In 1992 the surviving members of Queen invited friends and fellow musicians to pay tribute to the late Freddie Mercury. The concert included performances from over a dozen top rock and pop artists of the day, from David Bowie to Guns N’ Roses to Metallica and Def Leppard. Later this summer 34 different performances from that night will be available on ‘The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert: The Definitive Edition’ DVD and Blu-Ray.
The opening act performances have never before been available on DVD or BluRay. These include mini-sets from Metallica, a Queen medley from Extreme, Def Leppard and Brian May performing ‘Now I’m Here’ and two songs from Axl Rose and company.
The second disc will feature the main set, including multiple artists joining May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon to sing Queen hits. Gary Cherone and Tony Iommi perform ‘Hammer to Fall.’ Robert Plant sings ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love.’ Other artists included on the 20-track second disc include Elton John, George Michael, Liza Minnelli and Seal.
A third disc of bonus material includes rehearsal performances, the 10th anniversary documentary and photo galleries. The concert raised money for the Mercury Phoenix Trust, a charity designed to provide relief of suffering from AIDS.
Fans commenting on the news at the band’s websiteexpressed disappointment that the entire concert is not included in this package. Also, it’s not clear yet if the DVD and BluRay will be available in the United States, or on the same date. A link to order the project goes the U.K. Amazonsite and a search of Amazon.com did not produce a satisfying result.
Stage outfits worn by Freddie Mercury, Michael Jackson and Madonna are to go on tour.
They are part of a visiting memorabilia exhibition put together by Hard Rock Cafe which will be seen over the summer months.
The Hard Rock Couture exhibition has already been seen in northern Europe and is now to be shown in London, Glasgow and Manchester.
Jackson's Beat It leather jacket, Madonna's Jean Paul Gaultier-designed gold corset and Mercury's black and white striped spandex catsuit are among the items which can be seen.
They will be on display to guests at the backstage area of Hard Rock Calling in London on June 29 and 30 and will go on to be seen by the public at Glasgow's Royal Concert Hall from August 16 to 25 and Manchester's Hard Rock Cafe from August 30 to September 8.
Hard Rock historian Jeff Nolan said: "We have spent nearly two years, scouring our 77,000-piece collection, to pull together a collection that will wow our guests."
When it comes to the world’s greatest band, it seems only aged male rockers need apply.
Sir Elton John, Phil Collins and Sir Paul McCartney were chosen ahead of a host of musical greats when Britons were asked to cast their votes.
Late Queen showman Freddie Mercury was chosen to front the band with 40 per cent of the vote – forcing Mick Jagger, Bono and One Direction’s Harry Styles into the wings. Were it left to the men, Jimi Hendrix would have been on lead guitar but 37 per cent of women voted for Brian May.
There was no room for any female musicians – with Madonna, Kate Bush, Stevie Nicks and Karen Carpenter all missing out.
The collective age of the ‘supergroup’ would be over 300, assuming Mercury, who died aged 45, was still alive. ‘There is no doubt this is an amazing super band that would have been amazing to see live,’ said a spokesman for Barclaycard bespoke offers which commissioned the poll.
‘I think we were all surprised to see Harry Styles finish bottom for vocals. However, he was up against some tough competition.’
More than half the 2,000 people surveyed were aged under 45.
Brian May is out again, alongside West End star Kerry Ellis, on the Born Free / Acoustic By Candlelight Tour. Apart from visiting cities in England, Ireland and Wales on this second leg of the tour, they are taking the tour around some cities in Europe, on a third leg, that originaly started last year around England.
So far, the confirmed dates and venues of these new legs of the Tour are:
This successful series of intimate candlelit shows are being accompanied by the launch of the newest, and first, live album by Dr. Brian May and Kerry Ellis, very appropriately called Acoustic by Candlelight; as well as the official release of the single "The Kissing Me Song" and its full-length video, filled with kisses sent in by fans from around the world. Both, the single and the video, can be purchased through the iTunes store, only in Europe at this moment. No confirmed dates yet on when it will be available worldwide. https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/the-kissing-me-song-single/id658050979
Queen guitarist Brian May has confirmed plans to collaborate with Gangnam Style sensation PSY.
