A DAY AT THE RACES

“WE ALWAYS HAD THIS COMPLETE ROCK MENTALIT Y…”

BRIAN MAY INTRODUCES OUR DEFINITIVE ULTIMATE MUSIC GUIDE

QUEEN

“I had to keep on trying and get better every day…” A new rock brains trust take their first, heavy steps.

“WE’RE CONFIDENT PEOPLE WILL TAKE TO US”

QUEEN ARE A NEW GROUP WHO WERE, THEY SAY, “DOING GLAM ROCK BEFORE BOWIE” AND WHOSE GUITARIST BUILT HIS INSTRUMENT FROM A FIREPLACE. “THE IDEA WAS CONCEIVED BY ME AT COLLEGE,” FREDDIE MERCURY TELLS MICHAEL BENTON . AND WHAT OF THEIR NAME? “WE WANT TO BE A REGAL ROCK BAND,” HE SAYS…

QUEEN II

Ogres, white goddesses and fairy fellers: queen’s grand, melodramatic vision begins to take shape

“MY DEAR, I’M THE VAINEST CREATURE GOING!”

SPRING 1974. A FANTASTICAL AND RUTHLESS NEW BAND ARE MAKING A NAME FOR THEMSELVES FASTER THAN THE MUSIC PRESS CAN COMPREHEND. JULIE WEBB AND COLIN IRWIN JOIN THE ROCKETING QUEEN BANDWAGON AND DISCOVER FOUR “V ERY HIGHLY STRUNG” MUSICIANS, FOCUSED ON PUTTING ON GREAT SHOWS AND BECOMING HUGE, AT SPEED. “I THINK I’M GOING TO GO MAD IN A FEW YEARS’ TIME,” RECKONS AN EXHAUSTED FREDDIE MERCURY…

SHEER HEART ATTACK

Moët et Chandon all round, as queen hit the pop big time. Guaranteed to blow your mind!

“WE’R E STILL THE DANDIES WE STARTED OUT TO BE”

“PEOPLE THINK WE’RE REALLY NASTY,” SAYS FREDDIE MERCURY, AS HIS BAND BECOME BIGGER AND BIGGER. “BUT TH AT’S ONLY ON STAGE. OFFSTAGE, I’M CERTAINLY NOT AN OGRE.” NOW, AS “KILLER QUEEN” REVEALS THEIR RANGE, JULIE WEBB AND CHRIS WELCH GET UP CLOSE TO THE NEW SUPERSTARS, AND DISCOVER WHY MERCURY HATES POCKETS…

“WHEN YOU STRIVE SO HARD FOR PERFECTION, IT’S VERY AGGRAVATING”

FREDDIE MERCURY HAS A SORE T H ROAT, A BAD BACK AND A PIANO WITH THREE LEGS, BUT THE QUEEN EXTRAVAGANZA MUST GO ON. JULIE WEBB HITCHES A RIDE IN THE IMPERIAL DAIMLER AS THE BAND TAKE SOUTHAMPTON AND SWANSEA BY STORM. BRIAN M AY, HE REVEALS, IS VERY “PIG-HEA DED”, WHILE JOHN DEACON, IN SOMETHING OF AN EXCLUSIVE, ACTUA LLY SPEAKS!

“I PLAY ON THE BISEXUAL THING…”

SHOOTING FOR THE “TOP SLOT” TAKES ITS TOLL. PLAGUED BY BOILS AND ON-TOU R STRESS DREAMS, FREDDIE MERCURY DISCUSSES SEXUALITY, PRIVILEGE AND HIS BURGEONING ROCK-STAR EGO WITH CAROLINE COON. “I FEEL AS IF I’V E DONE A MARATHON EVERY NIGHT…”

“I’LL SING UNTIL MY THROAT IS LIKE A VULTURE’S CROTCH!”

AS THE WORLD AWAITS A NIGHT AT THE OPERA, THE DAUNTLESS CHRIS WELCH AND JULIE WEBB STRIVE TO UNLOCK ITS SECRETS. AT HOME IN SHEPHERD’S BUSH, FREDDIE MERCURY RHAPSODISES ABOUT A RECENT VISIT TO JAPAN. THEN, AS SPLIT RUMOURS CIRCULATE, NME WITNESSES THE STUDIO BIRTH OF A MASTERPIECE… “BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY”!

A NIGHT AT THE OPERA

Thunderbolts, lightning and an extraordinary musical landmark. Whatever can they do for an encore?

