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Roy Thomas Baker, Producer of Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, Dies aged 78

Roy Thomas Baker, Producer of Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, Dies aged 78

Roy Thomas Baker, Legendary Producer Behind Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’ has died aged 78. 

Roy Thomas Baker, the legendary music producer known for his groundbreaking work with Queen and other bands, including the Cars, Foreigner, and many more iconic bands, has passed away at the age of 78. His family has not shared a cause of death.

Roy Thomas Baker helped shape the sound of some of the biggest rock hits of the 1970s and ’80s, most famously producing Queen’s epic “Bohemian Rhapsody.” That song, from the band’s 1975 album *A Night at the Opera*, has gone on to become the most-streamed song from the 20th century and was named the greatest British single of all time by the Guinness Book of Records.

Queen drummer Roger Taylor remembered Baker fondly, saying, “He brought discipline, a bit of cynicism, and a real love for rich desserts. He was always determined to get things right, and he did.”

Born in Hampstead, London, Baker started his music career at Decca Studios, where he worked alongside legendary producers like Gus Dudgeon (Elton John) and Tony Visconti (David Bowie, T. Rex). Early on, he contributed to projects by major artists including the Rolling Stones, the Who, Dusty Springfield, Yes, and many others.

By 1971, he had moved up to chief engineer and worked on classic hits like “All Right Now” by Free and “Bang a Gong (Get It On)” by T. Rex. Soon after, he joined Trident Studios in London and began working closely with Queen.

His involvement grew over time — by their second album, Queen II, his signature layered sound became a hallmark of their music, especially with Brian May’s intricate guitar work. Their creative partnership peaked with *A Night at the Opera*, an ambitious and sonically rich album that helped launch Queen to international fame. Baker also produced their next album, *A Day at the Races*, before the band took over producing duties themselves.

After his success with Queen, Baker was tapped to produce for the Boston-based band the Cars. He helped craft their 1978 self-titled debut, featuring hits like “Just What I Needed” and “Best Friend’s Girl.” That album launched the Cars into the spotlight, and Baker continued working with them on several successful follow-ups.

Ric Ocasek, the late frontman of the Cars, once said Baker “taught me a lot about handling band dynamics. He had a real gift for harmony and room sound — spontaneous, classy, and upbeat.”

Eventually, Baker moved to the U.S. and produced albums for artists like Journey, Ian Hunter, and Ronnie Wood. He also worked as a producer and A&R rep for Elektra Records, helping guide the careers of artists like Lindsey Buckingham, Dokken, Mötley Crüe, and Joe Lynn Turner. He even played a role in signing big names like Metallica, Simply Red, and 10,000 Maniacs.

Over his long and storied career, Roy Thomas Baker also worked with Foreigner, Alice Cooper, Cheap Trick, Devo, Ozzy Osbourne, Guns N’ Roses, Smashing Pumpkins, and many more.

He is survived by his wife, Tere Livrano Baker, and his brother, Alan Baker.

Roy was a constant supporter of the content from this site, and on many, many occasions, I found my content being re-tweeted by Roy. I often sent thanks to him for supporting the content. He is remembered fondly by Queen fans for the huge role he played with Queen.  Feel free to leave your comments below.

How much do you know about Queen – Try the Queen Quizzes

How much do you know about Queen – Try the Queen Quizzes

Before Queen became rock royalty with anthems like “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “We Will Rock You,” they laid the foundation with two powerful albums: *Queen* (1973) and *Queen II* (1974). These records introduced the world to the band’s signature blend of heavy rock, theatrical flair, and musical ambition.

Queen’s debut album, *Queen*, was recorded in spare studio time at Trident Studios, where the band worked late at night between paying clients. Released in July 1973, the album featured a raw, energetic sound heavily influenced by progressive rock and heavy metal. Tracks like “Keep Yourself Alive” and “Liar” showcased Brian May’s soaring guitar work and Freddie Mercury’s dynamic vocal range. Though the album wasn’t a commercial hit initially, it laid the groundwork for their complex arrangements and layered harmonies.

