{"id":77046,"date":"2025-12-21T11:39:15","date_gmt":"2025-12-21T11:39:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/77046\/"},"modified":"2025-12-21T11:39:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-21T11:39:15","slug":"queens-brian-may-and-roger-taylor-on-bohemian-rhapsody","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/77046\/","title":{"rendered":"Queen’s Brian May and Roger Taylor on Bohemian Rhapsody"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cBohemian Rhapsody\u201d was first released during the economic downturn of the mid-70s, a period of high inflation<\/a>, energy crises and industrial unrest. Described as the \u2018sick man of Europe\u2019, the UK was crying out for a bit of theatrical escapism. But Queen were still surprised at its impact. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe thought, this is going to be a nice track for our new album [A Night at the Opera],\u201d says May, \u201cwhich hopefully is going to save us, because we\u2019re seriously in debt<\/a> and in a very bad situation as regards management.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe certainly weren\u2019t thinking in terms of number ones, we just felt it was the best song on the album,\u201d adds Taylor. \u201cIt was the most arresting, unusual thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen times are tough, music really can save you, raise your spirits,\u201d says May. \u201cI\u2019ve had so many letters over the years that have said that one of our songs has lifted people out of depression and given them
a new feeling of purpose.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Image: Queen Productions Ltd<\/p>\n

\u201cSo maybe the time was right for \u2018Bohemian Rhapsody\u2019. It\u2019s a mystery, though, and I\u2019m kind of glad it\u2019s a mystery, because nobody really knows where \u2018Bohemian Rhapsody\u2019 came from. Nobody could have predicted that it would fall upon the general public\u2019s ears at that moment and have such an incredible effect. So I suppose I think \u2018Rhapsody\u2019 would have done well at any point but was certainly well timed in a sense of the way people felt.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s true right now, there\u2019s a lot of despondency too. I look at the wars that are going on again, and
I think, well, maybe I should be doing something about it. Then I think, Brian, basically just get on with doing what you can do. You can\u2019t solve every problem. So I remain a musician.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Read more:<\/p>\n

\u2018We felt like it was some kind of acceptance\u2019<\/p>\n

May remembers \u201cBohemian Rhapsody\u201d\u2019s truly remarkable success as \u201ca glorious feeling\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll these groups like Slade were perpetually having huge singles. We\u2019d had a bit of a hit with \u2018Killer Queen\u2019 [in 1974 it got to number two], but we hadn\u2019t reached the status of being able to get regular big hits. Yeah, we really celebrated. Lots of food, lots of drink.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a lot of people who regarded us as some kind of upstarts, like we weren\u2019t worthy or something. Freddie was particularly attacked by a lot of people just for being the way he was. They thought perhaps he\u2019s pretending to be something that he wasn\u2019t. But that was Freddie, what you saw was actually what you got.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd for this thing to be such a giant hit and eventually be above all the Christmas<\/a>-dedicated records was colossal. We were doing the right thing after all. It was amazing. We really felt like it was some kind of acceptance from the general public as opposed to our fanbase. Suddenly we were celebrated out there in Britain, in our own country.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a dream come true really,\u201d adds Taylor. \u201cBut by the time we got to Christmas it had been number one for so long we\u2019d kind of got used to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Did Queen end up watching the Queen\u2019s speech together?<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 1975, we did a big London gig [shown live on the BBC from Hammersmith Odeon] on Christmas Eve, and I had a touch of flu,\u201d Taylor says. \u201cI was feeling horrible. I managed to get through that. I woke up the next morning and drove to Cornwall to see my mum.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cActually, generally, Christmas was family time,\u201d says May. \u201cSo we would split up and go to our families, unless we were working. We were all very close to our families. You know, our mums and dads were still alive at that time. Things were different.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, \u201cBohemian Rhapsody\u201d was helped along by its now-iconic video, saluted famously in the 1992 movie Wayne\u2019s World and parodied by everyone from Blur to The Muppets. It was made quickly and cheaply, with the band recreating the \u2018diamond formation\u2019 shot by Mick Rock for the cover of 1974\u2019s Queen II album for the beginning of the clip. Expedience was the motivation. As Taylor explains, \u201cWe realised we couldn\u2019t be on Top Of The Pops as we had a tour which was all over the country. We decided the only way we could be on there was to make a film.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt took four hours at Elstree Studios [in Hertfordshire], where we\u2019d been rehearsing. I\u2019m sure some of our other videos cost a bit more than that one. A few years later Michael Jackson was spending a million bucks at least or more on a video. You know, that\u2019s how important they became. But of course, this was pre-MTV, and MTV sort of grew out of those videos.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Performing \u201cKiller Queen\u201d on Top of the Pops in 1975. Image: Pictorial Press Ltd \/ Alamy<\/p>\n

