Airing in November

There are new Queen documentaries and films airing about Freddie Mercury in November 2021.

Inside the Mind of Freddie Mercury – Netflix

The first of these new Queen documentaries is on Netflix there is ‘Inside the Mind’ which aims to get behind the mind and inside the thoughts of Freddie Mercury. I have just watched this documentary which is just under 70 minutes long. Psychologist Dr. Bob Johnson tries to get inside the mind of the Queen lead singer. The documentary is actually not bad, because there are a few clips which I hand’t seen before and from this standpoint it was interesting. I could have done without the psychology of it all, purely because Freddie is not here to defend himself to any of the analysis given in the documentary. I watched it purely from the point of view of archive footage and also to see what all the fuss was about. People like Peter Hince, former roadie for Queen is interviewed. There were a few points where details were not as detailed as they should have been, e.g. one commentary was “at 6pm on 13th July 1985” however the time was “6:41 pm” and all Queen fans would know that. It’s things like this wich i feel could have been more accurate.

If you have seen this documentary please do leave a comment with your thoughts.

Making Freddie Mercury: The Final Act – BBC2

A 90-minute film titled Freddie Mercury: The Final Act will be aired on BBC2 in late November documenting the journey leading up to the April 1992 Freddie Mercury tribute concert held for the former Queen frontman at Wembley Stadium. Freddie Mercury died on 24th November 1991 of bronchial pneumonia as complications resulting from AIDs at the aged 45.

This film is to be aired in late November, which is 30 years after the singer’s death. This new film features interviews with his former Queen bandmates Brian May and Roger Taylor, and also his sister Kashmira Bulsara, amongst others. The film starts the journey in 1986, when the band’s Magic Tour had its final performance at Knebworth Park in Hertfordshire.

In April 1992, musicians including Sir Elton John, Extreme, Axl Rose, The Who’s Roger Daltrey and many many more took to the stage at Wembley with Queen members John Deacon, Taylor and May to pay tribute to Mercury at a benefit concert for AIDs awareness and what the newly formed Mercury Phoenix Trust.

The film’s director James Rogan said: “Making Freddie Mercury: The Final Act has been an extraordinary journey into the final chapter of one of rock music’s greatest icons. Working with Queen and getting to see behind the scenes of some of their greatest performances and the legendary Freddie Mercury tribute concert was a rare privilege.

Jan Younghusband, head of BBC music TV commissioning, said: “James Rogan’s film: Freddie Mercury: The Final Act is a poignant story of one of music’s most popular and talented musicians, and the legacy he left.

“Not only does it shine new light on Freddie Mercury’s brave journey through those final five years of his life, it also tells a wider – and hugely important – story of the emergence of Aids at the time and how the incredible tribute concert after his death helped to change for the better public opinion about the crisis.

“The artists of Queen and others who were there speak candidly for the first time.”

 

If you have seen any of these new Queen documentaries please let me know what you think by adding a comment below.

Back to the Light Single rereleased by Brian May

Back to the Light Single rereleased by Brian May

Brian May has released (October 22nd) a physical, digital and new timetravelling video for the single ‘Back to the Light. This single is from the remastered and reissued Back to the Light album.

Brian May has written great queen songs from from the very first self-titled album ‘Queen’. During the writing process much of Brian’s writing output was consumed and accepted by the band and soon became Queen songs rather than solo songs. Some of the songs Brian wrote did show up on his solo albums – one of those songs is ‘Back To The Light’. On October 22nd, Brian released on CD and 7” vinyl this great single. Also available on the digital single is a wonderful karaoke version of ‘Back To The Light’ – if you want to sing along yourself.

The release of this great single also comes with a brand new time-travelling video which Rolling Stone called ‘trippy‘. It shows Brian May playing guitar with a 90’s guitarist called Brian May. Brian said of the video, “I feel kind of affectionate looking back. Looking back at me 30 years ago, a young man with no idea of the incredible journey that was still to come.

