We are the champions: Universal Music ‘set to buy Queen’s catalog for a staggering $1billion’ in the biggest deal in music history
- English Rock band Queen are rumored to be selling their back catalog for $1 billion in a deal between Disney and Universal
- The group, who have reportedly sold over 300 million records, would hand over the rights to their albums from their self titled debut until 1995’s ‘Made in Heaven’
- It comes after artists including Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan raked in hundreds of millions in deals similar to the Queen acquisition
Rock band Queen’s entire music catalog is to sell for $1 billion in a potential sale to Universal Music Group.
A source familiar with the acquisition told CNN, that discussions are ‘well underway’ on the deal that would see UMG acquire Queen’s catalog from Disney Music Group.
The source also told the news site that the sale could potentially surpass $1 billion and that it was expected to ‘close within one month’.
This apparent megadeal would include everything from their 1973 self-titled debut album through to their 1995 album Made in Heaven, the last to feature lead singer Freddie Mercury who died four years earlier.
Should the sale be completed, it would become the biggest single-artist music catalog sale in history.
Queen band members Brian May, Roger Taylor, and John Deacon – plus the Freddie Mercury estate – each own equal shares in the company Queen Productions Ltd, which owns the group’s recording catalog outside the US and Canada.
The sale would easily surpass the $550 million paid by Sony Music Group to acquire Bruce Springsteen’s recorded music and publishing catalogs in late 2021.
This latest deal by the English group follows a string of deals over recent years that includes the music of Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie and Bob Dylan.
Warner Music bought worldwide rights to Bowie’s catalog in September 2021, and Dylan sold his back catalog of more than 600 songs in 2019 to Universal Music Group at a purchase price widely reported as $300 million.
Canadian pop star Justin Bieber cashed in earlier this year and sold his catalog for over $200 million.
The largest deal still remains to be the $550 million paid for the acquisition of Springsteen’s catalog.
Queen was formed in London in 1970 by singer Freddie Mercury, guitarist Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor and bassist John Deacon.
Since then, Queen has sold 300 million records worldwide and earned nine Top 20 hits, including No. 1s ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ and ‘Another One Bites the Dust.’
In 2018, Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ was announced as the world’s most-streamed song from the 20th century.
At the time, it had surpassed over 1.6 billion streams globally across all major streaming services.
Now, on Spotify alone, that number has soared to over 2.1 billion.
The anthem was also has been buoyed by the success of the biographical film ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ which tells the incredible story of the band’s storied career.
The film, which went on to win four Academy Awards, two Golden Globes and two BAFTA awards, grossed more than $910 million worldwide.
Despite losing Freddie Mercury in 1991, the band have toured since his passing as ‘Queen +’ with singers Paul Rodgers and most recently Adam Lambert.
Backed by Adam Lambert the group are to embark on a 22-date tour in North America later this year.
It follows on from a widely successful tour of Europe and the U.K. last year.
The group are set to perform a 150-minute set celebrating their catalog with hits including, ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’.
Speaking on the tour, guitarist Brian May said: ‘This tour has lots of new bells and lots of new whistles
‘We’ve evolved as performers, I think. We’ve stepped up our game.’
May was knighted by King Charles III in March of this year.
He had been included in the 2023 New Year Honors list.
A Disney Music Group spokesperson has denied there are plans to sell, saying: ‘We have no plans, nor do we have future plans to sell the Queen catalogue.’
