queen - Idolator

Posts Tagged “queen”

videodrone

Freddie Mercury: In Memoriam

Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury passed away on this day in 1991, one day after he announced that he announced to the press that he had been diagnosed with AIDS. Mercury was 45 when he passed away from bronchial pneumonia, and his legacy remains unparalleled to this day—his three-octave range, penchant for theatricality, and sly wit made him one of rock's most unquestionbly iconic performers. Of course, he'll be forever enshrined in the world of classic rock radio (and fans of Mike Myers) for "Bohemian Rhapsody," but that's hardly the only song to which he brought his unique persona. A few more classic Queen selections after the jump. More »

3:00 PM on Mon Nov 24 2008
By Maura Johnston
583 views, 14 comments

Latest by rainmkr: I still thank my dad for exposing me to Queen as a kid born in '78. I didn't care for it much until I hit my teen years and realized how much variety the band had. more »

john deacon was right

The New "Queen" Album Seems Like A Really Bad Idea

Oct. 28 has been set as the release date for what the new album from what they're calling Queen these days, which features Paul Rodgers as the frontman. Put aside the fact that the disc is entitled The Cosmos Rocks, and the fact that the guy from Bad Company is singing, and you're still left with more than a few warning signs that this record might amount to one of the worst ideas in popular music history. More »

12:00 PM on Tue Sep 2 2008
By Dan Gibson
2,483 views, 13 comments

Latest by Ned Raggett: Amusingly enough (for Southern California folks): tonight at 8:30 on KCET, you can witness a Queen show not unlike the one I loved despite the damage to my split ends. The public television station is broadcasting "Queen Rock Montreal," which captures more »

upcoming releases

Brian May Reaches For The Stars, Paul Rodgers And Roger Taylor In Tow

Perhaps in celebration of guitarist Brian May finally publishing his doctoral thesis after all these years, Queen + Paul Rodgers—the Bad Company-vocalist-augmented version of the classic pomp-rock outfit—have decided to call their forthcoming album The Cosmos Rocks. (Sadly, there's no exclamation point in the title.) Looking at this sketch of May's thesis makes me wonder if the album, which comes out next month, is going to draw on inspiration close to home: More »

2:30 PM on Mon Aug 4 2008
By Maura Johnston
345 views, 1 comment

long long time ago, there was an american pie-free world

The Worst Song In The World Gets A Glitzy Makeover

As the Fourth of July approaches, radio stations around the country prepare to terrorize me by playing Don McLean's "American Pie", which is supposed to make me feel really psyched about the United States for reasons I can't quite identify. Whether in its truncated single form or its full eight-minutes-plus of bizarrely metaphored hippie nostalgia flory, "American Pie" is easily my least favorite song of all time. Which may be why I never considered ways it could be improved... like a synchronized light show! More »

11:30 AM on Fri Jun 27 2008
By Dan Gibson
410 views, 10 comments

Latest by TheMojoPin: This song is basically about being terrified of rock and/or roll from the Beatles onwards. It is easily the pussiest song that ever pussied sung by an art major (Hello,"Starry Starry Night!") nerdcase. more »

rule of sevens

Seven Songs That Are Way More Fun To Drive Around To Than "Mr. Brightside"

Once again, we celebrate the last posting day of the month with Rule Of Sevens, in which I make a bunch of seven-item lists in an effort to wipe the slate of the past 30 or 31 days clean. Today's first installment is inspired by a UK car insurance company's rundown of great songs to drive around to, which is topped by the Killers' "Mr. Brightside" and somehow contains both Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out For A Hero" (which I swear is completely "borrowed" wholesale on the new Hold Steady album) and Survivor's "Eye Of The Tiger" (which seems more appropriate for stop-and-go traffic, but maybe that's just me). With gas prices soaring and the general crumminess pervading the world at large, the need for escapist music during routine, yet increasingly expensive, trips to the grocery store is higher than ever, so this perpetual passenger (who always kicks in for fuel) brings you her seven picks for songs you should crank up on your own personal radio after the jump. More »

10:00 AM on Fri May 30 2008
By Maura Johnston
1,084 views, 32 comments

Latest by rednikki: @SmedIndy: I want to ride in YOUR car. more »

not-quite-bad company

Queen + Paul Rodgers = An Irony-Free Lampoon Of "C-Lebrities"