Originally released in 1992, Back to the Light got into the UK Top 20 and it is hoped that this new release will do even better in the charts. Back to the Light was always a track which I liked – some people don’t like it (I heard a recent Queen related podcast which basically tore it, and the related album, to shreds), but I feel the track is of the era and in my view is a great rock track. There are some great musicians on the track and indeed on the album. Brian said, ““I had the great fortune of having some wonderful people with me when I was going through this, notably Cozy Powell who was the most fantastic support to me emotionally as well as musically.’

Brian started to write the tracks for the album around 1988 at a time when things were quote dark for him; there was a marriage breaking down, Freddie was obviosuly dying, and Brian’s father had died.

Video for Back to the Light Single – The Time Traveller

Queen Store Carnaby Street now Open, Celebrating 50 years of Queen

Queen Store Carnaby Street now Open, Celebrating 50 years of Queen

QUEEN STORE CARNABY STREET OPENED TO CELEBRATE FIVE DECADES OF QUEEN’S MUSIC

In celebration of a wonderful 50 years in music, Queen have opened their experiential pop-up shop on Carnaby Street.

The much hyped shop, ‘Queen The Greatest’ opened today, Tuesday 28th September 2021, and will be open to Queen fans until (some date in) January 2022. The Queen store has a number of limited edition music releases, Queen fashion collaborations and lifestyle products. There will apparently be weekly new product drops and special weekly events.

Queen Store Carnaby Street now Open, Celebrating 50 years of Queen

Queen Store Carnaby Street now Open, Celebrating 50 years of Queen

The new ‘Queen The Greatest’ pop-up store brings Queen fans on a journey over two floors and features all of the hallmarks of theiconic Queen branding. The Queen store also includes clothing from fashion brands including Champion, Wrangler and Johnny Hoxton jewellery.

As mentioned above, each month will have a theme and this is the breakdown of those monthly themes…

MUSIC MONTH – OCTOBER

Queen’s continuing music releases feature with Limited edition music available to buy throughout October. The new solo releases from Brian May and Roger Taylor couldn’t come at a better time!!

ART & DESIGN MONTH – NOVEMBER

In November, the Art and Design month if very much down the route that Freddie took while at college. This month, November, will be showcasing a number of amazing designed including items from Japanese designer Tokolo, a limited-edition teddy bear from Steiff and more…

MAGIC MONTH – DECEMBER

December is not the magic of Christmas, rather the Magic of Queen as the store brings the magic of 5 decades of Queen to the forefront. There are special Queen products including Queen Rubix Cubes, Queen Christmas jumpers, cards, wrapping paper etc..

The pop-up store will feature screens showing archive Queen performances and throughout the store there will be areas for you to share on your social media.

I’m presuming the Queen store will close in early January as there is no theme for January.

Personally, I’m not sure if I can get over to this. Just like the Bohemian Rhapsody store which I wish I had gotten to, it may be hard for me to visit this year … but I will try. If you are unable to travel to the store, a nuber of Queen items including the vinyls will be available online at: queenonlinestore.com/The-Greatest-Pop-Up-Store

If you have been to the Queen Store Carnaby Street please do leave a comment below and let us know what you thought and dont’ forget to mention, if you wish, your social media links and handles so we can see any items you wish for us to see.

Tavaszi szél Performed on this day. Cover by Celebrating Queen

Tavaszi szél Performed on this day. Cover by Celebrating Queen

Queen played Budapest on this day , 27th July in 1986 during the Magic Tour and on that day Freddie and Brian sung Tavaszi szél vizet áraszt which is a Hungarian Folk Song – much to the joy of the Hungarian audience.

This is Celebrating Queen performing Tavaszi Szél vizet áraszt (Hungarian song)

Vocals: JJ Midnight
Bass Guitar: Dénes Lükő
Keyboards: Shane McDonald
Guitar: Chris Gordon
Mix: Todd Rogers

Check out the video on YouTube at https://youtu.be/JHeC4hKQpso or you can watch it on this site at the bottom of this blog post…

Freddie Mercury and Brian May performed this lovely traditional Hungarian folk song, Tavaszi Szél vizet áraszt , at the Népstadion in Budapest on 27 July 1986 as part of the Queen Magic Tour.

