QUEEN
Biography and discography of Queen, the British rock band, with a page for each of their fifteen studio albums from the 1973 debut Queen to Made in Heaven in 1995 and for Queen I, the 2024 remix of the debut, including running orders, CD details, liner notes, official videos and their concerts in Japan.
Biography
QUEEN
Biography
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1970. Freddie Mercury joined Brian May and Roger Taylor, whose band Smile had just lost its singer, and gave the new group its name; John Deacon completed the line-up in 1971. With Freddie they made fourteen studio albums, from Queen in 1973 to Innuendo in 1991, and "Bohemian Rhapsody" spent nine weeks at No. 1 in Britain in 1975. After Freddie died on 24 November 1991, the other three finished his last recordings as Made in Heaven, released in 1995, and May and Taylor have since carried on with Paul Rodgers and then Adam Lambert as their singer. Japan took the band to its heart from their first visit in April 1975: they toured there six times with Freddie and came back five more times by 2024.
Formation (1968-1972)
Queen grew out of Smile, the band Brian May and Tim Staffell formed in 1968. May was studying physics at Imperial College in London and Staffell was at Ealing College of Art, and a notice asking for a drummer brought in Roger Taylor, then a dentistry student. Smile released a single, "Earth", on Mercury Records in America in August 1969, without success, and when Staffell left in the spring of 1970 the label dropped the band (Ultimate Classic Rock).
Freddie Mercury was born Farrokh Bulsara on the island of Zanzibar on 5 September 1946 and spent most of his childhood in India. In 1964 his family moved to Middlesex, and while studying graphic design at Ealing College of Art he sang with bands including Wreckage (official site). A friend of Staffell's who went to many of Smile's shows, Freddie persuaded May and Taylor to start again as a completely new band and came up with the name Queen; he wanted the band to be, in his words, "regal and majestic" (Ultimate Classic Rock; Freddie Mercury's official site; Rolling Stone).
According to the band's own live archive, Queen first played under that name on 27 June 1970 at the City Hall in Truro, Cornwall, with Mike Grose and then Barry Mitchell on bass (official site). The last to join was John Deacon, an electronics student at Chelsea College in London, who became the fourth member on 1 March 1971, aged 19 (official site); the material for the 2024 release Queen I gives the month as July 1971 instead (Blabbermouth; Universal Music Japan).
Between November 1971 and January 1972 the band helped De Lane Lea test its new studios in Wembley and came away with a five-song demo, which led the brothers Norman and Barry Sheffield to sign them to Trident Audio Productions. Work on the first album began in May 1972 at Trident Studios in London, in the hours when the studio was free, usually at night (Blabbermouth; Universal Music Japan). Around this time Freddie designed the band's crest, built on the four members' star signs, which appeared on the back of the first album (official site; Rolling Stone).
From the debut to A Night at the Opera (1973-1975)
In February 1973 Queen recorded their first session for John Peel's programme on BBC Radio 1. Trident signed the band to EMI in Britain and Elektra in America, and the debut album, Queen, came out in Britain on 13 July 1973 (Blabbermouth; official site); the Japanese edition followed in March 1974 (Universal Music Japan). With their second album, Queen II, in March 1974 they toured Britain as headliners for the first time, "Seven Seas of Rhye" became their first hit single and the album reached No. 5. The third, Sheer Heart Attack, released that November, reached No. 2 in Britain and No. 12 in America, and its single "Killer Queen" became an international hit (official site).
Even so, by the start of 1975 the band were in serious financial trouble. The lawyer Jim Beach negotiated their release from the Trident deal, and the fourth album, A Night at the Opera, recorded between August and November 1975 in six studios and released on 21 November, gave them their first No. 1 album in Britain and their first platinum record (official site). Its single "Bohemian Rhapsody" ran for 5 minutes 55 seconds, and its length and unconventional structure almost stopped it from being released; Freddie insisted, and it stayed at No. 1 in Britain for nine weeks. The band's site credits its video, directed by Bruce Gowers, as the first true promotional video (official site).
To the top (1976-1979)
In 1976 Queen toured America, Japan and Australia, and in September they gave a free concert in London's Hyde Park to an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 people (official site). Their fifth album, A Day at the Races, released on 10 December, was the first they produced themselves and went to No. 1 in Britain; it includes "Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)", which Brian May wrote for their Japanese fans (official site; official series Queen The Greatest). From the sixth album, News of the World, released on 28 October 1977, came the single pairing Freddie's "We Are the Champions" with May's "We Will Rock You", which became Elektra's biggest-selling single to date in America (official site).