It's been over fifteen years since the death of Freddie Mercury, and Queen is finally ready to unleash its 5150. Guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor (bassist John Deacon has better things to do) have recorded a new album with tour compatriot and Bad Company belter Paul Rodgers. The group, which thankfully has yet to remove the "+ Paul Rodgers" from its name, performed a new number, "C-Lebrity," on Al Murray's Happy Hour. Video after the jump, If you're curious what happens when you mix middle-aged Queen harmonies with a lyric about attention whores sung by the dude from The Firm. More »

11:00 AM on Mon Apr 7 2008
By Anthony Miccio
914 views, 10 comments

Latest by sydbarrett05: Perhaps we should remember that this man sung for the band - Free...one of the best groups to ever make music on this planet...referring to him as the dude from The Firm unfortunately will taint those who may actually like more »

idolator's american idolatry

"American Idol" Encourages Americans To Be Somewhat Interested In Mika

Mika's "Grace Kelly," which got the cover treatment from the famously cast-off Josiah Leming during last week's Hollywood week episodes of American Idol, reappeared on the digital-tracks charts thanks to a 422% gain in sales; it sold 11,000 copies and came in at No. 133. Other Idol-featured songs from last week's episodes to reappear on the charts: Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," which Michael Johns sang (No. 68, 20,000 sold/+189%); Bryan Adams' "Everything I Do (I Do It For You)," which got the full-on medley treatment and sold 9,600 copies (No. 151, +164%); Adams' "Heaven" (No. 173, 8,700 sold/+447%); and Heart's "Alone," performed by Carly Smithson (No. 197, 7,900 sold/+390%) Also, Daughtry's "Home" experienced a 30% bump, although I'm going to chalk that up to the fact that so many of this year's Idol hopefuls are clearly operating in his mold. [YouTube]

3:15 PM on Wed Feb 20 2008
By Maura Johnston
229 views, 4 comments

Latest by CarsmileSteve: wait, 5,000 people downloaded "everything i do" the previous week? for no apparent reason???? more »

Today is National Kazoo Day! To celebrate, here are eleven songs that feature the kazoo prominently, including Queen's super-fantastically-goofy "Seaside Rendezvous." [EAR FARM]

4 comments

Queen's Brian May and Roger Taylor are now among the musicians who will be kicking it at Nelson Mandela's birthday party/benefit concert for Mandela's HIV/AIDS charity. This couldn't be part of their ongoing cosmic atonement for playing Sun City in the '80s, could it? [NME]

1 comment

they play fugazi at sporting events too, you know

British Writer Celebrates Fascistic, Bleacher-Stomping Jock Jam

The Guardian examines the Pavlovian magic that is Queen's "We Will Rock You" when blaring at bowel-loosening volume in a sporting arena (with a few bonus chuckles about the Holocaust and the Inquisition). In a paean to a band that no one in the English speaking world has yet forgotten, writer Joe Queenan makes a big play of the keerazy idea that the U.S. is different than the U.K. and how "the staggering success of Queen itself [exemplifies] how events can occur simultaneously, yet be remembered as having taken place in different historical eras": More »

1:15 PM on Thu Aug 16 2007
By jharv
478 views, 7 comments

Latest by Michaelangelo Matos: Queenan has written this kind of blithe claptrap before, as in his Rolling Stones piece for the NYT: [query.nytimes.com] more »

Guitarist Brian May will submit his doctoral thesis, "Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud," to the astrophysics department at Imperial College London within the next two weeks—more than 30 years after he abandoned his degreee to form Queen. Will his degree make him more inclined to rekindle his astronomy blog? Our RSS reader seems so ... dark lately. [AP via WP]

2 comments

queen

The Coulda-Shoulda-Woulda Files: Queen's Other "Flash" Of Genius

Time for another installment of the Coulda-Woulda-Shoulda Files, in which we alphabetize our vault of cassingles to find a track that came thisclose to being a hit: More »

1:04 PM on Mon Oct 9 2006
By Brian Raftery
229 views, 10 comments

myfakes

Brian May: He Will, He Will Mock You

Today's Page Six tips us off to Queen guitarist Brian May's recent online rant about MySpace, which he calls a "nuisance...[it's] bound to make people, especially children, vulnerable." His biggest problem is the spate of MyFakers who apparently have nothing better to do than pretend to be a 59-year-old Highlander fan: More »

9:53 AM on Thu Aug 31 2006
By Brian Raftery
481 views, 4 comments

Limey Lass Vs. Gator Crass: Predicting The Year-End Hot 100

Posts Tagged “queen”