Freddie introduced this piece by saying “Tonight for the first time, this is a very special song, from Queen, to you.” He went on to sing a song which meant so much to the Hungarian audience. Celebrating Queen are a Queen Tribute Band with many years experience entertaining Queen fans all around the world. The Celebrating Queen set list is varied, the show is powerful, the music is phenomenal & you will experience a Celebrating Queen show that is Guaranteed to Blow Your Mind! We hope you enjoyed our rendition of Tavaszi Szél. Please Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more great videos and also announcements about our upcoming tour dates for 2021 & beyond. Visit our website at http://www.celebratingqueen.com for details of the band and for Booking information, as we are now booking venues for 2021 and 2022 all around the world.
tavasziszél #tavasziszélvizetáraszt #queeninbudapest #budapest #hungary #hungarianrhapsody #CelebratingQueen #Queen #QueenTribute #QueenTributeAct #QueenTributeBand #TributeBand #YouTube #YouTubeMusic #YouTuber #JJMidnight #CelebratingQueenTribute #QueenBand #FreddieMercury #BrianMay #Music #CelebratingQueenUSA #USAQueenTribute

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Click the link to Subscribe to the Shane's Queen Site YouTube Channel which has piano tutorials, Queen reviews, the latest Queen news, Queen Covers, Queen Tribute Bands and much more...

Queen Greatest Hits 1 to be Re-released in New Formats

Queen Greatest Hits 1 to be Re-released in New Formats

The UK’s biggest selling album of all time and achieving the album with the third longest chart run on the UK Official Charts,  Queen’s Greatest Hits 1 is to be rereleased in brand new formats to mark the 50th Anniversary of the greatest band ever – Queen.

It’s amazing to think that it is 40 years since the original release of Queen’s Greatest Hits 1. With this new release there will be a Collector’s Edition CD with and exclusive slipcase cover & a very retro Cassette version.

The new Greatest Hits rerelease is available to pre-order on the Queen Online store at https://www.queenonlinestore.com/Queen/The-Greatest/

This Limited Edition Queen Greatest Hits Rerelease is sure to be one that collectors will want to snap up. Queen’s Greatest Hits 1 was released on the 26th October 1981. By this stage I would guess that every family must have a copy of this somewhere sonsidering the amazing sales this album has had since it is the first and only album to have sold over 6 million copies in the UK (at the time of this blog post sales have exceeded 6.76 million sales) with global album sales of Queen’s Greatest Hits in excess of 25 million which is truly amazing.

Also if you look at the chart success and the chart lobgevity of the album, Queen’s Greatest Hits has now spent over 950 weeks on the UK Albums Chart, and the album has been certified a whopping 22 times platinum.

With a new generation of Queen fans coming on stream on the back of Bohemian Rhapsody and also the fact that Adam Lambert has brought with him a young audience as Queen+Adam Lambert tour the world, it is no wonder that this album keeps popping up in the top 10 of the album charts every so often, even though it is 40 years old.

Queen Greatest Hits ReRelease Date

So for those who want to have this new limited edition Queen Greatest Hits Rerelease, you can have it from July 2 when it is released globally.
Don’t forget you can Pre-Order from the link above.

There is also a number of other Queen Greatest Hits products you can enjoy including a Collector’s Edition Clear Cassette, a Collector’s Edition CD With Exclusive Slipcase Cover signed by Brian May and Roger Taylor, bundled with all 4 band member colour cassettes and a Greatest Hits gold plated badge (limited to 1000 signed copies), a Collector’s Edition Frosted Cassette which comes in Aqua, Pink, Green and Blue for Freddie, Brian, Roger and John respectively and also other things like badges, haps and tote bags.

Queen’s Greatest Hits

The classics like ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, ‘We are the Champions’ and ‘Killer Queen’, are all piano-based​ brilliance from Freddie – is then mixed with Brians guitar riffs of ‘Now I’m Here’ and ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’. They could easily have added a few others like ‘Tie Your​ Mother Down’ or ‘Sail Away​ Sweet Sister’ and they wouldn’t have looked out of place… but some of these tracks did end up on foreign Greatest Hits albums. It remains one of my favourite albums and I’m joined in that by millions others through-out the world.