*Queen II*, released just eight months later, marked a leap forward in ambition and style. Divided into a “White Side” and a “Black Side,” the album showcased the band’s love for fantasy, mythology, and theatrical storytelling. Mercury’s “March of the Black Queen” and May’s “White Queen (As It Began)” highlighted their growing songwriting prowess and studio experimentation. The lush production and intricate vocal overdubs hinted at the grandeur that would define Queen’s later work.

Though not immediate blockbusters, these first two albums were crucial in shaping Queen’s identity. They revealed a band with unmatched creativity, setting the stage for their legendary rise in the rock world.

Now you get to try your skill at your Queen Knowledge with my OnLine Queen Quizzes

Queen Quiz - General Queen Quiz
Queen Debut Quiz - Quiz on the 1973 Queen Debut Album
Queen II Quiz - Queen Quiz about Queen's Second Album Queen II

Leave some comments on the videos as regards to what your score in the Quiz was, and I would love to see some comments in this blog post if you prefer. Let me know how you get on.

Brian May Rocks Coachella 2025 with Surprise “Bohemian Rhapsody” Performance Alongside Benson Boone

Brian May Rocks Coachella 2025 with Surprise “Bohemian Rhapsody” Performance Alongside Benson Boone

Brian May made a surprise appearance at Coachella last Friday, teaming up with singer-songwriter Benson Boone for a special performance of *Bohemian Rhapsody*. But when May launched into his legendary guitar solo, the crowd… kinda didn’t get it.

This marked Brian’s return to the stage after recovering from a stroke that had affected movement in his left arm, so it was a pretty big deal. After the show, Boone took to TikTok to jokingly vent about how the audience didn’t seem to grasp just how iconic May is.

In the TikTok, Boone pretends a banana is a mic and tries to hype up an invisible crowd before tossing it in mock frustration. He captioned it: “Me trying to get the crowd at Coachella to understand what a legend Brian May is and the cultural impact he has on music and the world.”

Even though the live audience might’ve been a little quiet, people online were loving it. Boone kicked things off as he pretended to play the piano, and pretending to play the unforgettable Bb piano intro (I understand it’s a show but it’s not a hard section to learn so I don’t know why he decided to fake it … but that’s just me with my Queen keyboardist head on). He then dramatically flipped off the piano and strutted around in a regal-looking cape. He was joined by a powerful choir and full band, making the whole thing feel seriously epic.

As for Brian May? He was all in. The next day, he posted on Instagram saying, “I’m still reeling from last night at Coachella. Thanks to all of you folks who made it feel so special – you know who you are! And this particular way of concluding Bohemian Rhapsody will be hard to beat in the years to come! Thanks. And for Benson and his entire team, I have no words. I’m awestruck.”

So yeah, even if the crowd didn’t fully get it in the moment, the internet sure did—and Brian’s still rocking as hard as ever. Queen are sure to be back on the road soon with a new show and possible even a new album or some new Music.

Round 2 of the Champions of Queen League for The Game

Round 2 of the Champions of Queen League for The Game

This is your chance to vote on Round 2 of the Champions of Queen League for the Queen album ‘The Game’. The polls are below and please vote for your favourite song in these polls.

Round 2 Poll

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Coming Soon Vs. Dragon Attack

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Sail Away Sweet Sister Vs. Play the Game

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Need Your Loving Tonight Vs. Another One Bites the Dust

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Don’t Try Suicide Vs. Save Me

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Crazy Little Thing Called Love Vs. Rock It (Prime Jive)

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Click Here to Vote on Round 1

 


About the album The Game

Release date: 12 September, 2023

The majority of Queen’s eighth studio album was recorded between February and May 1980. The tracks, Save Me, Coming Soon, Sail Away Sweet Sister and Crazy Little Thing Called Love (the first single from the album, released a full seven months ahead of The Game) were recorded in June and July of 1979. Despite the fact that Queen had recently purchased their own recording studios in Montreux, Switzerland, they did not use it for this project. All tracks were recorded in Musicland in Munich and were produced by Queen and Mack. It was the first Queen/Mack co-venture but certainly not the last; the collaboration would go on to produce some of the band’s finest work and be responsible for many of the biggest and best-known hits.

