Queen

**Queen** are a British rock band formed in London in 1970. The band comprised Freddie Mercury (lead vocals, piano), Brian May (guitar, vocals), Roger Taylor (drums, vocals) and John Deacon (bass).

Sources reported of there being a feud between Queen and the Sex Pistols, particularly due to the clash in genres, where Queen was named as progressive rock, while the Sex Pistols were classified under punk rock.

A popular incident reported was when Queen had to pull out of the appearance on Bill Grundy's *Today* show in December 1976, since Mercury had his first dental appointment in 15 years. A representative from their shared label, EMI Records, suggested the Sex Pistols fill in the slot, which ended up in profanity being broadcasted over live television. This ended Grundy's career and led the Sex Pistols to notoriety.

In one encounter, Freddie Mercury had to deal with the harassment of an inebriated Sid Vicious when the band were recording their sixth studio album, *News of the World*, at London's Wessex Studios. Vicious had commented, "Have you succeeded in bringing ballet to the masses yet?" and Mercury recalled his response, "I called him Simon Ferocious, or something, and he didn't like it at all. I said, 'What are you gonna do about it?' He was very well marked. I said, 'Make sure you scratch yourself in the mirror properly today, and tomorrow you're going to get something else'. He hated the fact that I could even speak like that". Peter Hince, a former Queen roadie, recalled the incident in his book *Queen Unseen* (2016), where he wrote, "Fred casually got up, walked over to him and quipped: 'Aren't you Stanley Ferocious or something?', took him by the collar and threw him out".

In a *Rolling Stone* article, Rotten reported, "Next door, Queen was recording one of their albums [News of the World] and Brian May asked me if I would do some backing vocals on their album. I don't remember which song, it's not the 'Galileo' one. But I went in and it was amazing to hear the way that Freddie [Mercury] recorded every line separately—sometimes just a word—and then they'd edit them. Bloody hell, I got one take and that's it; I'd get two if I made a mistake. I eventually realized that the music will overcome, regardless of the alleged rules and regulations that were always being thrown at us".

Drummer Roger Taylor once said in an interview to *Rolling Stone* in 1981, regarding the genre, "I mean, the first time I ever saw John Rotten, I was really shocked, 'cause I had never actually seen the whole thing in person. He sort of crystallized the whole punk attitude, and there's no doubt about it, the guy had amazing charisma". While the Sex Pistols recorded their debut at the studio, May shared in an interview, "We used to bump into them in the corridors. I had a few conversations with John Lydon, who was always very respectful. We talked about music". However, he was less complimentary towards Vicious, stating, "Sid was a moron. He was an idiot".

In his book *Punk: The Whole Story* (2008), Mark Blake compared the two frontmen, "Johnny Rotten, like Freddie Mercury, was a self-made creation. Both Lydon and Bulsara [Mercury's actual surname] appeared to be fundamentally shy boys who had acquired a larger-than-life persona to mask all sorts of insecurities."

In 2017, May appeared on Steve Jones' radio show, *Jonesy's Jukebox*. May said, "You made an album which changed the world, and I think we did as well [with News of the World]. To me *Never Mind the Bollocks* is a great album. Pure music, apart from all the social arguments. It's a great album".

## References

1. ↑ Ott, Tim (26 June 2020). "How Freddie Mercury Inadvertently Gave the Sex Pistols Their Big Break".
2. ↑ Bowenbank, Starr (11 August 2018). "Freddie Mercury's 5 Sassiest Moments". *Billboard*.
3. ↑ Grow, Kory (27 October 2017). "Sex Pistols Break Down 'Never Mind the Bollocks' Track by Track". *Rolling Stone*.
4. ↑ Runtagh, Jordan (23 November 2016). "Freddie Mercury: 10 Things You Didn't Know Queen Singer Did". *Rolling Stone*.
5. ↑ Chiu, David (16 October 2017). "How Queen Weathered The Sex Pistols & Punk With News Of The World". *The Quietus*.