Please feel free to leave your comments on this Queen Greatest Hits Re-Release below …

Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert – On this Day in 1992

Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert – On this Day in 1992

Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert April 1992

It was on this day, April 20 1992, that the world’s best musicians assembled at Wembley stadium for the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, to pay tribute to Queen vocalist Freddie Mercury, and at the same time raise awareness about HIV and AIDS through the newly formed Mercury Phoenix Trust.

Freddie Mercury died on Sunday 24th November 1991, only 24 hours after publicly admitting that he was living with HIV/AIDS. After Freddie died, the remaining members of Queen along with with their manager Jim (Miami) Beach to organise a tribute concert to celebrate the life, legacy and music of Freddie Mercury, Less than 5 months after his passing, the music world along with 72,000 fans filled Wembley to pay tribute to the lover of life, singer of songs, one Freddie Mercury. The Easter Monday event was broadcast live on BBC2 television and was also simulcast on radio to 76 countries around the world, reaching an estimated total audience of up to one billion. (Just imagine what that would have been like today with global streaming etc)

Artists such as George Michael, Liza Minnelli, Metallica, Extreme, Def Leppard, David Bowie, Annie Lennox, Lisa Stansfield, Seal, Guns ‘n’ Roses,Paul Young, Metallica and many others joined the remaining members of Queen to perform a huge selection the Queen hits. The band’s collaboration with George Michael with his performance of Someone to Love became a chart topping hit via the Queen Five Live EP. At that stage many people actually thought that George Michael would be the new lead singer of Queen, he was that good.

The show started with Brian, John and Roger on stage together. Brian May opened and said “Good evening Wembley and the world. We are here tonight to celebrate the life, and work, and dreams, of one Freddie Mercury. We’re gonna give him the biggest send off in history!” … and they did just that.

Great Performances at the Freddie Mercury Tribute

There were fantastic performances from Extreme and powerful renditions from Metallica who did Stone Cold Crazy. The show was also remembered for a very interesting duet with Guns ‘n’ Roses lead singer and Elton John and performed Bohemian Rhapsody.

Other great Highlights of the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert included Annie Lennox and David Bowie performing a wonderful rendition of Under Pressure (along with Annie Lennox’s fantastic makeup), Lisa Stansfield performing I want to Break Free (hoover in-tow) and Extreme who did a Queen Medley.

This was also the last full concert for Queen’s bassist John Deacon who stepped away from performing after this show.

One thing which was obvious was that many of the stars had to transpose the songs down, because they couldn’t reach the high notes of the songs … one performer said “I just couldn’t do a Freddie !”

The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert will live long in the memory of those who were either lucky enough to be at it, or who atcually saw it live on TV. A fitting tribute to a frontman, singer, song-writer, musician and lover of life.

What’s your facourite Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert memory … leave a comment below…

Killer Queen voted best song on Sheer Heart Attack

Killer Queen voted best song on Sheer Heart Attack

After weeks of voting, Killer Queen was voted the best song on Queen’s 3rd Studio Album

If you have been following this site for a while then you will know that we have been running the ‘Champions of Queen League‘ to determine the best songs on all of Queen’s Studio Albums. Up to this point we have done 3 albums; Queen, Queen II and Sheer Heart Attack.

The most recent set of polls saw the 13 tracks on Sheer Heart Attack go head to head. This tool place over 13 rounds of polls and 78 individual head-to-head votes.

In total 2,431 votes were cast in the Sheer Heart Attack polls and the final table was very close, with two songs always leading the pack. Those two songs of course were Now I’m Here and Killer Queen. It was Killer Queen which was voted the Best song.

How was Killer Queen voted Best song on Sheer Heart Attack?

Throughout the voting process Now I’m Here and Killer Queen lead the way. Each of these songs won all of their respective rounds in the head to head polls. The final reckoning for these two songs came when they went head to head themselves. Killer Queen eventually won 72% of the vote and Now I’m Here had to settle for 2nd place with 28% of the vote.

Each song got 3 points for a win and 1 point for a draw in the head to head polls.