“KNOWING US, I SUPPOSE ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE”

A CHAMPAGNE RECEPTION FOR A NIGHT AT THE OPERA. HARRY DOHERTY ESCAPES WITH FREDDIE MERCURY TO DISCUSS WHAT IS – ALLEGEDLY – THE MOST EXPENSIVE ALBUM EVER MADE… “WE DON’T WANT TO BE OUTRAGEOUS. IT’S IN US.” JULIE WEBB , MEANWHILE, GOES ON THE ROA D ONE MORE TIME TO MINGLE WITH QUEEN’S ARMY OF MASSEURS AND KIMONO-WRANGLERS. “ONE MUST,” ADMITS FREDDIE, “SUFFER FOR FASHION.”

“IT’S MUSIC TO TEAR YOUR EMOTIONS APART...”

A THOUGHTFUL GUITAR MAESTRO STEPS INTO THE LIMELIGHT, AS BRIAN MAY REVEALS PLENTY TO HARRY DOHERTY –“ TO SOME EXTENT,” HE SAYS, “I DO FEEL INSECURE.” AND WHAT OF HIS BANDMATES? WHO IS THE “SONIC VOLCANO”? THE “BORN FIGUREHEAD”? THE “PLEASURE SEEKER”?

“NEVER HAVE I ENCOUNTERED SUCH A HYSTERICAL RESPONSE TO A BAND”

LATE SUMMER, 1976. QUEEN PLAY THE EDINBURGH FESTIVAL AND PHIL McNEILL , ONE OF THE PHIL McNEILL, NME’S LEGION OF UNBELIEVERS, IS SENT INTO THE ECSTATIC THRONG. THERE IS ADULATION, PAGEANTRY AND, FROM THE RESOLUTELY UNMOVED JOURNALIST, A LONE AND BEWILDERED VOICE OF DISSENT… “THEY’VE GOT NO TASTE!”

“WE’RE CERTAINLY NOT RESTING ON OUR LAURELS”

ON THE EVE OF A MASSIVE FREE GIG IN HYDE PARK, BRIAN MAY AND ROGER TAY LOR LOOK BACK ON THE QUEEN STORY SO FAR, AND PONDER THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THEIR METICULOUSLY TOOLED ALBUMS AND INTENSE LIVE SHOWS. “I HOPE WE’RE NEVER TOO SOPHISTICATED,” MAY TELLS HARRY DOHERTY, AS HE CONTEMPLATES WHAT CAN POSSIBLY HAPPEN NEXT…

“WE’LL HAVE A GO AT ANYTHING!”

THE NEXT CHALLENGE? A MOMENTOUS TOUR OF AMERICA, WITH ONE OF THE HOTTEST ROCK GROUPS IN THE WORLD – THIN LIZZY! – ALONG AS SUPPORT. CAN QUEEN RISE TO THE CHALLENGE? WILL FREDDIE MERCURY SPEAK TO THE PRESS? AND WHO LET ROGER TAY LOR LAY A SCALEXTRIC TRACK THROUGH THE MANHATTAN PLAZA HOTEL? HARRY DOHERTY ENJOYS A FEW DAYS AT THE RACES. PLUS! TODD RUNDGREN ON QUEEN: “WHEN DO YOU STOP CALCULATING?”

“WE WILL STICK TO OUR GUNS”

“STUFF YOUR CRITICISM!” BODYGUA RD AT HIS SHOULDER, FREDDIE TACKLES A DAY AT THE RACES’ CRITICS HEAD ON. TONY STEWART IS INVITED TO KENSINGTON TO FEEL THE FULL HEAT OF MR FAHRENHEIT ON MATTERS OF BALLET, PRESS MANIPULATION AND QUEEN’S NEXT MOVE. “W E’V E COME THROUGH ROCK’N’ROLL,” HE PURRS, “THERE ARE NO BARRIERS”

NEWS OF THE WORLD

RELEASED | 28/10/77

JAZZ

RELEASED | 10/11/78

THE GAME

RELEASED | 27/06/80

FLASH GORDON

RELEASED | 05/12/80

“I KNOW IT LOOKS LIKE A NUREMBERG RALLY…”