The seventh album, Jazz, released on 10 November 1978, was their first recorded outside Britain, in Montreux, Switzerland, and in Nice in the south of France. In 1979 recordings from their European tour became their first live album, Live Killers, and in April and May they played fifteen shows in Japan (official site).
The 1980s (1980-1986)
The eighth album, The Game, released on 30 June 1980, was their first with the producer Mack in Munich and the first Queen album to use a synthesizer. It went to No. 1 in Britain and became their first No. 1 album in America. Deacon's "Another One Bites the Dust" spent three weeks at No. 1 in America, and Freddie's "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" also topped the American chart. On 8 December came Flash Gordon, the only full film soundtrack they made (official site).
In February 1981 they played five shows at the Budokan in Tokyo, and at the end of that month began playing stadiums in Argentina and Brazil; the band's site calls them the first band to take a stadium tour to South America. Greatest Hits, released later that year, went on to become the best-selling album of all time in Britain and, in 2022, the first to reach seven million chart sales there (official site; Official Charts Company).
The tenth album, Hot Space, released in May 1982, leaned further into funk and disco, which put off some fans. "Under Pressure", created with David Bowie at their studio in Montreux, had come out as a single the previous October and gone to No. 1 in Britain. That year's American tour proved to be their last. The eleventh album, The Works, released on 27 February 1984, was greeted as a return to their rock roots, and Taylor's "Radio Ga Ga" went to No. 1 in nineteen countries (official site).
On 13 July 1985 they played Live Aid, held to raise money for the famine in Ethiopia: at Wembley Stadium in London they played for 21 minutes to a worldwide audience estimated at 1.9 billion, and the band's site says the set is still widely seen as the best live show ever given (official site). The twelfth album, A Kind of Magic, released in June 1986, grew out of songs for the film Highlander and entered the British chart at No. 1. The Magic Tour that followed played twenty-six shows in Britain and nine other European countries; in Budapest on 27 July Queen became the first major rock band to play a stadium in the Eastern Bloc, and the show at Knebworth Park on 9 August was their last concert with Freddie (official site).
Freddie Mercury's last years and Made in Heaven (1987-1995)
In 1987 Freddie recorded the album Barcelona with the opera singer Montserrat Caballé, and Taylor formed a new band, the Cross. The thirteenth album, The Miracle, released on 22 May 1989, was the first with every song credited to the band as a whole; it went to No. 1 in Britain, but there was no tour (official site).
The fourteenth album, Innuendo, released on 4 February 1991, also went to No. 1 in Britain. While it was being made, only a few people close to Freddie knew how ill he was, and the band kept it from the public to the end (official site). On 23 November 1991 Freddie announced that he had AIDS, and the next day he died at his home in west London, aged 45 (official site; BBC). A tribute double A-side of "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "These Are the Days of Our Lives" spent five weeks at No. 1 in Britain, making Queen the first band to top the British chart twice with the same single (official site).
On 20 April 1992 the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert was held at Wembley Stadium. Its 72,000 tickets sold out in six hours, and its proceeds went to the Mercury Phoenix Trust, the AIDS charity founded at the time (official site). Over the next four years the remaining three completed the fifteenth album, Made in Heaven, from Freddie's last recordings, and released it on 6 November 1995. Its cover shows the statue of Freddie beside Lake Geneva, where he wrote and recorded his last songs (official site).
After 1991
John Deacon's last stage appearance with Queen was in Paris on 17 January 1997, and his last recording with them was "No-One But You (Only the Good Die Young)" that October; he has since retired from the band but stays in touch with May and Taylor (official site). Queen were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March 2001, and in May 2002 the musical We Will Rock You, built on their songs, opened in London, where it ran for twelve years at the Dominion Theatre (official site).
In November 2004 May and Taylor performed for the first time with Paul Rodgers, the former singer of Free and Bad Company. As Queen + Paul Rodgers they toured in 2005 for the first time since 1986 and released the studio album The Cosmos Rocks in 2008, and in 2009 Rodgers brought the partnership to an end (official site; Blabbermouth). Adam Lambert, who first sang with them in the final of the American television show American Idol in May 2009, played his first show with them as Queen + Adam Lambert in Kyiv, Ukraine, in June 2012 (Universal Music Japan).