The final table for the Sheer Heart Attack – Champions of Queen League was as follows;

Best song on Sheer Heart Attack

The Overall Results

As can be seen, Killer Queen won 12, Now I’m Here won 11 and Brighton Rock came in 3rd place. 4th place saw a respectable position for In the Lap of the Gods Revisited and Flick of the Wrist was in 5th spot. A firm favourite amongst fans, Stone Cold Crazy was in 6th spot with the (non revisited) Lap of the Gods in 7th spot. Lily of the Valley, Tenement Funster, Bring back that Leroy Brown, She Makes Me, Misfire and Dear Friends prop up the table in that order.

 

Next Up…

The next album on the Champions of Queen League will be ‘A Night at the Opera’ which is bound to throw up a few good contests, e.g. Bohemian Rhapsody Vs The Prophets Song. All of these votes and head to head rounds will be split between Twitter Polls and also Online Polls so please do check in with the Champions of Queen League webpage every few days for updates. 

 

What do you think – Was the result correct with Killer Queen voted Best Song on Sheer Heart Attack? Leave a comment below with your thoughts ….

Watch the accompanying Video for Killer Queen being voted best song on Sheer Heart Attack

I have a video on YouTube which details the top 5 songs in this poll.

New Queen Documentaries and Films Airing in November

Queen Win the Absolute Radio ‘World Cup of Classic Rock’

Queen win the Absolute Radio The World Cup of Classic Rock poll

Queen thrash Guns N’ Roses in the final round…

For a few weeks, the popular radio station Absolute Radio were running a series of head to head knockout polls to determine who the greatest rock band of all time was? After a few weeks of voting, it was no surprise that Queen were crowned the overall winners of the Absolute Radio “World Cup of Classic Rock”. In the end Queen beat Guns N’ Roses in the final head to head.

The polls started off with 32 shortlisted rock bands and the polls were run via the Absolute Classic Rock’s Twitter page. There were some great polls running and I was very surprised to see Def Leppard and Thin Lizzy going out on the very first set of polls. There were also some very close polls, some only separated by 1 or 2%

Queen overcame Meat loaf (winning by 89%), Pink Floyd (winning with 71%), Iron Maiden (winning with 78%) and AC/DC (winning with 67%) before winning the whole contest against Guns ‘n’ Roses. Not just winning it but they went Stone Cold Crazy on the US band – Queen eventually won with 76% of the vote … Pure Champions !

Guns ‘n’ Roses came 2nd, AC/DC came third and Hendrix was second.

You can check out the full rundown of each poll at https://planetradio.co.uk/absolute-radio/music/news/the-world-cup-of-classic-rock/

 

As a result of the World Cup of Classic Rock win…

Due to the fact that Queen won the World Cup of Classic Rock poll, Brian May will be on Absolute radio talking about 3 Queen albums which will be played in full, each Monday evening on Absolute Radio. This will kick off with Brian talking about ‘A Night at the Opera’. Take a look at the AbsoluteRadio tweet below for more details.

 

The Best Song on the Queen II Album is Revealed

The Best Song on the Queen II Album is Revealed

What is The Best song on Queen II

The Best Song on the Queen II Album is Revealed after 1,998 votes were cast in the Queen II Champions of Queen League.

Since late November 2020 I have been running the Queen II Champions of Queen League, with the goal of finding out what the public think is the best song on Queen’s second album. In total 1,998 votes were cast between the Shane’s Queen Site website and the associated Twitter Account @shanesqueensite.

Because there were 11 songs on the album, an odd number, one song in each round got a ‘bye’ and was not included in that rounds polls.

The content on the album is so strong that it was hard to sometimes decide which was the better song. How can you decide between Ogre Battle and White Queen or Fairyfellers Master Stroke and Seven Seas of Rhye? The voting public really wanted to share their views, considering the Queen I vote got 1,451 votes the voting strength was very much increased in this round.

The final Champions of Queen League is shown below as is the review video on my Shane’s Queen Site YouTube Channel.

