Queen formed in London in 1970 — Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor, and John Deacon — and became one of the most important rock bands ever. A Night at the Opera (1975) delivered Bohemian Rhapsody, News of the World (1977) gave us We Will Rock You and We Are the Champions, and the 1985 Live Aid set is legend. Browse Queen vinyl, CDs, and reissues at Wax Trax Records.
Queen formed in London in 1970 around Brian May, Roger Taylor, and Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara, September 5, 1946, Stone Town, Zanzibar Protectorate; died November 24, 1991, London). John Deacon joined as bassist in 1971, completing the classic lineup that remained stable across the band's entire active career. They are widely cited as one of the most important rock bands in popular music history, with foundational influence on multiple subsequent rock genres and commercial success across multiple decades. Their 1975 album A Night at the Opera - featuring Bohemian Rhapsody (six-minute mock-operatic single, international hit reaching #1 in the UK for nine weeks at original release and again for five weeks following Mercury's 1991 death) - has been widely cited as one of the most important rock albums in popular music history. Their 1985 Live Aid performance at Wembley Stadium has been widely cited as one of the greatest live performances in popular music history. Freddie Mercury died of bronchopneumonia complications from AIDS on November 24, 1991 at age 45, the day after publicly disclosing his HIV diagnosis. John Deacon retired from active recording and touring in 1997. Brian May and Roger Taylor have continued performing as Queen with various guest vocalists, including Paul Rodgers (2004-2009) and Adam Lambert (since 2012). They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001. Their foundational influence on rock, glam rock, opera-influenced rock, and broader popular music history is widely cited as one of the most important contributions to the form.
Queen's sound combines rock, glam rock, hard rock, progressive rock, arena rock, opera-influenced rock, pop rock, and theatrical rock with Mercury's distinctive four-octave vocal delivery (range from intimate falsetto to powerful tenor), Brian May's foundational lead guitar work (use of his handmade Red Special guitar), varied compositional approaches across multi-decade career, and integration of operatic, classical, and music hall traditions alongside rock idioms.
Original EMI/Parlophone and Elektra pressings of the Queen catalog are foundational items in rock collecting.
Listeners new to Queen typically start with A Night at the Opera (1975) or News of the World (1977).
