Brian May unveils Queen \u2018dream come true\u2019 that\u2019s 50 years in the making <\/a><\/p>\n![\"Roger](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/6825024.jpg\" "\\"Roger")
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Roger Taylor has no qualms sharing his blunt views about the US president (Image: Alan Chapman\/Dave Benett\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
So disliked is Trump by some artists that he has faced multiple cease-and-decease orders for using famous pop songs at his rallies over the past decade, Queen included. At the 2016 Republican National Convention, the future president entered the stage to Freddie Mercury\u2019s We Are The Champions. \u201cHe came poncing on to it,\u201d recalls the drummer, \u201cI saw it on the news and was horrified. I thought people might think we actually support him. The last thing you want is to be seen as supporting this pig of a man. Shameless!\u201d<\/p>\n
As a band, Queen hasn\u2019t been quite as blunt politically as Roger with his new single, or Sir Brian May with his animal rights campaigning. But over their 21 years together with Freddie Mercury and John Deacon as a quartet, they applied the same bold, audacious attitude in their creative endeavours.<\/p>\n
Most famous of all their tracks is Freddie\u2019s Bohemian Rhapsody, a six-minute suite, mixing genres full of made-up words \u2013 met with bemusement from their record label, and bafflement by their critics. Yet, the incredibly ambitious track topped the UK Singles\u2019 Chart for nine weeks and became Britain\u2019s third best-selling single of all time.<\/p>\n
But the risks Queen took with Bohemian Rhapsody and their 1975 album A Night at the Opera found their roots, with their signature harmonies and varied musical styles, a couple of albums earlier, in one of the band’s lesser-known records, Queen II.<\/p>\n
The band today launches a remixed, remastered and expanded version of their second studio album, which \u2013 although widely praised decades on \u2013 likewise suffered the same fate as Bohemian Rhapsody in the initial reviews.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got so lacerated,\u201d sighs Sir Brian May, on Zoom from his home that\u2019s “not too far from Roger” these days. \u201cWe were pulled to pieces by the critics for this album. You try not to let it affect you, but it does\u2026 That was always very uncomfortable, but we felt like it was us against the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"(L](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/6825043.jpg\" "\\"(L")
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(L – R) Brian May, Adam Lambert and Roger Taylor. Lambert has been providing vocals for the band’s live tours for over two decades (Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Asked if it was make or break for the band at this stage in their career, the 78-year-old responds: \u201cWe get lost in the music. We don’t do it because we want to make money or we want to be superstars. We do it because we somehow have to do it. So there is a sort of settlement in that. But at the same time, yeah, you’re aware that outside the door, there’s people [on the business side of things] waiting to bite your heels off.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, unlike their self-titled debut, which they\u2019ve previously remixed and remastered, Queen were much more in control of their own destiny when recording their follow-up, once again at Soho\u2019s Trident Studios.<\/p>\n
Freddie once said of Queen II, \u201cI wanted to give it everything \u2013 to be self-indulgent. But the whole band in particular, we don’t go in for half-measures and I’m pretty hard with myself. There are no compromises\u2026 My God, we were such impatient boys\u2026 \u201d<\/p>\n
For the guitarist, Queen II was the single biggest leap the band ever made. \u201cThe first album was really difficult and we couldn\u2019t really get what we wanted because of being forced into this kind of template of the Trident Studios sounds. We were still fighting some battles, but we were starting to win. We were precocious but quite consistent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Considered by many fans to be Queen\u2019s heaviest record, the original LP was split into Side White and Side Black with a general theme running throughout. Kicking off with Side White dominated by Brian\u2019s more emotional tracks like Father to Son and White Queen, to Side Black with Freddie\u2019s dark fantasy-themed songs from Ogre Battle and The March of the Black Queen (which Brian sees as a forerunner to Bohemian Rhapsody) to Seven Seas of Rhye, which would become Queen\u2019s first hit.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were much more in control\u201d, recalls Roger, \u201cIt was a big step from Queen I in terms of complexity and studio technique, which we were learning quite quickly. We were much more confident having done the debut. We knew what we wanted it to sound like, especially with the drums.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"QUEEN](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/6825066.jpg\" "\\"QUEEN")