I look, and I find, I still love you<\/p>\n

\u201cBohemian Rhapsody\u201d is woven into the fabric of pop culture for eternity. Not bad for a near-six-minute epic featuring an extended operatic interlude with no chorus, and definitely no sleighbells. You won\u2019t hear it on any festive compilations. Yet for many, it\u2019s synonymous with the season, now evoking memories both happy and sad.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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When Freddie Mercury died aged just 45 from an AIDS-related illness on 24 November 1991, the decision was taken to re-release \u201cBohemian Rhapsody\u201d in time for Christmas. A vehicle to raise money for the Terrence Higgins Trust<\/a>, they benefitted hugely when it was issued as a double A-side alongside the almost unbearably poignant \u201cThese Are the Days of Our Lives\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sixteen years after its initial success, \u201cBohemian Rhapsody\u201d performed the remarkable feat of hitting the festive top spot again, this time for five weeks, but the mood was markedly different.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The wave of sympathy after Mercury\u2019s death was almost overwhelming. May confirms that it wasn\u2019t a difficult decision to pay tribute in this way. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it was obvious, it really is Freddie\u2019s master work, and it was the biggest and, yeah, I don\u2019t think there was any discussion,\u201d he says, visibly emotional. \u201cEverybody just thought, this is a good idea. We should put it out again as a memorial to Freddie.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd of course, it sold massively and went straight back to number one, and we donated all the profits, which came to about a million pounds, to the Terrence Higgins Trust for AIDS, and later we set up the Mercury Phoenix Trust<\/a>. So it just felt like the right thing. And then, of course, it\u2019s not a great joy, it\u2019s a very different feeling, because we\u2019ve lost Freddie, and that\u2019s an unforgettable thing. It still is unforgettable.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something which we deal with every day. Freddie had that quality. He did connect, and it was very evident in the live shows. He had that way of making everybody feel like he was talking to them. It\u2019s a wonderful talent that he had. And I think a lot of people didn\u2019t realise what they were going to feel like when he passed, it affected people more than they expected.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cWell, obviously for us, it was devastating, and perhaps we should have been prepared, but we weren\u2019t. I think we were in complete disbelief that it would actually happen. You know, it can\u2019t happen to Freddie, our pal. So it took us a long time to process.\u201d<\/p>\n

We\u2019re still talking about this song he brought to you, 50 years on. How would Freddie feel about that?<\/p>\n

Taylor answers, \u201cWell, he always used to joke in response to critics, oh, our music is entirely disposable, you know, like a used tissue. We just throw it away after it\u2019s done. But of course, that\u2019s not true. He\u2019d be thrilled that his work and our work is still relevant today, all these years later. I mean, Brian and I are constantly amazed by it, and very grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe would absolutely be happy that it\u2019s still out there,\u201d adds May. \u201cAnd it\u2019s still appreciated in an amazingly connective way. But people don\u2019t regard it as a fossil. They regard it as something very much alive and fresh. And I love that. And luckily for us, our music seems to have that property, but \u2018Bohemian Rhapsody\u2019, particularly, every time you hear it, I think it sounds new.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

The show must go on<\/p>\n

Queen are still looking to the future. Although there\u2019s no new music planned, a remix of the band\u2019s classic 1986 power ballad \u201cWho Wants to Live Forever\u201d recently soundtracked the trailer for the long-awaited final season of Stranger Things, and both May and Taylor see exciting possibilities beyond the horizon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

These plans include Freddie and bass player John Deacon. The latter retired from music in 1997 and lives a quiet life. But as the writer of anthems such as \u201cAnother One Bites the Dust\u201d and \u201cI Want to Break Free\u201d (two of Queen\u2019s most-streamed songs, with more than a million listens combined daily) his impact on popular culture \u2013 not to mention his bank balance \u2013 remains sturdy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe haven\u2019t finished yet,\u201d Taylor confirms. \u201cWe can play fine, but we are getting older, and so we\u2019re just looking at all the options, especially with the incredible technology we have now which is literally changing by the day. You can have some quite interesting ideas, which are a little different, but we\u2019re really just talking about it at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Brian May and Roger Taylor with Remi Malik at the premiere of the Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody. Image: Scott Garfitt \/ Alamy<\/p>\n

An Abba-style experience could be on the cards<\/a>. Taylor went to see the group\u2019s Voyage show and says, \u201cI had a good time. I enjoyed it. I didn\u2019t find the actual projections that convincing. I do think technology now has come so much further since the Abba show started, I think a lot more can be done.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFreddie is still alive through the music that we listen to all the time,\u201d says May. \u201cIn a sense, John is still with us in the same way, but now we have so many other opportunities. I mean things that are immersive, like The Sphere in Las Vegas, it will be possible to give people the experience very closely of what things were like for us when we were Freddie, John, Brian and Roger. And that really appeals to me.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wouldn\u2019t be just playing old footage or whatever. it would be creating Queen as if we were creating it today. I\u2019m very taken with the idea that we can be the original Queen again.\u201d<\/p>\n

But for now, another way of remembering Freddie at this time of year is listening to Queen\u2019s very own bespoke festive song \u201cThank God It\u2019s Christmas\u201d, which tends to get forgotten in the wake of the behemoth that is \u201cBohemian Rhapsody\u201d. It was a minor hit in 1984, the year Wham!\u2019s \u201cLast Christmas\u201d, was pipped to the top slot by Band Aid.\u00a0<\/p>\n

May says, \u201cAt the time we just thought, we don\u2019t have a Christmas song, wouldn\u2019t it be nice to have one. It\u2019s very simple, you can\u2019t think of anything further away from \u2018Bohemian Rhapsody\u2019 than that track.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cBut it has great charm I think, and in a way it gets stronger every year. I love hearing Freddie\u2019s voice on it more and more. It\u2019s just absolute pure beauty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brian May and Talia Dean\u2019s Christmas single Praise Your Name<\/a> is out now.<\/p>\n

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this?\u00a0Get in touch and tell us more<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Buy from your local Big Issue vendor every week \u2013 or support online with a\u00a0vendor support kit<\/a>\u00a0or a\u00a0subscription<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 and help people work their way out of poverty with dignity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cBohemian Rhapsody\u201d was first released during the economic downturn of the mid-70s, a period of high inflation, energy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":77047,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[12565,68,28026,24884,10865,2538,9,24,63,666,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-77046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-christmas","tag-exclusive","tag-from-the-magazine","tag-george-michael","tag-interview","tag-music","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queen","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77046","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=77046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77046\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}