Speaking to MTV News UK on the Kerrang! Awards black carpet, the rock legend revealed he had brunch with the Korean phenomenon in London this week to talk about working together.
"I met the guy and we had a very interesting chat," he told.
"He's a very thoughtful man and a significant artist. He's also encyclopaedic about Queen and says the reason he wanted to sing is because he saw Queen at Wembley '86 on video.
"We have a couple of ideas, so yeah I'm up for it."
The 65-year-old, who last year featured on Dappy's second solo single Rockstar, continued: "I've had all sorts of people tweeting me saying 'How could you do that? He's a popstar!' and thinking it's very trivial, but 1.6 billion hits on YouTube you don't get for nothing.
"Rock and roll is not a closed shop, you've got to have an open mind in life, and a lot of the most interesting stuff happens when you interact with someone you never would've dreamed you could interact with."
Following three sold-out nights at London's Hammersmith Apollo last summer, May also disclosed plans to do another Queen show with Adam Lambert as their frontman.
"We are talking about doing something with Adam, probably for TV," he revealed.
"He's an amazing artist and a very nice guy. We keep in touch and have a good friendship.
"We're not talking about touring yet, but we are talking about doing an event."
Lambert expressed an initial fear at following in Freddy Mercury's footsteps but recieved good reviews for his performance as the Queen frontman last summer.
Kerrang!, the UK based weekly magazine, along with it's TV, radio and web branches, celebrated it's annual awards ceremony, which have been going on every year since 1993.
Last night they honoured Queen for their Services to Rock by handing Roger Taylor and Brian May the corresponding statue, in front of a stomp-stomp-clapping crowd.
Brian May stated "Roger and I enjoyed the Kerrang! awards last night.
And we were happy to receive the prestigious award for "Service to Rock".", on his official website and blog.
We have been reading it on the news lately.... but now it is more imminent than ever. Both parties involved in this very differently styled duo have stated their interest and intention of working together. Above, the tweet by none other than Psy himself. Below, the one immediately replied by Brian.
Kerry Ellis, the West End star who often collaborates and works with Brian May, has confirmed the meeting of both mega-stars on her Twitter account (@KerryJaneEllis1). It seems they had a very friendly lunch together, for what else but talking a little oppa-business, perhaps?
Last week, Dr. Brian May announced on his Twitter account that he was making a long journey. Turns out he went to the least expected place: Fargo, North Dakota. The full reason of his journey is unknown, other than he mentioned in a local restaurant, that he was visiting a "friend". The local news reported this very unusual visit to their land. Later on, he tweeted a photograph of him next to a massive Case tractor, with this message: (@DrBrianMay ) "Thank you Fargo, North Dakota ! I have seen the future ! Bri."
So, the full story and reason for this visit will remain a mystery for the time being. Who was this friend he visited? Why? What was the visit to the tractor dealing company all about? We might never know.
Later, he let it be known through his Twitter account that he had been flown to Traverse City, Michigan, alongside his guitar -even though he didn't play it publicly, to attend the 39th National Stereoscopic Association Convention held in the Traverse City Resort.
Photo: Brian May
Before the start of the convention, he was broadcasted on a friendly, relaxed, long interview through local rock radio station KLT 97.5, where he spoke of many subjects including stereoscopic photograpy, his new book, 3D image technology, music, and his participation on the campaign to stop the badger cull recently aproved by the British Government.
During the course of the convention he presented his newest book called Diableries, Stereoscopic Adventures in Hell, which compiles a very rare collection of stereoscopic images created in the 19th Century in France. Stereoscopic photography has been a subject of interest of Dr. May along his life, to the point where he has become an specialist on the matter, and recreated the once known London Stereoscopic Co. as a new company owned by him, to distribute his books, stereoscopic cards and the OWL stereoscopic viewers of his own creation.
On the morning of Saturday, June 8th, he presented the book, signed autographs for the stereoscopic fans, as well as for the old-time Queen fans, and gave a keynote speech during the evening. This gave closure to his public activities in the event.
An excerpt from his speech can be seen here:
Dr. Brian May: Rock Legend, Book Author, Doctor in Astrophysics, Animal Activist, Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University from 2008 to 2013, and Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire as appointed by HM the Queen on 2005... A true Modern Renaissance Man!