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Queen II was considered by many fans to be the band’s heaviest record (Image: SUPPLIED)<\/p>\n
Unlike later Queen albums, Freddie didn’t sing lead vocals on every track, with Brian and Roger doing so on a couple of their own songs, including the drummer\u2019s groovy finale of Side White, The Loser in the End.<\/p>\n
Reflecting on their frontman’s development as a singer, Roger admitted, \u201cFreddie was great, but hadn\u2019t really developed that amazing technique that he had yet. There was a lot of competition there [when it came to lyrics]. Strange thing is, in the 80s Freddie sort of slackened off on his songwriting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brian remembers the Queen singer was usually the first person to say if someone else\u2019s vocals suited the track better. \u201cIn some cases, we argued and talked about and tried things out, and all sorts of different results happened. Usually, I felt, after trying it myself and trying it with Freddie, I would say, \u2018Look, Freddie, you’ve made this into something greater than it was. So off you go, do it.\u2019 And of course, as the years went on, we all got better at writing for Freddie.<\/p>\n
“So by the time I’m writing Fat Bottomed Girls, I’m writing it specifically for Freddie, with some experience behind me, and I know what he can do. I know what he can bring to it, so I’m encouraging it. So I think you’ll find I sing less on the later Queen albums. And Roger too, because we had this wonderful singer in Freddie. Why wouldn’t you use him the whole time? You just have to learn to give him the right stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course, for over a decade now, Adam Lambert has been belting out Freddie\u2019s vocals for Queen\u2019s live performances. But the band haven\u2019t performed since closing their Rhapsody Tour in Tokyo over two years ago.<\/p>\n
![\"Queen](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/6825076.jpg\" "\\"Queen")
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(L-R) Brian May, Freddie Mercury (1946 – 1991), John Deacon and Roger Taylor pictured in 1971 (Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Brian suffered a minor stroke in August 2024 and, while having fully recovered, has been enjoying time with grandchildren aside from the odd one-off gig, like a Benson Boone concert cameo or when he and Roger performed Bohemian Rhapsody with an orchestra for the song\u2019s 50th anniversary at the Last Night of the Proms last year.<\/p>\n
Roger, on the other hand, would love to get back out there. \u201cI don\u2019t feel similarly. I always love touring and was always happy to do it. I love my grandchildren, but I don\u2019t want to give up my life in order to be with them. I think that\u2019s their parents\u2019 job… What a horrible thought!\u201d the drummer chortled cheekily. \u201cI\u2019m very lucky. I have a lovely house, but I don\u2019t want to be in it all the time. I\u2019m still in the world and like to get about. So I would certainly not be averse to playing again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sharing Roger\u2019s feelings with Brian, the guitar legend responded, \u201cI also have loved touring over the years, and I’m very grateful for it. It’s been a fantastic thread to our lives. But at the moment, although I love playing live, I don’t feel that I want to be away for months on end at this point in my life, it may change. I’m not saying I’m retiring. I’m just saying right now, I don’t feel like I want to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whatever the case, the show must go on, as Queen are already thinking about the band\u2019s life beyond their own. The band has been in talks for an ABBA Voyage-style show that could be in the Las Vegas Sphere or elsewhere. \u201cSince the ABBA show, technology has come on in massive leaps,\u201d said Roger. \u201cIt could be done seriously well. It\u2019s very difficult to know exactly what to do and I don\u2019t want to screw it up.\u201d Whatever the future holds, one thing\u2019s certain: the crown\u2019s not coming off anytime soon.<\/p>\n
Queen II remixed, remastered and expanded is out now and can be ordered here<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Roger Taylor has written the song with Trump in mind (Image: -) A few weeks ago, Queen fans…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":177978,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[664,153,671,9,24,63,71993,4648,666,71994,122,124,123,1572,673],"class_list":["post-177977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-brian-may","tag-donald-trump","tag-freddie-mercury","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-protest-song","tag-protests","tag-queen","tag-queen-ii-remastered","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-rock-music","tag-roger-taylor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177977"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177977\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Roger](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/taylor-2-6826403.jpg\" "\\"Roger")
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