“BUT,” SAYS BRIAN MAY, “OUR FANS ARE SENSIBLE PEOPLE.” BACKSTAGE AT BIRMINGHAM’S NEC, PATRICK HUMPHRIES BREAKS THROUGH QUEEN’S SPRAWLING ORGANISATION (“A SORT OF CROSS BETWEEN A CIRCUS AND AN ARMY”, SAYS MAY) FOR AN AUDIENCE WITH THE BAND’S EQUALLY SENSIBLE GUITARIST. TO BE DISCUSSED: FLASH GORDON, PRESS PARANOIA, STADIUMS AND THE GRAND “COMMUNITY FEELING” OF THE ROYAL QUEEN EXPERIENCE

“ROCK NEEDS TO REMAIN BODY MUSIC. QUEEN MUST NOT GET TOO CEREBRAL”

THE QUEST FOR WORLD DOMINATION ENTERS A NEW PHASE, AS QUEEN LAY WASTE TO SOUTH AMERICA. RAY COLEMAN FOLLOWS THEM TO BUENOS AIRES AND RIO, INTO STADIUMS THAT HAVE ONLY PREVIOUSLY HOSTED THE POPE AND SINATRA, AND JOINS IN THE AFTER-HOURS REVELRY. NOTHING EVIDENTLY SUCCEEDS LIKE EXCESS, THOUGH THERE ARE MOMENTS OF REFLECTION. “I JUST DON’T KNOW ABOUT THIS ANY MORE,” MUSES ROGER TAYLOR . “IT DOESN’T SEEM RIGHT, SOMEHOW, WITH BRITAIN IN A RECESSION.”

HOT SPACE

RELEASED | 21/05/82

THE WORKS

RELEASED | 27/02/84

“DARLING, I’M TOO GOOD!”

AT A SEDATE PRESS EVENT IN GERMANY, FREDDIE MERCURY RECALLS WILDER TIMES IN SOUTH AMERICA, HIS ONSTAGE POWER AND “THE DEATH SQUAD”. BUT DO THE BAND HAVE QUALMS ABOUT VISITING SOUTH AFRICA? “NONE WHATSOEVER,” SAYS JOHN DEACON…

“MORE FISTS IN THE AIR THAN AT ANY TIME SINCE BOBBY MOORE LIFTED THE WORLD CUP…”

JULY 13, 1985, WEMBLEY STADIUM: QUEEN STEAL THE BIGGEST SHOW ON EARTH. NESTLED BETWEEN DIRE STRAITS AND THE WHO, FREDDIE MERCURY AIR-PUNCHES HIS WAY INTO THE HISTORY BOOKS. “A WONDERFULLY OTT PERFORMANCE,” DECLARE CAROL CLERK AND TED MICOP…”

A KIND OF MAGIC

RELEASED | 02/06/86

THE MIRACLE

RELEASED | 22/05/89

INNUENDO

RELEASED | 05/02/91

MADE IN HEAVEN

“Please let me live/and make a brand new start…” the meticulously planned afterlife.

“IT WAS ALL LIKE A FANTASY TO SEE HOW FAR WE COULD GO”

2005. AS QUEEN RECONFIGURE THEMSELVES WITH PAUL RODGERS AS FRONTMAN, JON WILDE – WITH THE CONSIDERABLE HELP OF BRIAN MAY – LOOKS BACK ON THEIR REMARKABLE STORY, WITH SPECIAL PRURIENT ATTENTION TO THE MOST DECADENT MYTHS. “WHEN THE PISTOLS AND THE CLASH CAME ALONG, BANDS LIKE BAD COMPANY BECAME DINOSAURS OVERNIGHT,” SAYS RODGERS. “WHEREAS QUEEN JUST GOT BIGGER AND BIGGER. THEY SEEMED TO RIDE OVER MUSICAL FASHIONS, REGARDLESS.”

LIVE & COMPS

Greatest hits and beyond: a masterclass in giving the people what they want, again and again

“FREDDIE FELT HIS TALENT WAS BUILDING OTHER PEOPLE’S SWIMMING POOLS”

ALBUM BY ALBUM WITH ROGER TAYLOR AND BRIAN MAY, AS THE PAIR TAKE A REVEALING TOUR THROUGH THEIR BACK CATALOGUE. “ROGER AND I GENERALLY DIDN’T SEE EYE TO EYE,” MAY TELLS DAVID CAVA NAGH. BUT WHAT FALTERING COLLABORATION BECAME ONE OF QUEEN’S BIGGEST HITS? AND WHO, EXACTLY, WAS SIMON FEROCIOUS?