In 2018 came the biographical film Bohemian Rhapsody, with May and Taylor as its music producers. It became the highest-grossing music biopic ever at the time, and its soundtrack was the first official release of the band's Live Aid audio (Freddie Mercury's official site; official site; Universal Music Japan). Queen + Adam Lambert's live album Live Around the World, released on 2 October 2020, went to No. 1 in Britain, Queen's first No. 1 album since Made in Heaven twenty-five years earlier (Universal Music Japan). On 25 October 2024 came Queen I, a new mix of the debut album with "Mad the Swine", left off the 1973 release, restored as the fourth track (Universal Music Japan; Blabbermouth). May was knighted in the New Year Honours of 2023 (official site).
Box sets include Queen II (Collector's Edition) (2026), the five-CD and two-LP box built around the 2026 mix of Queen II.
The members
Queen's official site presents four members: Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon. May and Taylor carry on today, and since 2012 Adam Lambert has been their singer, with the shows billed as Queen + Adam Lambert (official site; Universal Music Japan).
Freddie Mercury (vocals, piano; 1970-1991) wrote "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Somebody to Love" and "We Are the Champions", among others, and released the solo album Mr. Bad Guy in 1985 (official site; Freddie Mercury's official site). Brian May (guitar) was born in Twickenham on 19 July 1947; the guitar he built with his father as a teenager, the Red Special, is the one he has played on every Queen album (The Guardian). He wrote "We Will Rock You" and "Who Wants to Live Forever", among others, and in 2007 completed a PhD in astrophysics at Imperial College (official site).
Roger Taylor (drums) was born in King's Lynn, Norfolk, on 26 July 1949. He wrote "Radio Ga Ga" and "A Kind of Magic", among others; every one of Queen's fifteen studio albums includes at least one of his songs, and he has made solo albums since Fun in Space in 1981 (official site). John Deacon (bass; 1971-1997) was born in Leicester on 19 August 1951. He wrote "You're My Best Friend", "Another One Bites the Dust" and "I Want to Break Free", among others, and withdrew from the band after 1997 (official site).
Discography
The fifteen studio albums, Queen I, the 2024 mix of the debut, and Queen II (Collector's Edition), the box set built around the 2026 mix of Queen II, in order of first release (official site; Universal Music Japan).
| Released | Title | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Queen | Studio album | The debut |
| 1974 | Queen II | Studio album | Includes "Seven Seas of Rhye" |
| 1974 | Sheer Heart Attack | Studio album | Includes "Killer Queen" |
| 1975 | A Night at the Opera | Studio album | Their first No. 1 album in Britain |
| 1976 | A Day at the Races | Studio album | Their first self-produced album |
| 1977 | News of the World | Studio album | Includes "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions" |
| 1978 | Jazz | Studio album | Their first album recorded outside Britain |
| 1980 | The Game | Studio album | Their first album with a synthesizer |
| 1980 | Flash Gordon | Studio album (soundtrack) | Music for the film of the same name |
| 1982 | Hot Space | Studio album | Includes "Under Pressure" with David Bowie |
| 1984 | The Works | Studio album | Includes "Radio Ga Ga" |
| 1986 | A Kind of Magic | Studio album | Grew out of songs for the film Highlander |
| 1989 | The Miracle | Studio album | Every song credited to Queen as a whole |
| 1991 | Innuendo | Studio album | The last studio album released in Freddie's lifetime |
| 1995 | Made in Heaven | Studio album | Completed from Freddie's last recordings |
| 2024 | Queen I | 2024 mix of the debut | "Mad the Swine" restored to its intended place |
| 2026 | Queen II (Collector's Edition) | Box set | The 2026 mix of Queen II with unreleased takes of every song, the BBC sessions and live recordings, on five CDs and two LPs |
Beyond these, the live albums include Live Killers (1979), Live Magic (1986) and Live at Wembley '86 (1992), and the compilations include Greatest Hits (1981), Greatest Hits II (1991), Queen Rocks (1997), Queen Forever (2014) and, in Japan only, Jewels (2004). The studio album The Cosmos Rocks (2008) belongs to Queen + Paul Rodgers, and the live album Live Around the World (2020) to Queen + Adam Lambert (official site; Universal Music Japan; Blabbermouth).