Freddie Mercury is generally considered one of the music's most beloved entertainers of recent times and now, over two decades since he passed away, he still has what it takes to get a crowd going.
Prior to Green Day's June 1st show in Arsenal's Emirates Stadium in London, Queen's classic 'Bohemian Rhapdsoy' was pumped out via the stadium's PA system. Before long several thousand people were singing along and, according to reports from the arena, Queen got a bigger reception than any of the support acts. Not bad, Freddie. Not bad at all.
The new ICON album by Queen is a retrospective compilation scheduled to be released on June 11th, 2013 under the Hollywood label from the US. The Icon CD music will contain a single disc with 11 songs, as follows:
Stone Cold crazy
Tie Your Mother Down
Fat Bottomed Girls
Crazy Little Thing Called Love
We Will Rock You
We Are the Champions
Radio Ga Ga
Bohemian Rhapsody
These Are the Days of Our Lives
I Want It All
The Show Must Go On
CD Universe Part number8947232
Label: Hollywood
Catalog number001890802
Discs1
Release DateNew Queen CD release date Jun 11, 2013
Mono/StereoStereo
For more information on where and how to buy, please visit the following links:
Gigwisereaders have named Queen star Freddie Mercury the best frontman of all time.
Mercury topped the poll with a clear lead over nearest rival, Brandon Flowers of The Killers. David Bowie placed third, while Morrissey and Bruce Springsteen placed fourth and fifth respectively.
Mercury died in 1991, and in the years since, a number of stars have stepped into Mercury's shoes to front Queen, including Paul Rodgers and American Idol star, Adam Lambert.
In the coming weeks, Gigwise readers will be selecting the rest of the ultimate band, picking guitarist, bassist and drummer to complete the fantasy line-up.
Diableries, the newest book by Brian May, and fellow specialists in stereo photography, Denis Pellerin and Paula Fleming, is being presented by Brian May himself in the annual National Stereoscopic Association Convention held in Traverse City, Michigan, USA, this weekend.
These are only a few advanced copies, but the full production will go on public sale by the end of October 2013.
The book contains information and the largest collection of 19th Century French Stereo photography from the Diableries series, containing stereographic images of Devilish characters with some very interesting special effects for that time.
Tweeted by Brian, directly from Traverse City, Mi. USA
And also pay a visit to Brian May's official website's Soapbox (Brian's blog) where he makes an interesting observation about evil on our current society, specifically on the British Government's decision of culling badgers, while he talks of his brand new advanced prints of Diableries: http://www.brianmay.com/brian/brianssb/brianssbjun13a.html#07
Last Monday June the 3rd was the 11th anniversary of Brian May's iconic performance of 'God Save the Queen' from the rooftop of nothing less than the Buckingham Palace, taking part in the 'Party at the Palace' for the Queen's Golden Jubilee. Enjoy this historic performance:
When he isn’t trying to save badgers, Brian May is busy with science, history and Victorian 3D photography. Oh, and he still finds time for a bit of music too – with North East fans in for a special double-date this month. The legendary Queen guitarist talks toBarbara Hodgson
LIFE for Brian May is – in his own words – “insanely busy”. So it’s worked out pretty well that fragmented parts of it have conveniently come together to produce two North East dates within one month.
“I like to think that in some strange way it makes some kind of sense,” he laughs.
On Friday We Will Rock You, featuring 24 Queen hits, comes to the Metro Radio Arena for a three-night run then, just over two weeks later, he’ll be performing an acoustic gig at The Sage Gateshead.
If you didn’t know the Queen guitarist has more than one string to his Red Special – that home-built guitar which famously accompanied him to international stardom with the band (and beyond) – then you had only to read the news in recent days which saw him protesting in London about the start of the badger cull.
Animal activist (in a purely peaceful sense), astrophysicist, author... the list goes on.
But, first, we’re talking about the music.
The musician and singer-songwriter, who wrote such Queen classics as I Want It All and Fat Bottomed Girls, is seeing the first arena tour of We Will Rock You which has until now played out in theatres.
The popular musical, starring ex-Coronation Street actor Kevin Kennedy (Curly Watts) and The X Factor finalist and actress Brenda Edwards in Ben Elton’s futuristic story about the death of rock, is named after another of May’s compositions and is set for more success on the big stage.