THE SOLO ALBUMS

Living on their own: the solo work of Freddie Mercury, Brian May, John deacon, Roger Taylor – and Larry Lurex!

“FREDDIE WAS A GREAT DIPLOMAT”

BRIAN MAY OPENS UP FOR UNCUT’S AUDIENCE OF QUEEN FANS. ON THE AGENDA: WHAT KILLED THEIR US CAREER, THE LOWDOWN ON FOXES AND, OF COURSE, FREDDIE MERCURY (“HIS SEXUALITY WAS AN OPEN SECRET”). WHICH MEMBER OF QUEEN, THOUGH, WAS “A VERY CONVINCING SCHOOLGIRL”?

“THESE ARE BIG BOOTS TO FILL!”

AS QUEEN + ADAM LAMBERT EMBARK ON THE US LEG OF THEIR 2023-4 TOUR, ADAM LAMBERT JOINS UNCUT FOR A CHAT ABOUT THE BAND AND THEIR AUDIENCE, THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF FRONTING SUCH A BELOVED GROUP IN A NEW ERA – AND WHAT HE BRINGS TO THE PARTY. “I CAN LET THE SONGS DO THEIR WORK,” HE TELLS JOHN LEWIS . “IT’S VERY LIBERATING...”

“I LOVE THAT NO-ONE UNDERSTANDS ‘BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY’”

AS QUEEN + ADAM LAMBERT CONTINUED THEIR WORLD TOUR IN 2022, THE BAND MADE TIME TO REVIEW QUEEN’S 30 GREATEST SONGS WITH UNCUT. THE BIG HITS. THE HITS THAT WEREN’T. THE DEEP CUTS. AS THEY REMINISCE, THEY TOUCH ON THE PERILS OF SATISFYING THEIR CATALOGUE LIVE TODAY – “AS PRINCE SAID, ‘TOO MANY HITS, DARLING!’” – AND WHAT CONSTITUTES A REPRESENTATIVE SELECTION OF THEIR WORK. “I REALISED THAT SONGS MEAN DIFFERENT THINGS TO DIFFERENT PEOPLE,” BRIAN MAY TELLS JOHN LEWIS, “AND YOU’VE GOT NO CONTROL OVER THAT.”

“THEY LOVED FREDDIE – IT WAS VERY EMOTIONAL”

GRAHAM KING, producer of the Bohemian Rhapsody movie, takes us inside the making of the film – and screening it for Brian May and Roger Taylor

ONE VISION!

Selected videography: a history of Queen in 10 DVDS

I WANTITALL

A guide to collecting Queen’s rare treasures

STOP ME

IF YOU’VE HEARD THIS ON E BEFORE

PART OF THE FURNITURE

Ten key points in the creation of Brian May’s beloved “old lady”, the “Red Special” guitar

VAGABOND OUTCASTS

…The pre-Queen bands

DO INGALRIGHT

The six recorded songs by pre-Queen band Smile, reviewed

This is the reel life

Overhead lighting, very, very frightening… Inside the “Bohemian Rhapsody” video.

PASS NOTES:

Kenny Everett WHO? Ebullient radio DJ noted for

LOVE OF MY LIFE

The biggest Queen hit which isn't

OPEN YOUR EARS

That choir in the background? Three blokes, total. Here’s how Queen “stacked” their vocals

PASS NOTES:

Fred’shalf microphone stand

THET ERROR OF KNOWING…THE“ UND ERPRESSURE” STORY

10 things we know – or think we know – about Queen’s classic collaboration with David Bowie

PASS NOTES:

Mack NAME Reinhold Mack ORIGINS Germany, 1949

THE QUIET MAN

John Deacon’s stealthy composition of key Queen jewels

“ ONEHIT AFTER ANOTHER”

Queen’s Live Aid performance, in numbers.

PASS NOTES:

What was the story behind the “I Want To Break Free” video?

PLUS… COMPLETEVISION

The 1985 Complete Works boxset included Complete Vision: a succinct LP rounding up strays from the band’s catalogue. Here we rank the contents, best to worst…

QUEEN’S TOP 20 POST - FREDDIEMOMENTS

9 “NO ONE BUT YOU (ONLY THE GOOD

SOME BODY TO LOVE

Our Top 3 “might have been” Queen singers

PASS NOTES:

When Axl met Elton

UNCUT

WWW.UNCUT.CO.UK

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WORKS OUTING! EIGHT-PAGE FOLD-OUT CHRONOLOGY