 

Please Join in with the Sheer Heart Attack polls which will run from the 15th February via the website and Twitter – Click here to visit the main Champions of Queen League page

Queen II - Best song on Queen II Album

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Queen on TV over Christmas 2020

Queen on TV over Christmas 2020

Queen programmes on TV Christmas 2020

This is a brief listing of the various Queen and Queen related TV programming available to enjoy over the Christmas period. I’m sure you have seen many of these Queen programmes before but if you are drowning in the usual Christmas films you may want to switch over to some great music. So this is the round up of Queen on TV Christmas 2020 (and I don’t mean HRH)

United Kingdom & Ireland

Queen: Live at Wembley -:- Christmas Day 6:30pm (Sky Arts) & New Year’s Eve 10:40pm (Sky One)
Queen: The Magic Years -:- Christmas Day 3:30pm (Sky Arts)
Queen Live in Rio -:-  Sunday 27th December 8.00pm (Pick)
Freddie Mercury: The Tribute Concert -:- Christmas Day 4:45pm (Sky Arts) & Sunday 27th December 9.15pm (Pick) & New Year’s Eve/Day 12:15am (Sky One)
Queen & Adam Lambert: The Show Must Go On -:- New Year’s Eve/Day 2:15am (Sky One)

Czech Republic

Hungarian Rhapsody – Live In Budapest  -:- 31st December 10.20pm (Czech TV)

Italian TV

Queen + Bejart – Ballet For Life  -:- 24th December 5am (Sky Arte)
Queen Rock The World  -:- 24th December 4am (Sky Arte) & 6th January 10am (Sky Arte)
Live At Wembley Stadium  -:- 26th December 8.00pm (Sky Arte)
Live At The Rainbow  -:- Monday 28th December 5.45pm (Sky Arte)
Hungarian Rhapsody – Live In Budapest  -:- Tuesday 5th January 6.45pm (Sky Arte)

 

Netherlands

Queen & Adam Lambert: The Show Must Go On  -:- Christmas Day 9.20pm (NTR)

Romania

Hungarian Rhapsody – Live In Budapest  -:- Thursday 31st December 8.20pm

 

What Queen Programmes on TV Christmas 2020 will you be watching?

If you haven’t previously seen many of the items below, my favourites from this TV list of Queen programming for Christmas 2020 are;
– Queen Live at Wenbley 86,
– Queen + Adam Lambert: the Show Must Go On,
– Queen Rock the World   and
Queen Live at the Rainbow.
So, lots of Great Queen TV programming to keep you entertained this Christmas.

If you have a favourite of all the Queen on TV Christmas 2020, or even would rather see some different Queen concert or documentary on TV this Christmas, please feel free to leave a comment below.

Happy Christmas to you all from Shane’s Queen Site!

Finding the Best Queen Song with the Champions of Queen League

Finding the Best Queen Song with the Champions of Queen League

What is the Best Queen Song?

Thats a question everyone asks, so I have designed a league based system designed to find the publics favourite Queen songs. A head to head match between each queen song on each Queen studio album is set up. The song with the most votes, gets 3 points, 1 point for a draw and the tally of votes are also counted in the case of a tie at the end. 

I have started with the first Queen album, titled ‘Queen’ which was released in 1973. The polls are just over the half way point at this stage and results should be available in early November.

The future of this league / poll system is that I will have all the rounds available online from the start. These will be open for a set number fo days so that as many people can vote as possible. There is only one vote per person based on IP and cookes.

If you want to take part in this series of polls, and contribute to deciding and finding The Best Queen Song, please return to the site over the next few weeks / months and visit the dedicated section for the Champions of Queen League.

Vote in the Champions of Queen League

Vote in the series of polls designed to determine the best songs on all of Queens 15 studio albums.

Results of the The Best Queen Song Polls on YouTube

Each album that gets voted on, will have a dedicated video on YouTube explaining the results of each album’s vote. I will outline the top 5 songs in each album, and show which 2 songs will go towards the final set of polls. So please follow Shane’s Queen Site on YouTube for this and more Queen related videos – the links is below.

Subscribe to the Shane's Queen Site YouTube Channel

Click the link to Subscribe to the Shane's Queen Site YouTube Channel which has piano tutorials, Queen reviews, the latest Queen news, Queen Covers, Queen Tribute Bands and much more...