In contrast the June 26 gig at The Sage will be an intimate night which sees May team up again with Kerry Ellis, the rising star whose debut album Anthems he produced in 2010.
Their recent musical partnerships – singer and actress Ellis also created the role of We Will Rock You’s Meat – includes new feel-good single The Kissing Me Song, to be released on June 17.
Now they’re doing another 10 dates of The Born Free Tour following its success last year.
In aid of the Born Free Foundation, which works to protect threatened species including Africa’s lions and now India’s tigers, it’s a series of candlelit nights of acoustic music with May accompanying Ellis on both vocals and guitar. It features stripped-down versions of Queen classics and personal favourites.
And May is loving the down-change in gear.
“We started going in the other direction from the big anthemic stuff,” he says.
When he isn’t trying to save badgers, Brian May is busy with science, history and Victorian 3D photography. Oh, and he still finds time for a bit of music too – with North East fans in for a special double-date this month. The legendary Queen guitarist talks to BARBARA HODGSON
LIFE for Brian May is – in his own words – “insanely busy”. So it’s worked out pretty well that fragmented parts of it have conveniently come together to produce two North East dates within one month.
“I like to think that in some strange way it makes some kind of sense,” he laughs.
On Friday We Will Rock You, featuring 24 Queen hits, comes to the Metro Radio Arena for a three-night run then, just over two weeks later, he’ll be performing an acoustic gig at The Sage Gateshead.
If you didn’t know the Queen guitarist has more than one string to his Red Special – that home-built guitar which famously accompanied him to international stardom with the band (and beyond) – then you had only to read the news in recent days which saw him protesting in London about the start of the badger cull.
Animal activist (in a purely peaceful sense), astrophysicist, author... the list goes on.
But, first, we’re talking about the music.
The musician and singer-songwriter, who wrote such Queen classics as I Want It All and Fat Bottomed Girls, is seeing the first arena tour of We Will Rock You which has until now played out in theatres.
The popular musical, starring ex-Coronation Street actor Kevin Kennedy (Curly Watts) and The X Factor finalist and actress Brenda Edwards in Ben Elton’s futuristic story about the death of rock, is named after another of May’s compositions and is set for more success on the big stage.
In contrast the June 26 gig at The Sage will be an intimate night which sees May team up again with Kerry Ellis, the rising star whose debut album Anthems he produced in 2010.
Their recent musical partnerships – singer and actress Ellis also created the role of We Will Rock You’s Meat – includes new feel-good single The Kissing Me Song, to be released on June 17.
Now they’re doing another 10 dates of The Born Free Tour following its success last year.
In aid of the Born Free Foundation, which works to protect threatened species including Africa’s lions and now India’s tigers, it’s a series of candlelit nights of acoustic music with May accompanying Ellis on both vocals and guitar. It features stripped-down versions of Queen classics and personal favourites.
And May is loving the down-change in gear.
“We started going in the other direction from the big anthemic stuff,” he says.
“We discovered we love interpreting songs in a simple way and there’s a direct connection with the audience.”
In the mix of Ellis’s “extraordinary vocals” and “arrangements of songs that haven’t been heard before”, he says: “I think the meaning of the songs comes through very strongly.
“The tour worked in the Home Counties last year so we thought we’d take it further afield – to you guys!”
When was he last in the region?
“Not so long ago,” he answers.
I’ve been quite around a bit! I was there with Queen loads of times.”
Newcastle City Hall he says, is known nationally. His actress wife Anita Dobson was also at the arena last year in the live tour of Strictly Come Dancing.
“Newcastle’s great. It has a great energy,” he says, though he’s been thrown by the odd Geordie-ism.
“The funniest time was when someone was talking to me about ‘wor lass’ – I’ve been working on the accent for you – before I realised he was saying ‘Where is your wife?’”
He’s looking forward to returning with his chilled night at the Sage.
“We also tell a lot of stories, have a lot of fun. It’s very relaxing for us.
“It’s very loose. We can change our minds in the middle of a song and we introduce a new song every night – that’s what happened with our new one.”
With The Kissing Me Song, May says they were in the dressing room one night ahead of a show and he suddenly got inspired by what they’d been working on.
“I said ‘Why not do it tonight?’ and Kerry said ‘Oh! ok’.
