60 Quite Amazing Queen Facts About The Record Breaking Rock Band

Rock band Queen is one of the most famous bands in the world, loved by generations they have been a household name since the ’70s.

Often considered as one of the world’s greatest frontmen, Freddie Mercury lived an extraordinary life. Recently we saw a massive resurgence in interest about the band after the film Bohemian Rhapsody.

If you're a Queen fan, wanting to educate younger generations or just keen to learn more, check out these mesmerizing facts all about Queen. What's more, if you enjoy facts look at these Jungkook facts and facts about the internet.

Fancy learning about the original members of Queen? Take a look these top facts here.

1. The band formed in the city of London, UK in 1970.

2. Born on 5 September 1946, Freddie was the oldest member of the four.

3. Queen originally started off life as “Smile”. The original band members consisted of Brian May, Roger Taylor and bassist Tom Staffel who later had no part of Queen.

4. Tim Staffel then left “Smile” to join the band “Humpy Bongs”, Freddie then joined band, and they changed the name to Queen. These were the Queen original members.

5. It was Freddie Mercury who came up with the band name “Queen.”

6. The band started with a heavier rock sound, but they quickly changed it so they could be more “appealing” for the radio stations.

7. Queen’s first album was released in the year 1973, and it was called “Queen.”

8. John Deacon was, in fact, the last in a long line of bassists Queen tried, including Douglas Bogie. He joined in 1971 and is the most renowned.

9. Queen played their first gig at Truro City hall, Cornwall in 1970.

The Queen band members themselves have plenty of fascinating facts about them.

10. The lead singer of the band Queen was Freddie Mercury, but sadly, he passed away on 24 November 1991.

11. Aside from being Queen’s famous bassist, John Deacon was trained as an electronics engineer. He built much of the band’s equipment.

12. Brian May’s famous guitar was made by himself and his father. He calls it “Red special” or “The old lady.”

13. Roger Taylor almost never joined Queen; he was offered the opportunity to join the band Genesis but turned it down.

14. Every band member of Queen has at least an undergraduate degree.

15. Roger Taylor was training to become a dentist before joining the band.

16. Brian May has a PhD in Astronomy

17. In 1974, after falling in the first month of Queen’s US tour, Brian May was diagnosed with hepatitis.

18. The band members were well known for not liking each other to participate in interviews. Freddie once said “The others don’t like my interviews. And frankly, I don’t care much for theirs.”

19. John Deacon left the band shortly after Freddie passed away.

Let's take a look at some fun facts about Freddie Mercury.

20. When Freddie Mercury was born, he was original name was Farrokh Bulsara.

21. Freddie Mercury was born on the island of Zanzibar.

22. When he was at boarding school in Panchgani, Maharashtra, India, Freddie joined a school band called The Hectics.

23. Freddie moved to Middlesex, England, with his family in his late teenage years.

24. Before joining the band, Freddie worked as a baggage handler at London’s Heathrow Airport.

25. Freddie designed the logo of Queen himself; he had studied a degree in art and graphics. The band’s logo consists of the band's star signs; 2 Leos, one Virgo and one Cancer for Roger, John, Freddie and Brian respectively.

26. Freddie Mercury adored his pet cats. He would call them when on tour and even had paintings of them commissioned.

27. Freddie Mercury had a recorded vocal range of four octaves.

28. Freddie has a sister called Kashmira Bulsara.

29. Despite the song “I like to ride my bicycle” Freddie Mercury did not actually like riding bicycles!

30. A team of scientists in 2016 decided to study Freddie Mercury’s voice. They identified Mercury’s vocal cords moved at a faster rate than the average person’s vocal cords. They noted, “While a typical vibrato will fluctuate between 5.4 Hz and 6.9 Hz, Mercury’s was 7.04 Hz,”.

31. Although it was widely speculated Freddie  Mercury had become very unwell, Mercury and his manager released a statement confirming that he had contracted AIDS, the day before he passed away.

