1
Freddie designed the Queen crest, using the astrological signs of the four members: two Leos, one Cancer and one Virgo. Despite this, Freddie claimed not to believe in astrology.
2
Brian’s guitar is over 200 years old. This is true, in a way. He and his Dad built it from scratch, using the wood from a 200-year-old mantelpiece.
3
The videos for ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘Spread Your Wings’ were both shot in Roger’s backyard.
4
The song ‘Keep Yourself Alive’ was released as a single twice, in 1973 and 1975. It failed to make the top 40 both times.
5
Freddie wrote ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ while in the bath. Rumour has it that he had his piano moved to his bathside. Did the piano not get wet? Did his bathwater not get cold?
6
The loosely-connected duo of albums ‘A Night At The Opera’ and ‘A Day At The Races’ were both named after silent movies by The Marx Brothers. The follow-up, ‘News Of The World’, was named after Murdoch’s ill-fated rag.
7
Freddie Mercury died on November 24 1991, from Aids related pneumonia. He had only publicly announced he was suffering from Aids the day before.
8
According to the Guinness Book Of Records, the Official International Queen Fan Club is the longest running rock group fan club in the world.
9
Brian May and Roger Taylor were playing in the band Smile alongside Tim Staffell. But Tim wasn’t so interested, so recommended his flatmate Farrokh Bulsara. Farrokh became known to the world as Freddie Mercury. Smile became known to the world as Queen.
10
The band only released ‘Another One Bites The Dust’ as a single because Michael Jackson suggested they do so (after dropping by backstage at their LA show).
11
Queen’s collaboration with David Bowie on ‘Under Pressure’ wasn’t planned – Bowie just happened to be by the studio while Queen were recording the song.
12
In 2002, Queen were given the 2,207th star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame.
13
Freddie had wanted to fix his overbite for quite some time, but feared the operation would damage his voice.
14
Back in 2006, Time Asia named Freddie Mercury as one of the most influential Asian heroes of the past 60 years.
15
Brian May has a PhD in astrophysics from Imperial College London. In 2007, he was appointed Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University.
16
Queen released a Christmas song in 1984 called ‘Thank God It’s Christmas’ – and it spent six weeks on the Singles Chart, peaking at No. 21.
17
Mercury had a long-term relationship with Mary Austin. However, their relationship ended when he began having an affair with a male who worked at Elektra Records. Mercury and Austin remained close friends, though. He once said of her: “All my lovers asked me why they couldn’t replace Mary [Austin], but it’s simply impossible. The only friend I’ve got is Mary and I don’t want anybody else.”
18
OK, who can name the four tracks that drummer Roger Taylor wrote? No? They were ‘Radio Ga Ga’, ‘A Kind of Magic’, ‘The Invisible Man’, and ‘These Are the Days of Our Lives’.
19
Freddie Mercury required his assistants to have a pen and paper with them at all times in case he was inspired and needed to jot down some ideas.
20
The lyrics for Queen’s song ‘Life Is Real’ began while the band were flying over the Atlantic from New York.
21
The line in ‘Life Is Real’ (“guilt stains on my pillow“) originally began as “cunt stains“, and then “cum stains” – but Mercury’s personal assistant Peter Freestone steered him away from those.
22
In 1999, Roger Taylor could be seen in the background of a Royal Mail stamp featuring Freddie Mercury. This caused a stir, since the only living people meant to appear on British stamps are members of the Royal Family.
23
Roger Taylor’s middle name is Meddows. Incidentally, he admitted he “hated the title of the second album, ‘Queen II’, it was so unimaginative.”
24
In his will, Freddie Mercury is said to have left £500,000 to his chef Joe Fanelli, £500,000 to his personal assistant Peter Freestone and £100,000 to his driver Terry Giddings.
25
John Deacon is also a trained electronics engineer, and he sometimes built equipment for the band to use – including the ‘Deacy Amp’.
26
According to Mercury’s friend David Wigg, the star believed his stage image prevented him from keeping relationships. “I created a monster. I’m handicapped because people think I’m like that. When I’m trying to get a relationship together I’m the nicest person you could meet, my dear. I’m a peach,” he told his friend.
27
Mercury didn’t think he was a very good pianist, and feared playing ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ live.