Classic Rock
Brian May talks about John Deacon still being part of Queen
Queen was formed in 1970 by Brian May, Roger Taylor and Freddie Mercury, with the bassist John Deacon joining the band in 1971. That classic line-up recorded all their classic albums and became one of the best-selling bands of all time with an estimated amount of 250 to 300 million records sold worldwide.
Advertisement
That version of the group came to an end after the death of Mercury and Deacon decided to retire in 1997. Since then he didn’t talked to the press and lives a private life. In an interview with Classic Rock, the band’s guitarist Brian May talked about the ex-bandmate and said that in some way, he is still part of the band.
Brian May talks about John Deacon still being part of Queen
“All I can say is that, historically, John was quite sensitive to stress. We all found it hard, losing Freddie, but I think John particularly struggled.”
“We did do a couple of things together, in 1996: the recording of ‘No One But You’– the song I wrote about Freddie when we were putting up the statue to commemorate him in Montreux– and one show in Paris.”
“It was to open the ballet season with an amazing new work by Maurice Béjart, about Mozart and Queen. We played with John on bass, and Elton John sang with us. At that moment, John just looked at us and said, ‘I can’t do this any more’. We knew that he at least needed a break, but as it turned out he never came back.”
“I don’t think that I can go into much more detail — we have to respect the fact that John needs his privacy now — but he’s still part of the machinery of the band.”
“If we have any major decision, business wise, it’s always run past John. It doesn’t mean he talks to us — generally he doesn’t — but he will communicate in some way. He’s still very much part of Queen,” Brian May said.
The band’s final album “Made In Heaven” was released in 1995, featuring unreleased Freddie Mercury vocals. Since then the group, formed only by Roger and May, toured with the Free/Bad Company vocalist Paul Rodgers, recording the 2008 album “C-lebrity” and since 2011 they tour with the American singer Adam Lambert.