“So we did it and the reaction was great.”
He adds: “We both work really hard. Kerry never stops.
“And my life is insanely busy, between trying to save badgers to astrology to stereophotography to history books.
“This is almost like a holiday – I go out there and make music, to make people happy.”
Victorian stereophotography involves creating the illusion of 3D images and is just one of May’s areas of expertise.
Now 65, it was only a few years ago that the former physics graduate resumed his interest in astrophysics to gain his PhD.
But it’s animal welfare that is currently top of this softly-spoken star’s agenda in view of the start date for the pilot cull of badgers in the south in a bid to tackle bovine TB.
He’s set up Save Me, a group campaigning against ill-treatment of animals, and has been quoted as saying he’d rather be remembered for his work in this field than for his music.
“I’d like to think I make a difference,” he says and adds passionately: “I think we behave hideously to animals as a rule.
“We should not be abusing them.”
A cull, he says, is “like going back to the dark ages” with no evidence it will make any difference to the disease.
“The badgers are very family-orientated creatures and we’re going to wipe out 70% in the next 25 years.
“Generations will grow up in a countryside – if there is a countryside – that is deathly quiet.”
“It’s so appalling, we have to say no.”
I mention reading of one well-meaning suggestion to scare badgers from cull danger areas by playing loud rock music and ask if a bit of Queen could even play a part.
He laughs briefly then answers seriously. “I don’t think that’s going to be great for the badgers.
“They don’t like to be frightened and I don’t think that would work.
“There are other things that can be done – peaceful demonstrations, we can all write to our MPs saying ‘We expect you to oppose the badger cull’.”
He points readers to the website teambadger.org where there’s a protest petition to sign.
“We need to make ourselves heard,” he says.
“It’s easy not to do it, but there’s something awful happening out there and we have to make the Government realise they can’t get away with slaughtering everything.”
Is the message behind the Born Free gigs getting through?
“There’s a healthy, small growth of understanding that we as human beings can’t go on in this way – we’ll cover the world with concrete and humans,” he says. “We let people know what’s going on, but we don’t preach. The night’s about music.”
We Will Rock You is at Metro Radio Arena from Friday until Sunday (visit www.metroradioarena.co.uk or call 0844 493 6666) and Brian May and Kerry Ellis play The Sage Gateshead on June 26 (www.thesagegateshead.org and 0191 443 4661).
This is almost like a holiday – I go out there and make music, to make people happy.
It’s no secret that Queen’s Freddie Mercury was rock ‘n’ roll’s greatest vocalist. There’s also no denying the enigma of Davie Bowie. These are known facts. Still, this knowledge doesn’t make their power any less magical. Take, for example, their vocal tracks for their dynamite 1981 duet, “Under Pressure”.
As Open Culture points out, the anthem’s birth wasn’t an easy process. Tensions ran high recording the single, which took place over a 24-hour wine and cocaine-fueled recording session. In 2008, Queen guitarist Brian May discussed the collaboration, stating: “It was very hard because you already had four precocious boys and David, who was precocious enough for all of us. Passions ran very high. I found it very hard because I got so little of my own way. But David had a real vision and he took over the song lyrically.”
An excerpt in Mark Blake’s biography, Is This the Real Life?: The Untold Story of Freddie Mercury and Queen, adds some scenery:
‘We felt our way through a backing track all together as an ensemble,’ recalled Brian May. ‘When the backing track was done, David said, “Okay, let’s each of us go in the vocal booth and sing how we think the melody should go–just off the top of our heads–and we’ll compile a vocal out of that.” And that’s what we did.’ Some of these improvisations, including Mercury’s memorable introductory scatting vocal, would endure on the finished track. Bowie also insisted that he and Mercury shouldn’t hear what the other had sung, swapping verses blind, which helped give the song its cut-and-paste feel.
Despite a fierce argument over the final mix, the song hit radio stations on October 26, 1981, and the rest is rock ‘n’ roll history, yada, yada, yada. Now that the impromptu Rock History 101 lesson is over, behold the song in its full glory below at full volume — singing optional.
Slash, Shara Nelson and David Attenborough have joined Brian May on a new song dedicated to badgers. Badger Swagger, out today, is part of the England-wide campaign against this summer's badger culls.