1. Play the Game

2. Dragon Attack

3. Another One Bites the Dust

4. Need Your Loving Tonight

5. Crazy Little Thing Called Love

6. Rock It (Prime Jive)

7. Don’t Try Suicide

8. Sail Away Sweet Sister

9. Coming Soon

10. Save Me

Queen I – Queen (1973), Remixed, Remastered &Expanded

Queen I – Queen (1973), Remixed, Remastered &Expanded

The re-release of Queen’s debut album, Queen, issued as Queen I, has come with a large-scale publicity and promotional output by Queen. The release was completed on October 25th and is now widely available. Having listened to the full works, I am well impressed with what they have achieved. Some songs are probably better in their original form, and some I found had EQ levels which needed a tad more bass but overall I feel they have done what they set out to do, which was to complete the album so it sounded the way they wanted it to sound. 

Below, I have included the full press release from Queen outlining what was included in the full box set works and what each CD had. I have since revisited the album and fallen in love with it all over again. It was the very first Queen album which I bought with my own money, and as a lowly student at the time, the investment was worth it. Now, 30 years after I got the album myself, and 51 years after it’s original release, Queen I, as it is now called, is brining new light to an album that had been somewhat overshadowed by the other parts of the Queen back catalogue.

I look forward to many more months of re-listening and dissecting the songs on this album. I am already working on My Fairy King as a piano tutorial as I feel it is a song that is worthy of a song breakdown and piano tutorial. In fact I have not done any songs from the Queen (1973) album, so it is timely. 

I hope you enjoy the Queen I release and if you have not heard it, check it out on Apple music or Spotify. … it’s all there !

 

Queen Press Release about Queen I ReRelease

QUEEN I – Queen’s groundbreaking 1973 debut album, Queen, remixed, remastered and expanded in a 6CD+1LP box set

Queen I Collector’s Edition is OUT NOW

Also released as Vinyl LP Queen I – 2024 Mix plus 1 CD, 2CD Deluxe Edition, 1LP Picture Disc and Cassette formats.

Order Queen I: https://Queen.lnk.to/QueenI

Queen I Website: http://www.queenIofficial.com/

“I have seen the future of pop music, and it’s a band called Queen.” – Jac Holzman, founder of Elektra Records, 1972

“Queen I is the debut album we always dreamed of bringing to you.” Brian May and Roger Taylor, 2024

Over half a century since its release and a vital chapter in the band’s story, Queen’s self-titled 1973 debut album has been remixed and restored by Justin Shirley-Smith, Joshua J Macrae, and Kris Fredriksson to sound the way the band always wanted it to. A new tracklisting, alternative takes, demos, and live tracks have now been added to create the most complete version of this pivotal work. This is the very first time that a Queen album has ever received a new stereo mix.

The 6CD + 1 LP Queen I box set contains 63 tracks with 43 brand new mixes, comprising the original album with its intended running order restored, intimate fly-on-the-wall audio of Queen in the studio, demos, rare live tracks, and previously unheard recordings from Queen’s first-ever live performance in London, August 1970. Absent from the 1973 release, the song “Mad the Swine” has been reinstated to its original place in the running order. A 108-page book containing handwritten lyrics and memorabilia accompanies the release.

“This is not just a remaster,” writes Brian May in the CD sleeve insert notes, “this is a brand new 2024 rebuild of the entire Queen debut album, which, with the benefit of hindsight, we have re-titled QUEEN I.”

May continues, “All the performances are exactly as they originally appeared in 1973, but every instrument has been revisited to produce the ‘live’ ambient sounds we would have liked to use originally. The result is “Queen“ as it would have sounded with today’s knowledge and technology – a first.”

“Queen I is the debut album we always dreamed of bringing to you.”

Queen began life in the early summer of 1970, but took their first steps in the studio after vocalist Freddie Mercury, guitarist Brian May, and drummer Roger Taylor recruited bass guitarist, John Deacon, in July 1971.

“The first three years were really faith and fumes,” says Roger Taylor. “We were penniless but we had a lot of belief in ourselves and a lot of energy.”

