Brian May
Brian Harold May was born on a Saturday July 19th ,1947 in Hampton,
Middlesex, England. When Brian was five years old, his parents enrolled
him in a music school to learn how to play the piano. When he was six,
his father bought him a ukelele. He liked it so much that he wanted a
real big guitar. At the age of seven, Brian received his first guitar,
it was an acoustic. At eight years old, he started to develop an
interest in other instruments, like the Jewish harp. When he was nine,
he reached the IV grade level for piano (Freddie Mercury played at the
same level).
Soon Brian began to realize that his acoustic guitar wasn't enough. He
wanted to sound like the songs he loved to listen to on the radio. So
he decided to change guitars. At that time, Brian didn't have the money
to buy the expensive Stratocasters or Gibsons that he wanted. So, with
the help of his father, he started to build his own guitar (The Red
Special). They started in 1963 and finished in 1964.
Then In 1964, Brian formed his first band called "1984". He was only 17
years old. The name "1984" was inspired by a famous science-fiction book
written by George Orwell, that Brian loved. The highlight of this band
arrived when they opened for the myth " Jimi Hendrix" on the May
13,1967 at the Imperial College.
December 23, 1967, they played in a festival called "Christmas in
Earth", with famous bands such as Tyrannosaurus Rex, Jimi Hendrix and
Pink Floyd. Even though they had some big breaks, "1984" dissolved
shortly thereafter due to musical differences between the members of the
band.
But Brian May and Tim Staffell still wanted to play together. So they
placed an add at Imperial College requesting a drummer. After
auditioning a number of drummers, they decided on Roger Taylor. The
band "Smile" was born...
Roger Taylor
Roger Meddows Taylor was born on a Tuesday July 26,1949 in Norkfolk,
England. When he was eight years old, Roger was given a ukelele. He
liked it so much that soon after, he formed his first band with two
friends. who played bass and the other guitar. It was called "The
Bubblingaver Boys". The result was horrible, because no one really knew
how to play their instruments. Even so, they did play for a dance at
their school.
Roger bought his first acoustic guitar, and also took an interest in
percussion. In 1961, Roger bought his first drum set. In 1963 he formed
another band called "The Cousin Jacks". Roger played rhythm guitar in
this band, but soon he changed instruments, and played the drums
instead. "The Cousin Jacks" band lasted one year.
In 1965, Roger joined his school Truro band called "Quale and the
Reaction". Later, they changed it to "Reaction" when his singer, Johnny
Quale, abandoned them. They had great success in Truro and in nearby
towns. They also opened for some very famous bands such as Slade,
Tyrannosaurus Rex and Ritchie Blackmore.
In 1967, Roger was accepted to the London Hospital Medical School to
study odontology. He moved to London and abandoned "Reaction".
When he was in London, a friend of his called Les Brown, and requested
an audition for a drummer. He then met Brian May and Tim Stafell.
Together they formed a new band and called it "Smile".
Freddie Mercury
Farooksh Bulsara was born on a Thursday September 5,1946 in Zanzibar, an
island near Tanzania. When he was eight years old he went to a boarding
school near Bombay (India). It was where his friends started to call him
Freddie. He learned to play the piano up to the IV grade level (same as
Brian May).
Freddie joined a band with his school mates and it was called "The
Hectics". They played for the school dances...
At that time, Zanzibar was a British colony. In 1963 Zanzibar became an
independent state. Therefore the Bulsara family moved to Felthom,
Middlesex, England.
In September of 1966 Freddie was accepted in the Ealing College of Art
in London to study graphic design. There he met Tim Stafell. Frequently
Tim would take Freddie to the rehearsals of Smile. Freddie was
introduced to Brian May and Roger Taylor. In 1969 he graduated in
graphic design.
Later, he joined a Liverpool band (established in London) called
"Ibex". It was formed by guitarist Mike Bersin. John Taylor played
bass, Mick Smith played drums and Freddie was the vocalist. The members
of Ibex and Smile knew each other and even shared the stage.
That same year, Freddie and Roger opened their own business selling
second-hand clothes at the Kensington Market. They needed to earn more
money cause they were not making enough in their bands.
Ibex played in a few London pubs, but the members of the band decided
to move to Liverpool, where they felt they would get more gigs.In
Liverpool, Freddie started using a microphone without base.
In Liverpool Ibex had no success, so Freddie decided to quit the band
and move back to London in 1969. Back in London, Freddie joined two more
bands. The first one was "Sour Milk Tea" which disbanded in two months.
The second band was called "Wreckage". It was formed by ex-Ibex
members. Freddie quit "Wreckage" in 1970.
In April of 1970, Freddie joined up with
Brian May and Roger Taylor (by then Smile had dissolved). The new band
was named "Queen". They went thru two bass players (Mike Gross and Barry
Mitchell). Finally, the fourth and final member joined. His name was
John Deacon. The rest is history.. Queen was alive!!
John Deacon
John Richard Deacon was born on a Sunday 19th of August, 1951 in
Leicester, England. When he was only seven years old, his parents,
Lillian Molly and Arthur Henry Deacon bought him his first guitar. He
also took an interest in one of his parents hobbies, electronics. Later,
he studied Electronics at the University.
When John was 14 years old, he formed his first band. It was called
"Opposition". John played rhythm guitar and had his first gig on
September 25,1965 at a party.As time went on they gained in popularity
within the Leicester area and was the opening band for "Rapid Raves".
In 1966, Clive Castledine, bass player for the "Opposition", quit the
band and John Deacon began to play bass.They decided to call themselves
the "New Opposition". Again in 1969, they changed the band name to
"ART".
In June of 1969, he was accepted in Chelsea College of London to study
for an Electronics career. Because of this , John had to quit his band
"Art" and move to London.
During the first year of University, John didn't play any music but he
did attend the shows of other local bands, such as one group called
Queen. The second year in London, John formed a band called "Deacon". To
his dismay, it didn't succeed and dissolved immediately.
In 1971, a friend called Christine Farnell introduced John to Brian May
and Roger Taylor. They told John that they needed a bass player for
their new band. John Deacon accepted the request of an audition from
Brian and Roger. Soon thereafter, John Deacon joined their new band. He
was the last piece of the puzzle that was needed to create the greatest
band of all times - QUEEN...