32. One of Freddie’s most famous trademarks was a “bottomless mic”, this came about by chance as his microphone stand snapped in half, and Freddie continued to use it throughout his shows.

33. On a list of 100 top Britons, Freddie Mercury placed number 59.

34.  Switzerland, in particular, is a big fan of Freddie Mercury. In 1996, the country unveiled a three-meter-high statue of Freddie at Lake Geneva in Montreux.

35. In 1985 Freddie Mercury released his first solo album, Mr Bad Guy and it contained 11 original songs he wrote himself.

36. In 1986, Dave Clarke collaborated with Freddie for the recording of West End show “Time”.

‍

There are so many interesting facts about Queen the band, and even more when it comes to Queen's music.

37. Freddie Mercury wrote the song “A crazy little thing called love” as a tribute to Elvis Presley.

38. Freddie wrote “A crazy little thing called love” while he was the in the bath.

39. Brian May said the inspiration behind the song “I want it all” was his wife Anita Dobson after she said the phrase and I want it now.

40. The 1984 song “Thank God It’s Christmas” was released in 1984 and was never part of any Queen album of the time.

41. The chart-topping song “Another one bites the dust” was released in 1980 and was written by John Deacon.

42. Roger Taylor wrote four popular songs for the band, they were the 1984 “Radio Ga Ga,” 1986 “A Kind of Magic,” 1989 “The Invisible Man,” and the 1991 song “These are the Days of our Lives.”

43. Freddie Mercury started writing the hit “Bohemian Rhapsody” when he was an art student, in 1968, for many years he had just established the opening line before finishing the track.

44. The band had not planned to release the track “Another one bites the dust”, but Michael Jackson persuaded them to do so.

45. The song “We Will Rock You” and the rock anthem “We Are the Champions”, became synonymous as international sports anthems played at stadiums across the world.

46. Queen’s best-selling single of all time is Bohemian Rhapsody, followed by “We are the champions” and “Under Pressure”.

47. One of the band's most popular music videos that Queen ever made, “I want to break free” was banned by MTV for being too controversial.

48. “Sheer Heart Attack” was the third album to be released by  Queen, and it went gold in the USA.

49. The legendary David Bowie section on the smash hit “Under Pressure” was an entirely chance meeting. Bowie was in the recording studio at the time as Queen and decided to get involved on the spot.

50. With all the hit songs, Queen has amassed a total of 26 years in the UK Album charts, which is higher than any other artist to date.

51. When icon Elton John first heard Bohemian Rhapsody, he described it as “too weird for radio”, according to his autobiography “Me”.

52. The music videos for the famous Queen songs "We Will Rock You" and "Spread Your Wings" were both filmed in Roger Taylor’s back garden.

53. In 2002 Queen’s top track “Bohemian Rhapsody” was voted “The UK’s favorite hit of all time” in a survey carried out by the Guinness World Records.

54. The rock group won many prestigious Ivor Novello awards for a variety of accolades including their 1974 hit “Killer Queen", “Bohemian Rhapsody,” and their overall outstanding contribution to music.

55. Four years after Freddie Mercury’s death in 1995, the Queen album "Made in Heaven” was finally released and it featured Freddie.

These facts will surely impress you and your family.

56. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the rock band Queen hold the record for the longest-running fan club of any band.

57. A blue vinyl pressing of the song Bohemian Rhapsody is worth 5000 dollars. The 7-inch limited edition is highly sought after with just 200 produced by record label EMI, and each hand-numbered.

58. In 1981, Queen set a new record in Buenos Aires, Argentina for the most people at a single concert with a staggering 300,000 fans at their gig.

59. After Freddie passed away, Paul Rogers joined Queen as a lead singer replacement in 2005 in the “Queen + Paul Rodgers” tour.

60. In 2001, Queen was welcomed into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Queen facts then why not take a look at Emily Dickinson, or Harper Lee facts?