While Queen struggled for recognition, their music and stage act were developing. If their previous band Smile were a band for the late 1960s, then Queen’s sound and image was about the here and now and tomorrow. Their songs were already filled with huge riffs, choral harmonies, and classical flourishes.

After John Deacon’s arrival, Queen secured a production, song publishing, and management deal with Trident Audio Productions. Having heard the band’s demos, the company’s owners, brothers Norman and Barry Sheffield, agreed to fund the recording of Queen’s first album, which they would then shop to potential record companies.

The Sheffields also owned Trident Studios, a state-of-the-art facility in London’s Soho, which had been used by Elton John and The Beatles and was rarely available to young, unsigned bands. Trident’s popularity was such that the studio was usually fully booked during the day, meaning Queen could only record during what was known as ‘downtime’, those rare moments when the studio was empty, usually at night.

Queen began work on the album in May 1972 and spent the next four months living a fractured, nocturnal existence. Evenings would be spent waiting around Soho until the studio was ready. An exhausted Queen would emerge from Trident several hours later.

“We’d work through the night and usually until 7 am when the cleaners came in,” recalls Brian. “It was us just grabbing little bits of time.”

Says Roger: “You know, we just came in there right after Bowie had done Hunky Dory and Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and he did both of those albums back to back, two great albums. So, we were very pleased to be there, but when we were there, we’d arrive at three in the morning and then go on, for all the hours that we could grab. It was just a grind. I wouldn’t say it was soul-destroying because we were quite confident. We had a sort of innate, gentle arrogance, you know, we thought we were good and quite different.”

Queen recorded the album with Trident’s in-house co-producers, John Anthony and Roy Thomas Baker. Both were staunch advocates of Queen and had been instrumental in the band signing with Trident. However, the group quickly ran up against the studio’s rules and regulations.

Says Brian: “Although we had great technology around us, we really didn’t have much freedom to use it. We were regarded as the new boys who didn’t know anything, and nobody really wanted to listen to the way we wanted to do things.”

While relatively inexperienced, Queen already had a clear musical vision. However, the huge guitar and drum sounds they heard in their heads proved difficult to recreate at two o’clock in the morning and on the studio’s in-house perspex drum kit rather than their own.

Says Roger: “They had this very dead drum sound, and it was never the sound we wanted. They had a drum booth, and it was a well-known sound. It was kind of American. Very dry, quite fat, and dead sound, which is not what I wanted. I wanted to hear the drums resonate, to hear the sound of the drum. I didn’t even have my proper kit in there. It was a bit rough really. So the album never sounded as we wanted it to.”

“We wanted everything to sound like it was in your face,” says Brian. “We had this incredible fight to get the drums out of the booth and into the middle of the studio and put the mics all around the room.”

But that wasn’t Trident’s way. “I remember saying to Roy Thomas Baker, ‘This isn’t really the sound we want,’” continues Brian.”And he said, ‘Don’t worry, we can fix it all in the mix.’ And I think we all knew it ain’t going to happen.” Now in 2024, it has been ‘fixed in the mix’.

Queen’s frustration was compounded by the fact that the songs themselves already displayed the breadth of Queen’s ideas and vaulting ambition. “Keep Yourself Alive”, was like a rallying cry, cueing up the likes of “Doing All Right”, “Great King Rat”, “Liar”, “Modern Times Rock’n’Roll” and “Son And Daughter”.

Meanwhile, Freddie’s imagination had free rein on the biblically-inspired “Jesus” and on “My Fairy King”, where the singer (who was soon to assume the stage name ‘Freddie Mercury’) sang about “horses born with eagles’ wings” and implored “Mother Mercury, look what they’ve done to me.”

“I never knew where some of those lyrics came from,” says Roger. “But Fred was like a magpie. He had a very sharp brain.”

Crucially, this new 2024 Mix version of Queen I now includes “Mad The Swine”, a song absent from the original LP after a difference of opinion between the band and one of its producers. It is now reinstated to its rightful place as the album’s fourth song, in between “Great King Rat” and “My Fairy King”, just as Queen wanted it to be in 1972.