Concerts in Japan
In Japan the magazine Music Life began covering Queen in 1974, and "Killer Queen" became a hit there in 1975 (official series Queen The Greatest; Universal Music Japan). On 17 April 1975 more than 3,000 young fans were waiting at Haneda Airport when the four arrived for their first Japanese tour. Still only starting out at home, they were overwhelmed, and the frenzy, which came to be called Queen Mania, returned with every Japanese visit after it (official site; Universal Music Japan). In 2015, 17 April was officially recognised as Queen Day, and it is registered with the Japan Anniversary Association (Universal Music Japan). The first concert took place at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo on 19 April, and the tour ran to eight shows (official series; Universal Music Japan).
Out of that first meeting, Brian May wrote "Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)" as a tribute to their Japanese fans. With two choruses sung in Japanese, it was released as a single only in Japan (official series; official site), and Queen + Adam Lambert have played it at their Japanese shows too (Universal Music Japan).
Queen came back in 1976, 1979, 1981, 1982 and 1985. The open-air show at Seibu Lions Stadium on 3 November 1982 was released in Japan only as the video Live in Japan, and their 1985 shows were the last they played in Japan with Freddie (official site; Universal Music Japan). After his death they returned in 2005 as Queen + Paul Rodgers, and in 2014, 2016, 2020 and 2024 as Queen + Adam Lambert. The Budokan show of 23 September 2016 was Queen's twentieth there counting from 1975, and their first dome tour of Japan, in February 2024, took them to the Tokyo Dome for the first time (official site; Universal Music Japan).
In 2004 the Japan-only compilation Jewels, built around songs heard in the television drama Pride, sold more than a million copies, and Queen were named international Artist of the Year at the 19th Japan Gold Disc Awards (official series; Universal Music Japan; RIAJ). The film Bohemian Rhapsody, released in Japan on 9 November 2018, took 11.66 billion yen at the Japanese box office by 17 February 2019, second only to the United States (Universal Music Japan). Queen + Adam Lambert appeared on NHK's year-end show Kohaku Uta Gassen in 2023 (Universal Music Japan).
| Year | Tour | Cities and venues |
|---|---|---|
| April-May 1975 | First Japanese tour | Eight shows: Tokyo, Nippon Budokan (the opening night on 19 April and the closing night on 1 May); Nagoya; Kobe; Fukuoka; Okayama; Tsumagoi in Kakegawa, Shizuoka; and Yokohama |
| March-April 1976 | Second Japanese tour | Eleven shows in six cities: Tokyo, Nippon Budokan (three, including the opening night on 22 March); Nagoya; Himeji; Fukuoka; Osaka; Sendai; and Tokyo, Nichidai Kodo (the closing night on 4 April) |
| April-May 1979 | Third Japanese tour | Fifteen shows, among them five at the Nippon Budokan, Tokyo, and dates in Osaka, Kanazawa, Kobe, Nagoya, Fukuoka and Sapporo |
| February 1981 | Fourth Japanese tour | Five shows at the Nippon Budokan, Tokyo |
| October-November 1982 | The Hot Space tour | Six shows in five cities, including Sapporo (29 October), Hankyu Nishinomiya Stadium and Seibu Lions Stadium (3 November) |
| May 1985 | The Works tour | Tokyo, Nippon Budokan (8 and 9 May) and Yoyogi National Gymnasium (11 May); Nagoya, Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium (13 May); Osaka-jo Hall (15 May); the last Japanese shows with Freddie |
| October-November 2005 | Queen + Paul Rodgers | Saitama Super Arena (two shows), Yokohama Arena (two shows), Nagoya Dome, Fukuoka Yahoo! JAPAN Dome |
| August 2014 | Queen + Adam Lambert (Summer Sonic 2014) | Osaka, Maishima (16th); Tokyo, QVC Marine Field and Makuhari Messe (17th) |
| September 2016 | Queen + Adam Lambert | Tokyo, Nippon Budokan (three shows, 21st-23rd) |
| January 2020 | Queen + Adam Lambert (The Rhapsody Tour) | Saitama Super Arena (25th and 26th), Kyocera Dome Osaka (28th), Nagoya Dome (30th) |
| February 2024 | Queen + Adam Lambert (The Rhapsody Tour) | Vantelin Dome Nagoya (4th), Kyocera Dome Osaka (7th), Sapporo Dome (10th, with GLAY as special guests), Tokyo Dome (13th and 14th) |
About the sources
The sources are Queen's official site, queenonline.com (the band and member pages, the album notes, the live archive and news); the official sites of Freddie Mercury and Brian May, including the notes for the official video series Queen The Greatest; Universal Music Japan's Queen site (its Japanese liner notes, news, and announcements and reports of the Japanese tours) and Universal Music Canada's press material; the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame; the Recording Industry Association of Japan; the Official Charts Company; the BBC; The Guardian; Rolling Stone; Ultimate Classic Rock; Blabbermouth.net; and Oricon. Where sources disagree, as on the month John Deacon joined, the text says so.