Win Tickets to the Queen & Adam Lambert Tour 2021

Win Tickets to the Queen & Adam Lambert Tour 2021

Competition to Win Queen Tickets to the Queen+ Adam Lambert 2021 Concerts

Note – This competition to Win Queen Tickets has now expired but remains here for archive reasons.

Queen are running a competition where you can win Queen Tickets to the Queen and Adam Lambert 2021. These are not just tickets, these are VIP Backstage tour tickets!
All you have to do is purchase any format of the new ‘Live Around The World’ album from the official Queen store to be in with a chance of winning this much sought after pair of VIP Backstage tour tickets to the Queen & Adam Lambert 2021 UK Tour. You will also win a personalised voice note from Adam himself to say thanks!

Orders must be placed before 3PM on Thursday 8th October to be in with a chance to win these VIP Backstage tour tickets. (which at this stage doesn’t give you much time, so get your skates on)

Apparently all those who have already pre-ordered the new Queen Live Album ‘Live around the World’ from the online store will be automatically entered into the draw to win this great prize and the winners will be randomly selected from the thousands of pre-orders for ‘Queen Live around the World’.

Again, my only issue with this competition is that the offer is open to UK only. Queen are a world-wide phenomena and it’s not really fair on the world-wide audience to limit this to the UK. It’s online so why the restriction?? What a pity …

The New Live Album – “Queen – Live Around the World’

So far Queen  + Adam Lambert for performed 218 live shows with a total worldwide audience of 3,659,232 people.
If you weren’t one of these people, or indeed if you were and you want to relive that time again then there is some good news with Queen + Adam Lambert releasing their first Live album on October 2nd 2020.

The album is entitled Queen + Adam Lambert ‘Live Around the World’ and is set for a worldwide release on October 2nd. The Live around the World release will be available on CD, CD+DVD, CD+Blu-ray & Vinyl formats

Queen + Adam Lambert Live Around the World

CD / VINYL TRACKLIST
(DVD / BLU-RAY Tracklist differs slightly)

Tear It Up (May) The O2, London, UK, 02/07/2018

Now I’m Here (May) Summer Sonic, Tokyo, Japan, 2014

Another One Bites The Dust (Deacon) Summer Sonic, Tokyo, Japan, 2014

Fat Bottomed Girls ft. Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (May) American Airlines Center, Dallas, USA, 2019

Don’t Stop Me Now (Mercury) Rock In Rio, Lisbon, Portugal, 2016

I Want To Break Free (Deacon) Rock In Rio, Lisbon, Portugal, 2016

Somebody To Love (Mercury) Isle of Wight Festival, UK, 2016

Love Kills – The Ballad (Mercury/Moroder) iHeart Radio Theater, Los Angeles, USA, 2014

I Was Born To Love You (Mercury) Summer Sonic, Tokyo, Japan, 2014

Under Pressure (Queen/Bowie) Global Citizen Festival, New York, USA, 2019

Who Wants To Live Forever (May) Isle of Wight Festival, UK, 2016

The Show Must Go On (Queen) The O2, London, UK, 04/07/2018

Love Of My Life (Mercury) The O2, London, UK, 02/07/2018

Bohemian Rhapsody (Mercury) Fire Fight Australia, ANZ Stadium, Sydney, Australia, 2020

Radio Ga Ga (Taylor) Fire Fight Australia, ANZ Stadium, Sydney, Australia, 2020

Ay-Ohs (Mercury) Fire Fight Australia, ANZ Stadium, Sydney, Australia, 2020

Hammer To Fall (May) Fire Fight Australia, ANZ Stadium, Sydney, Australia, 2020

Crazy Little Thing Called Love (Mercury) Fire Fight Australia, ANZ Stadium, Sydney, Australia, 2020

We Will Rock You (May) Fire Fight Australia, ANZ Stadium, Sydney, Australia, 2020

We Are The Champions (Mercury) Fire Fight Australia, ANZ Stadium, Sydney, Australia, 2020

Note – this competition to Win Queen Tickets has now closed !

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