Despite the restrictions imposed upon them at Trident, the band still managed to break the rules. Brian’s composition (and the box set’s first single), “The Night Comes Down”, blueprinted that layered acoustic and electric guitar sound that was soon to become part of Queen’s signature. But the band insisted on using a recording from De Lane Lea Studios rather than attempting a new version at Trident. They smuggled in their demo multi-track tape in a newly labeled ‘Trident’ box in order to mix the song for the album.

CD2: De Lane Lea Demos – 2024 Mix explores Queen I’s fascinating pre-history, with brand new 2024 mixes of the demos the band recorded preceding their album. In the summer of 1969, Brian and Roger’s pre-Queen group, Smile, had recorded at De Lane Lea Studios in London’s Kingsway. Two years later, the company opened a new complex in Wembley and needed a band to help them test the mixing desks and the sound quality of the different rooms.

Brian and Roger volunteered Queen, and the band spent time at the studio between November 1971 and January 1972 – “a massive thrill,” Brian recalls. They were repaid with a five-song demo, overseen by De Lane Lea’s chief engineer Louie Austin, and containing “Keep Yourself Alive”, “The Night Comes Down”, “Jesus”, “Liar”, and “Great King Rat

“The demos we made at De Lane Lea Studios were closer to what we dreamed of,” explains Brian. “Nice open drum sounds and ambiance on the guitar. That was much more the way we wanted it to go.”

“We were young and had total blind faith in what we were doing,” says Roger.

Although these demos were intended to be hawked around to procure a recording contract, the band says Brian, always felt the performances had more spontaneity and sparkle, as well as the benefit of more natural sounds compared with the final album versions. As, the only surviving copies of the mixes of the demos are on scratched acetates, here for the first time, these self-produced recordings have been restored and remixed from the original multitracks.

CD3: Queen I Sessions, and CD4: Queen I Backing Tracks, take the listener behind the scenes at both Trident and De Lane Lea studios.

CD3: Sessions collate completely different and 100% previously unreleased versions of the songs on the album. Newly created using out-takes from De Lane Lea and Trident. They feature some false starts, guide vocals, backing tracks, and alternative takes, including spoken-word segments in which the members of Queen can be heard chatting and joking (“It was you Bulsara!”) and occasionally expressing their frustration. Many of the takes are built around acoustic guitar, the electric would have been added later, which gives a different feel to these versions.

CD4: Queen I Backing Tracks offers mixes of the songs from the original Queen album without lead vocals.

Queen pitched the De Lane Lea demos to several record companies but didn’t sign with any, hence their deal with Trident. The album was pretty much completed in 1972. But Queen and their producers were still arguing about the mix right up until the last day, so much so that the band chose a mix of “Keep Yourself Alive”, created with Trident’s assistant engineer Mike Stone, rather than one of the earlier versions. Mike would go on to engineer the next five Queen albums.

Trident pitched Queen’s debut to labels and eventually signed the band to EMI in the UK and Elektra in the US. Elektra’s founder, Jac Holzman, attended Queen’s date at London’s Marquee club on April 9, 1973. The box set’s book includes an entry from Roger’s diary about the gig: “Went down a storm… Jac Holzman liked it!” Holzman circulated a memo to his staff declaring, “I have seen the future of pop music, and it’s a band called Queen.”

Queen’s debut wasn’t released until July 13, 1973, in the UK and September 4 in the US, increasing their frustration. Queen were “hugely ambitious and unashamedly so,” said Roger Taylor, and had progressed rapidly over the previous twelve months. The LP’s sleevenotes implied as much with the curt note: “Representing at least something of what Queen’s music has been over the last three years.”

EMI issued “Keep Yourself Alive” as a single a week before the album’s UK release, but radio play proved hard to come by. Someone was listening, though.

CD5: Queen I At The BBC, begins with “My Fairy King,” in a slightly different version recorded for DJ and early Queen champion John Peel’s BBC Radio 1 show Sounds Of The Seventies in February 1973, five months before the LP’s release. As no one had heard their album yet, the band took in backing tracks and added new vocals and other overdubs for this first session. This was the first time Queen’s music had been broadcast anywhere in the world. Three further BBC sessions are preserved here, with new versions of all of Queen I’s songs broadcast by the BBC between February 1973 and April 1974.

