Freddie Mercury
WORST DRESSED ACTS IN ROK-HISTORY
Mott The Hoople
English band, Mott The Hoople were a 1970s band, with R&B roots, they thrived in the glam rock era, and were named after a Willard Manus novel, a book about an eccentric who worked in a circus freak show. They are best known for their hit: ''All The Young Dudes'', written for them by their friend and legendary artist David Bowie.
Their debut album was written in a week and was a cult hit, it covered a couple of songs: ''Laugh At Me'' by Sonny Bono and an instrumental version of ''You Really Got Me'' by The Kinks.
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Sadly, their 2nd and 3rd albums flopped and that's when David Bowie rushed to the rescue - a fan, he heard they were to split and persuaded them to stay together by writing them ''All The Young Dudes''.
A Bowie produced album, with the same title, was also successful and hit No.2 in the U.K charts.
The band eventually split in 1974, prior to this however they toured America, with Queen supporting, which resulted in a lifelong friendship. At the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in 1992, Mick Ronson, Ian Hunter and David Bowie performed ''All The Young Dudes'' for posterity.
Mott The Hoople reunited 25 years later, for 2 concerts at the Hammersmith Apollo in London, October 2009.
Wendy Gabriel
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Queen
Queen were an English rock band formed in London in 1970. The band was made up of front man Freddie Mercury, guitarist Brian May, bassist John Deacon and drummer Roger Taylor. The band was well-known for their musical diversity, vocal harmonies and multi-layered arrangements. Their Live Aid performance of 1985 was voted the best live rock performance of all time in a poll conducted by the music industry.
Queen released their debut self-titled album in 1971 to much critical acclaim but little commercial success. Their second release, 'Queen II', was released in 1972 and reached No. 5 in the charts with the lead single, 'Seven Seas of Rhye', reaching No. 10 in the UK singles chart giving them their first hit single. 1974 saw the release of their third album, 'Sheer Heart Attack', which met with commercial success. Single, 'Killer Queen', reached No.2 in the UK chart and No. 12 in the US. In 1975 the band went on their first world tour. Later in the same year, 'A Night at the Opera' was released and had great success in the UK and went triple platinum in the US. The album included hit single, 'Bohemian Rhapsody', which topped the UK charts for 9 weeks and has been voted the best single of all times on numerous occasions.
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1976 saw them back in the studio recording, 'A Day at the Races'. In the same year they also played a free concert in Hyde Park which had an attendance of over 150,000 people. 'News of the World' was released the following year and included 'We Will Rock You' and 'We Are the Champions' which were tailor made for live performance, something the band were well known for with Freddie Mercury at the helm. 1978 and 1979 saw albums 'Jazz' and 'Live Killers' released.
The 1980s began with Queen releasing, 'The Game', which went to No.1 and included No.1 singles 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love' and 'Another One Bites the Dust'. They also recorded 'Under Pressure' with David Bowie which was a No.1 hit in the UK. 1982 saw the release of funk album, 'Hot Space' and 1984 saw the release of, 'The Works' which included the likes of 'Radio Ga Ga' and 'I Want to Break Free'.
In 1985 Queen performed at Live Aid in what is considered their best ever live performance and the year ended with them releasing single 'One Vision'. Their next album, 'A Kind of Magic' contained several songs written for the film 'Highlander' and produced a string of successful hits. 1989 saw the band release album, “The Miracle” which contained “I Want It All”.
From 1988 onwards it was noticed that Mercury was looking increasingly gaunt and rumours spread that he was suffering from HIV, he strenuously denied this. In 1991 whilst on his deathbed he confirmed that he had HIV and died 12 hours later from bronchial pneumonia brought on by his condition.
This information is provided as a brief overview and not as a definitive guide, there are other sources on the net for that. If however you have a story or information that is not generally known we would love to hear from you. Content@rokpool.com
Why Not Check Out:
Brain May Band
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Mott The Hoople
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Worst Dressed Acts In Rok-History
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Brian May Band
Brian May, former lead guitarist for Queen of course, formed his own band, The Brian May Band in 1992 after the release of his first solo album ‘Back To The Light’ and after Queen front man Freddie Mercury died in November 1991. The original line-up of the band was Brian May (Lead Vocals and Lead Guitar), Neil Murray (Bass), Cozy Powell (Drums and Percussion), Mike Caswell (Guitar) and three backing vocalists. The line-up only lasted for the South-American leg of the album’s tour, with May bringing in guitarist Jamie Moses on board to replace Mike Caswell.
The band supported Guns N’ Roses on their 1993 tour, as well as headlining dates across North America and Japan. As the tour ended in December, May reunited with former Queen band mates Roger Taylor and John Deacon and created the final Queen album, ‘Made in Heaven’, on which they recorded some of Mercury’s solo tracks.
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In 1995, May worked on producing another solo album, alongside working on many TV shows and collaborations. These side-projects changed his viewpoint on his solo work, and he decided to fill the album, ‘Another World’, with his partnerships and cover songs. May has even appeared on American Idol ( obviously not as a contestant!)
Nowadays, May spends his time touring with the re-formed Queen and Paul Rogers and studying astrophysics.
Carly Page
This information is provided as a brief overview and not as a definitive guide, there are other sources on the net for that. If however you have a story or information that is not generally known we would love to hear from you. Content@rokpool.com.