Trivia
On 17 April 1975 more than 3,000 young fans were waiting at Haneda Airport when Queen arrived for their first tour of Japan. According to the band's site the four were visibly overwhelmed, and the frenzy, which came to be called Queen Mania, returned with every Japanese tour after it. Roger Taylor recalls in the official series Queen The Greatest that they knew there was demand for them, but only realised at the airport that the welcome was on another scale altogether. Kaz Utsunomiya, a long-standing friend of the band, said anyone at the airport that day would have thought it was the Beatles all over again.
In Japan, 17 April is Queen Day. In 2015, forty years after the band's first visit, the day they first landed at Haneda Airport was officially recognised as Queen Day in Japan, and an anniversary event was held that day in the airport's international passenger terminal. According to Universal Music Japan, the day is certified and registered by the Japan Anniversary Association.
Queen's first concert in Japan was at the Nippon Budokan on 19 April 1975. In September 2016, when they returned there as Queen + Adam Lambert for the first time since 1985, the last of the three nights, on the 23rd, was Queen's twentieth Budokan show counting from that first one. When the extra night was announced, Roger Taylor said they were honoured to play a third show at the very first venue they had played in Japan, and that things had come full circle.
"Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)", on A Day at the Races in 1976, was written by Brian May as a tribute to the Japanese fans, out of the bond formed on the band's first visit, and its two choruses are sung in Japanese. Because it was released as a single only in Japan, it appears only on the Japanese edition of the 1981 Greatest Hits, just as "Love of My Life" appears only on the South American one.
Kaoruko Togo, the former editor of Music Life, has written that she heard about "Teo Torriatte" before it was recorded. Covering the free concert in London's Hyde Park on 18 September 1976, she asked about the next album, and Roger Taylor told her it was still a secret but that it would include a song with Japanese in it. Neither its title nor its sound was known then; it turned out to be "Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)" on A Day at the Races, released in Japan the following year.
Queen's first live album, Live Killers, was recorded on their European tour between January and March 1979, but its cover photograph was taken in Japan. According to the band's site, Koh Hasebe shot it during the Japanese tour that April: the band at the end of the night, almost in silhouette against the huge lighting rig known as the Pizza Oven as it came down towards the stage.
Queen's 1982 Japanese tour ran to six shows in five cities and ended with an open-air concert at Seibu Lions Stadium on 3 November, which was filmed and released in Japan only as the video Live in Japan. After playing Sapporo on 29 October on that tour, Queen did not return to the city until 10 February 2024, 42 years later, when Queen + Adam Lambert played the Sapporo Dome with GLAY, a band from Hokkaido, as special guests.
Jewels, a compilation released only in Japan in 2004, gathered Queen songs used in the television drama Pride and sold more than a million copies. On that year's sales Queen were named international Artist of the Year at the 19th Japan Gold Disc Awards. Together with its follow-up, Jewels II, it sold more than 1.6 million, and in 2014 the two were released digitally for the first time to mark the band's return to Japan.
News
Brian May: 'I Have Actually Never Said QUEEN Won't Ever Tour Again'
He says his comment in an interview with The Times was misquoted.
QUEEN's Brian May Doesn't Want To Tour Again: 'I'm Thinking Maybe 50 Years Is Enough'
May told The Times that he decided 18 months ago not to tour again. He still has an immersive QUEEN show in mind, but voiced serious misgivings that, for now, it cannot be made without A.I.
QUEEN’s BRIAN MAY Joins ROGER TAYLOR On Stage In London
May appeared at Taylor’s September 28 solo concert at the Roundhouse in London. Taylor, 77, is promoting his solo album "Violence Insane In A Beautiful World"; he sang lead throughout the two-hour set and played drums on only one track. May came up for the final two songs, "We Will Rock You" and "Radio Ga Ga".
QUEEN's Brian May Launches "The Red Special Gin" With A London Distillery
Made with Portobello Road Distillery, the gin is named after May's own Red Special guitar. "Like the electric guitar, this Red Special has to be enjoyed responsibly," he says.