What CD5 ‘Queen I At The BBC’ and CD6, ‘Queen I Live’, demonstrate is how these songs grew and developed away from Trident Studios.

CD6: Queen I Live distills the best performances of the first album’s songs from Queen’s triumphant March 1974 headline date at London’s Rainbow Theatre, plus several previously unreleased tracks added. These include the first official release of “Hangman”, a Free-inspired Mercury/May/Taylor/Deacon composition that was a mainstay of Queen’s early live shows, but was never recorded in the studio. This performance of “Hangman” comes from a show at the San Diego Sports Arena on the last night of the band’s US tour in March 1976.

The final songs on ‘Queen I Live’ revisit the historic moment Queen became Queen. Among the 108-page enclosed book’s many never-before-seen artifacts is Roger’s handwritten invitation to Queen’s first-ever performance in London: “A private showing on Sunday, August 23 [1970] at 7:30 pm at Imperial College… lecture theatre A, level 5,” he writes.

Two songs from this historic show, “Jesus” and a cover of the Spencer Davis Group’s 1967 hit “I’m A Man”, have been retrieved from cassettes in the archive, and are the earliest Queen recordings in existence, even pre-dating John Deacon’s arrival in the band.

The final track on the original Queen album is the urgent-sounding one-and-a-quarter-minute instrumental snippet of “Seven Seas Of Rhye”. The finished song wouldn’t appear until Queen II, and became a UK Top 10 hit. In a sense though, this abbreviated version’s frantic rhythms, hammering piano, and orchestral-sounding guitar captures the spirit of Queen’s debut: it’s the sound of a restless, determined young band eager to take the next step.

As Freddie once said: “All of us were aiming for the top, and we weren’t going to be content or satisfied with anything less.”

Says Brian: “Freddie was so convinced that he would be successful, he never doubted it. We were all precocious boys but he was another level. But we all shared this passion. And the energy grew and coalesced into something very powerful.”

And a final thought from Roger Taylor: ”Essentially with the Queen I box set we’ve made the actual album sound the way we wanted it to sound using the techniques that we have now. We’ve made the drums sound like they should sound and, the overall sound of it is better, the mixes are better. So it’s been a delight to improve it, to bring it up to where we wanted it to be.”

“I have found one thing though that has amazed me listening to this album again and again is how bloody religious some of the lyrics are, you know, it’s really quite religious.”

QUEEN I Collector’s Edition (6CD+LP)

