I wonder

I’m writing this 34 years to the day I saw Queen’s last ever concert.  It was at Knebworth Park; an intimate affair with only around 150,000 others there.

And today, to mark that anniversary I’m listening to their music.  It’s both a sad and happy day.  Happy because I love their music, but sad because of course Freddie Mercury is no longer with us.

I often find myself wondering whether the band would still be together today (I think they would be) and if they were what sort of music they’d be making.

Queen were famously never the same from one album (or one song even) to another, and listening to them over the years there is a definite change in style.  From the heavy and bombastic early albums, through the classic rock years (their zenith for me) and then into the 80s when they became one of the World’s biggest rock / pop acts.

me and a few mates

Listening to the last album recorded before Freddie’s death, “Innuendo”, I get the idea they were getting back to their early days somewhat with multi-layered harmonies and guitars returning and laced with great music but with a much more mature intent.  

I think though that they would have continued to evolve and change and explore more styles and influences – classical maybe.

Of course, we’ll never know, and while Queen (well Brian May and Roger Taylor anyway) continue to tour their greatest hits, there’s been no new music in over a decade.

For me, Queen ended when Freddie died, and this was cemented when John Deacon retired a few years later.  We’ll never know what they would have gone on to produce.  But they at least left us with one hell of a back catalogue of music and memories.