QUEEN’s Roger Taylor Shares A Beautiful World Music Video From Violence Insane In A Beautiful World
The album’s opening track features the Ndlovu Youth Choir. The album is out now via Columbia Records, and a UK tour begins on September 21.
Play MVBRIAN MAY Says TONY IOMMI Will Also Appear On WILLIAM SHATNER's Heavy Metal Album
In an interview with Zoe Ball on the U.K.'s Greatest Hits Radio, the Queen guitarist confirmed he features as a guest on 95-year-old William Shatner's metal album and said Tony Iommi appears on it too. May, who worked on his track remotely, said he insisted on meeting Shatner so he could play it to him in person.
Steve Cropper’s Posthumous Album "Watching The Tide" Was Released On August 28, With A Video For The Brian May-Sung "My Angels Are Calling"
The twelve-track album includes "My Angels Are Calling", co-written and sung by Queen’s Brian May with a solo from ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons. May says he tried to speak with Cropper’s voice as a tribute to him.
Play MVQUEEN's ‘QUEEN BUDAPEST’ Sets Its Japanese Theatrical Run — IMAX Advance Screenings On October 7
IMAX advance screenings take place on October 7 at TOHO Cinemas Shinjuku and TOHO Cinemas Nagoya Sakae, followed by a two-day nationwide run on October 7 and October 10, with some theatres on different dates. Admission is a flat ¥3,000, and the multi-format release on October 30 includes Japanese editions of the Blu-ray and the 2CD.
QUEEN To Screen The Restored 1986 Budapest Concert Film In London On October 3
“Queen Budapest”, restored by Peter Jackson's team, gets two screenings at The Roundhouse on October 3, at 2pm and 7pm, and arrives on Blu-ray, DVD, CD and 3LP on October 30. It is the last filmed live performance featuring Freddie Mercury.
Play MVQUEEN's ROGER TAYLOR Shares 'I See You Now' Single From Upcoming Solo Album 'Violence Insane In A Beautiful World'
The album arrives September 18 via Columbia Records, preceded by this second single.
Current Members
Current line-up as published by the band's official site, verified on 2026-10-15.
Albums
Queen's 1973 debut remixed in 2024 and retitled Queen I, with "Mad the Swine" restored as the fourth track, where the band had wanted it in 1972.
Queen's fifteenth album, from November 1995: the last studio album, completed over four years by the other three around vocals Freddie Mercury left.
Queen's fourteenth album, released in February 1991 (in Japan on 30 January): the last released in Freddie Mercury's lifetime, and a UK No. 1.
Queen's thirteenth album, released in May 1989: the first to credit every song to the whole band, behind a cover that merges the four faces into one.
Queen's twelfth album, from June 1986: built around the songs they wrote for the film Highlander, it entered the British chart at No. 1.
Queen's eleventh album, released on 27 February 1984: a UK No. 2 with four singles, among them "Radio Ga Ga" and "I Want to Break Free".
Queen's tenth album, from May 1982: the band took the funk of "Another One Bites the Dust" further, with horns, synth bass and drum machines.
Queen's ninth album and first soundtrack, released on 8 December 1980: eighteen pieces for the film Flash Gordon, woven together with its dialogue.
Queen's eighth album, released in June 1980: recorded in Munich, their first with a synthesizer, and a No. 1 album in both Britain and America.
Queen's seventh album, released in November 1978: their first made outside Britain, with Roy Thomas Baker back as co-producer, across 13 songs.
Queen's sixth album, released in October 1977: made in about ten weeks, it opens with "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions".
Queen's fifth album, released in December 1976: their first self-produced record, closing with a song sung partly in Japanese for their fans there.
Queen's fourth album, released in November 1975: twelve songs recorded in six studios, "Bohemian Rhapsody" among them, and their first UK No. 1.
Queen's third album, from November 1974: recorded in four studios around Brian May's illness, it reached No. 2 in Britain, as did "Killer Queen".
Queen's second album, released in March 1974: a Side White led by Brian May, a Side Black all Freddie Mercury's, and No. 5 in Britain.
Queen's debut, released in July 1973: recorded in Trident's spare studio hours, with "Keep Yourself Alive", "Liar" and no synthesizers.
BOX
Box sets and multi-disc anniversary and expanded editions, listed separately from the albums.
Queen II in its 2026 mix, with unreleased takes of every song, the BBC sessions and 1973-75 live recordings: five CDs and two LPs in the Collector's Edition.