CD1: Queen I – 2024 Mix

1 Keep Yourself Alive

2 Doing All Right

3 Great King Rat

4 Mad The Swine

5 My Fairy King

6 Liar

7 The Night Comes Down

8 Modern Times Rock ‘n’ Roll

9 Son And Daughter

10 Jesus

11 Seven Seas Of Rhye…

CD2: De Lane Lea Demos – 2024 Mix

1 Keep Yourself Alive

2 The Night Comes Down

3 Great King Rat

4 Jesus

5 Liar

CD3: Queen I Sessions

1 Keep Yourself Alive (Trident Take 13 – Unused Master)

2 Doing All Right (Trident Take 1 – with Guide Vocal)

3 Great King Rat (De Lane Lea Take 1 – with Guide Vocal)

4 Mad The Swine (Trident Take 3 – with Guide Vocal)

5 My Fairy King (Trident Backing Track In Development)

6 Liar (Trident Take 1 – Unused Master)

7 The Night Comes Down (De Lane Lea Takes 1 & 2 – with Guide Vocal)

8 Modern Times Rock ‘n’ Roll (Trident Takes 8 & 9)

9 Son And Daughter (Trident Takes 1 & 2 – with Guide Vocal)

10 Jesus (De Lane Lea Take 2 – with Guide Vocal)

11 Seven Seas Of Rhye… (Trident Take 3)

12 See What A Fool I’ve Been (De Lane Lea Test Session)

CD4: Queen I Backing Tracks

1 Keep Yourself Alive

2 Doing All Right

3 Great King Rat

4 Mad The Swine

5 My Fairy King

6 Liar

7 The Night Comes Down

8 Modern Times Rock ‘n’ Roll

9 Son And Daughter

10 Jesus

11 Seven Seas Of Rhye…

CD5: Queen I At The BBC

1 My Fairy King (BBC Session 1, February 1973)

2 Keep Yourself Alive (BBC Session 1, February 1973)

3 Doing All Right (BBC Session 1, February 1973)

4 Liar (BBC Session 1, February 1973)

5 Keep Yourself Alive (BBC Session 2, July 1973)

6 Liar (BBC Session 2, July 1973)

7 Son And Daughter (BBC Session 2, July 1973)

8 Modern Times Rock ‘n’ Roll (BBC Session 3, December 1973)

9 Great King Rat (BBC Session 3, December 1973

10 Son And Daughter (BBC Session 3, December 1973

11 Modern Times Rock ‘n’ Roll (BBC Session 4, April 1974)

CD6: Queen I Live

1 Son And Daughter (Live at the Rainbow – March 1974)

2 Guitar Solo (Live at the Rainbow – March 1974)

3 Son And Daughter (Reprise) (Live at the Rainbow – March 1974)

4 Great King Rat (Live at the Rainbow – March 1974)

5 Keep Yourself Alive (Live at the Rainbow – March 1974)

6 Drum Solo (Live at the Rainbow – March 1974)

7 Keep Yourself Alive (Reprise) (Live at the Rainbow – March 1974)

8 Modern Times Rock ‘n’ Roll (Live at the Rainbow – March 1974)

9 Liar (Live at the Rainbow – March 1974)

10 Hangman (Live in San Diego – March 1976)

11 Doing All Right (Live in San Diego – March 1976)

12 Jesus (Live at Imperial College – August 1970)

13 I’m A Man (Live at Imperial College – August 1970)

LP: Queen I – 2024 Mix

Side One

1 Keep Yourself Alive

2 Doing All Right

3 Great King Rat

4 Mad The Swine

5 My Fairy King

Side Two

1 Liar

2 The Night Comes Down

3 Modern Times Rock ‘n’ Roll

4 Son And Daughter

5 Jesus

6 Seven Seas Of Rhye…

ADDITIONAL FORMATS:

1x CD: Queen I – 2024 Mix

2x CD: Deluxe Edition

CD1: Queen I – 2024 Mix

CD2: Queen I – Sessions

1x LP: Queen I – 2024 Mix

1x LP Picture Disc: Queen I – 2024 Mix

Exclusive to Queen Online Store

1x Cassette: Queen I – 2024 Mix

Also available in Download / Streaming / Atmos

On this Day , Queen Stole Live Aid – July 13th 1985

On this Day , Queen Stole Live Aid – July 13th 1985

Queen at Live Aid: A Rock Star’s Royalty Takeover

The old Wembley Stadium was the setting, on July 13, 1985, for one of the greatest live concerts ever staged. The Live Aid Concert of 1985 had bands and artists like Sting, U2, Dire Straits, The Who, David Bowie, Elvis Costello, Elton John, and George Michael. Artists and bands such as Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Mick Jagger, Madonna and Tom Petty were at the JFK Stadium in Philadelphia for the American counterpart of Live Aid. But of all the amazing artists performing on that July day, there was no doubt that Queen’s Live Aid performance stole the whole show with a magnificent, 21-minute tour-de-force set.

Live Aid performance by Queen with facts bout the day

 

The above video has some facts about Queen at Live Aid – If you cannot see the video visit the YouTube version at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KmXGfXGgS0

The hit Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody starts and ends with footage recreating Queen’s Live Aid concert. It is one of Queen’s performances that remains the high point of the band’s live performance history. Their participation was initially in doubt, however, and as recently as June 2019, guitarist Brian May admitted: “We definitely hesitated about doing Live Aid.”. We are all glad that they did !

After finally accepting Bob Geldof and Midge Ure’s invitation to play the Live Aid benefit concert for Ethiopian famine relief, Queen were the usual Queen perfectionists and rehearsed their set thoroughly at the Shaw Theatre, near King’s Cross train station in London, in order to get song timings and solos down to perfection for what would be a truncated performance of only 20 minutes. There would not be a sound check, there would be no Queen Lighting Rig and this was not a Queen audience, so they had to be polished!