The group are calling themselves Artful Badger and Friends. Their debut single was created by music producer Rob Cass, who has previously worked with acts including Estelle, Robbie Williams and Baaba Maal. "To me all nature is beautiful," he said in a press release. "This track is my humble contribution to stopping the needless slaughter of badgers."
Cass began planning the project after joining an anti-cull demonstration earlier this year. "We decided the best way we could help was to do what we do best: make music," he said. In addition to the artists named above, Badger Swagger includes contributions by Southend rapper Sonny Green and Sam and the Womp, whose debut single topped the charts last year. "[My solo] sounds like a badger riot," Slash announced on Twitter. "Or a bunch of hooligan badgers in a pub."
Brian May is certainly no stranger to pro-badger activism. The Queen guitarist released another badger song last month, inspired by his band's theme for Flash Gordon, and a Badger Rap featuring Brian Blessed and Weebl. The 65-year-old has also made frequent appearances at protests against the cull, including last Saturday's Save the Badgers rally in London. "[This] is a fight against the old-fashioned, bloody-minded, ignorant attitude that human beings and money and political power are all that matter," he said in a recent speech. "It's a fight for the rights of the other creatures on this planet – for their very right to live in these islands."
May and his fellow badger-lovers are campaigning against the government's plan to kill up to 100,000 animals, beginning with pilot projects in Somerset and Gloucestershire. The policy's goal is to reduce the UK's incidence of bovine tuberculosis. Although much of the opposition is founded on animal rights issues, critics also argue that culls are an ineffective way to control bTB. Badger vaccination, already common in Wales, is regarded as a more compassionate, successful and cost-effective solution to the problem.
The 52nd Rose d'Or Awards were held on Thursday night in Brussels, honoring the most creative entertainment television programs from around the world. Over forty countries participate, submitting nominees in each of the award's six categories.
The 2013 winner for Arts program has gone to Freddie Mercury: The Great Pretender, a film from Eagle Rock Entertainment for the BBC. The feature length film documents Mercury's life with a concentration on his attempt to forge a solo career outside of Queen.
The film was directed by Rhys Thomas, an expert on the group and the filmmaker behind the 2011 BBC documentary Queen: Days of Our Lives. Thomas used archive footage including rare interviews, live performances and personal material to draw out a portrait of the artist that is often quite different from his flamboyant public persona.
Thomas said of his win "I am over the moon. Winning the Rose d'Or for what was essentially a lifelong dream and hobby, couldn't be more thrilling. This really was a labour of love for me, I wanted to make a documentary that captured Freddie's humour as well as his talent and achievements. From the reaction from fellow fans and now recognition from BAFTA and The Rose d'Or, it seems I have done something right.
Even as a new compilation of Queen hits called Icon is set for release on June 11, 2013, guitarist Brian May looks back in wonder at all of the things he and his childhood friends were able to accomplish.
“I do get up some mornings and think: "God, how did that happen?". “Because we were just boys — and it doesn’t seem that long ago — with dreams and big ideas that we could do something that no one’s ever done before, and sort of go out and conquer the world. And somehow, it happened. Everywhere I go, from Mongolia to Timbuktu, people know the songs. It’s incredible. I feel very, very fortunate. It is like some kind of dream, really.”
Icon provides a single-disc look at Queen’s varied career, from its harder-rocking beginnings with the likes of “Stone Cold Crazy” through its forays into operatic song styles with “Bohemian Rhapsody” to the sleek pop of “The Show Must Go On.” Familiar hits like “We Will Rock You,” “Another One Bites the Dust” and “We are the Champions” are paired with fan favorites like “I’m In Love With My Car” and “I Want it All.”
Queen was founded by May, Freddie Mercury, Roger Taylor and John Deacon in 1970. They continued as a foursome until Mercury’s death from AIDS-related causes in 1991. Deacon has since also retired, while May and Taylor have participated in a series appearances with guest vocalists, most notably Paul Rodgers and Adam Lambert.
“It’s great to be in people lives,” May adds, “and a lot of our songs have gone beyond just being records or tracks. They’re actually part of life — like ‘Rock You’ and ‘Champions’ are part of people’s lifetime experiences in sports. That’s an amazing thing, to feel that you are sort of welded into people’s lives, in some ways. It’s a great privilege.”