In the end, Queen went on at 6:41pm and Stole the Show. Hit after Hit and then the note which was heard around the world – Freddie’s Crowd Participation Ay-Oh!

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.

Live Aid to be turned into a Westend Musical

Live Aid to be turned into a Westend Musical

Live Aid The Musical… Live Aid concert to be turned into stage musical

Live Aid, probably THE most famous music concert of all time is being turned into a Westend stage musical in London in 2024.

Originally set up in 1985 to raise money for the millions of starving people in Ethiopia during a famine there, the Musical tells the story behind the day.

Live Aid the Musical will be called “Just For One Day” which is a line from the song Heroes. The stage show and musical will feature songs played that day by acts including of course Queen but also Sir Elton John, Sir Paul McCartney, U2, and Sting. The show will be performed at London’s Old Vic Theatre running from 26 January to 30 March 2024. Bob Geldof has reiterated that this “isn’t a tribute thing” and that it’s not about the people but that the “songs drive the drama along”.

The plot of the Live Aid Musical “Just For One Day”, will show how the day came to be and will be “based on actual testimony from the day”.

To stay in line with the original ethos of the Live Aid show in 1985, 10% of of all ticket sales from the show will go to the Band Aid Charitable Trust.

The character of Bob Geldof will be played by Craige Els, who has previously appeared on Dr Who. Watching this in rehearsals, Bob Geldof said “It’s bad enough being Bob Geldof. It’s slightly worse seeing someone else pretending to be you. “

The Original History of Live Aid

Live Aid, which was a multi-venue benefit concert held on Saturday 13 July 1985, was held in Philadelphia as well as at Wembley Stadium. It had probably the most prestigious lineup of musical acts in history including Queen, Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, Elton John, David Bowie, Tina Turner, U2, Madonna, George Michael, Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, and many others who played to sold-out crowds at Wembley and JFK stadiums as viewers across the planet watched at home, thanks to TV producers who created one of the first live international satellite hookups. An estimated 1.9m people watched this on TV and probably millions more since the advent of YouTube.

Queen definitely stole the show at Live Aid and this was featured in the 2018 Queen Biopic Bohemian Rhapsody which won Rami Malek an Oscar.

So What do you Think of Live Aid the Musical Idea?

If you have any comments about this show, good or bad, please leave a comment below.

Heading to a Biker Festival in Florida – Free Queen Concert

Heading to a Biker Festival in Florida – Free Queen Concert

I will be heading to Florida on 14th October with Celebrating Queen for two shows. The main show is a Headline slot at the Cotee River Bike Fest. If you are looking for a Free Queen Concert then that’s the place to be on 14th. The Cotee Bike Festival has Tons of Pre-Owned Bikes, Live Music on Multiple Stages, a Large Bike Show, a number of Food and Beverage Vendors, and a lot more to enjoy. 

Cotee River Bike Fest, Florida

Founded in 2005, the Cotee Bike Fest takes place over 3 days in mid-October in the City of New Port Richey. The downtown streets of New Port Richey are blocked off to everything except motorcycles during the Cotee River Bike Fest. It is a biker festival full of fun and many are there to compete in over 20 classes of bike shows which are held on Saturday and Sunday.  There are two separate stages and many different style bands will be performing including ourselves, with, Celebrating Queen which, if you are in the area will be a Free Queen Concert. The bands will certainly keep the bike festival energy high, providing the perfect backdrop as you admire the gleaming rows of bikes lining the streets.

Freddie Show – Punta Gorda

After we play the headline slot at the Cotee River Bike Fest, we then bring the 3-man show “Freddie: Songs of a Legend” to Punta Gorda, and the venue this time is Cass Cay. We performed this show back in January for the first time at this location and it went down a storm. So if you are in the area and you want to hear some classic Freddie songs and a few deep cuts then come along to Cass Cay in Punta Gorda on 17th October for a great night.

At the moment that is all I have on the books but I may hear of a New Year’s gig very soon.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the Facebook. Instagram and YouTube channels for more information on these and much more. If you are based in Florida and want to attend a Free Queen Concert, then come along to the Cotee River Bike Fest on 14th October.

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