queen
The 25 Best Soundtrack Albums of the 1990s
In the 1980s, music and film collided for cross-promotional blockbusters both transcendent (Purple Rain) and transcendently cheesy (Footloose). In the ‘90s, soundtracks continued to sell in the millions, capturing cultural moments like the Seattle grunge of Singles or the Britpop and electronica of Trainspotting. Auteurs like Quentin Tarantino and Wes Anderson reached deep into their record collections to set the mood while movies like Above the Rim and Menace II Society pioneered the concept of soundtracks as hip-hop mixtapes. A great soundtrack can propel an unsuccessful single, like Seal’s “Kiss From A Rose,” to the top of the charts, or revive a decades-old hit, like Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.” It can also push a cult singer-songwriter like Elliott Smith or Aimee Mann to an Oscar perf...
Queen + Adam Lambert Releasing First-Ever Live Album
Though they’ve been touring for what feels like forever, Queen and Adam Lambert have yet to release a live album together. The 20-plus song collection Queen + Adam Live Around the World is the group’s first-ever release live release with Lambert. It drops worldwide on Oct. 2, in CD, CD+DVD, CD+Blu-ray and vinyl formats. The former American Idol contestant joined the band in 2011 and has played 218 shows with Queen to date. The set is a compilation of concert highlights personally selected by drummer Roger Taylor, guitarist Brian May and Lambert from over 200 concerts, including appearances at Rock in Rio, the UK’s Isle of Wight Festival, and one of their last performances before lockdown – the Fire Fight Australia benefit show. All formats include the band’s entire 22-minute Fire Fight Aus...
Taylor Swift’s ‘Folklore’ Set For Big Opening Sales Week In U.K.
TayTay is blowing away her rivals in the U.K. chart race. Taylor Swift’s surprise album release Folklore (EMI) has raced to the lead of the midweek chart, and is outperforming the rest of the Top 5 combined, the Official Charts Company reports. Swift’s eighth and latest album was the most downloaded and streamed LP over the weekend, according to the OCC, and is on track to become the pop star’s fifth U.K. No. 1 following Red (2012), 1989 (2014), Reputation (2017) and Lover (2019). As previously reported, three songs from the new set are tracking for Top 10 debuts on the Official U.K. Singles Chart, led by “Cardigan” at No. 4 (“Exile” with Bon Iver is at No. 7 on the Official Chart Update and “The 1” starts at No. 9). Folklore should enjoy another chart punch in months to come when it’...
Queen Becomes Third Rock Band to Appear on UK Stamps
For the third time in history, the UK’s Royal Mail is honoring a legendary band by issuing a set of stamps. After the Beatles in 2007 and Pink Floyd in 2016, Queen will now be seeing their faces in mailboxes in July. The 13-stamp set — featuring eight legendary album covers, a classic photo of the group, and four live shots of the group — releases on July 9 and is now available for preorder. “It’s hard to put into words what I feel when looking at these beautiful stamps,” Queen guitarist Brian May said in a release. “Since we four precocious boys started out on our quest 50 years ago, our lives have been devoted to making our impossible dream come true. Sometimes it’s strange to wake up and realize the position in which we are now held – we have become a national institution! And noth...
Brian May ‘Overwhelmed’ by Love and Support From Fans After Heart Attack Scare
After suffering a “small heart attack” scare earlier this week, Brian May has shared a special message to all his fans. “I’m overwhelmed,” he said in the Instagram video, “and really, more than touched by the torrent of love and support that’s come back at me after all the incredible coverage in the press, I really didn’t expect all that.” May gave fans a scare after a gardening accident where he tore his gluteus maximus and was later found to be a bigger nerve problem that “paralysed” his brain. This eventually led to a “small heart attack.” The Queen guitarist also talked about how the scores of messages that he received in his “email box” and other places made him think about how it felt like he got to hear the dedications that people make to the deceased at their funerals. “All these p...
Brian May Suffered Small Heart Attack, Compressed Sciatic Nerve After Gardening Accident
Brian May took to Instagram Sunday night to tell “the truth about what happened” to him earlier this month. Though it’s true he tore his gluteus maximus during a gardening accident, that ended up being the tip of the iceberg. A week after the incident, the Queen guitarist was still on “severe painkillers” and in agony, so he went in for a second MRI that showed a severely compressed sciatic nerve. “I could not believe the pain,” he said in the video. “That’s why I had the feeling that someone was putting a screwdriver in my back the whole time. It was excruciating.” But that’s not even all of it. The 72-year-old also revealed that he suffered “a small heart attack.” “I thought I was a very healthy guy and everyone said, ‘You’ve got a great blood pressure, you’ve got a great heart rate...
Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert From 1992 to Stream This Weekend
The Freddie Mercury tribute concert, which took place in 1992 at London’s Wembley Stadium, will be coming to YouTube for three nights, just like the upcoming Prince and the Revolution stream. The event, which was broadcasted across the globe, took place on April 20, 1992 in front of over 70,000 fans. It helped raise money for AIDS research. Throughout the night, the surviving members of Queen performed their biggest songs with some of the biggest singers in rock history including David Bowie, Robert Plant, Roger Daltrey, George Michael, Elton John and Axl Rose, Tony Iommi, James Hetfield, Seal and many, many more. Groups like Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Spinal Tap, Def Leppard and U2 performed as well. The concert will air starting at 2 pm EST/11 am PST on Friday, May 15. Viewers are asked t...
Queen’s Brian May Tore His Butt Muscle While Gardening
This week in ‘Not The Onion’ headlines: Queen guitarist Brian May tore his “butt muscle” while gardening, of all activities. Strange, but apparently all so very true. In an Instagram post that shows him wearing a mask, May outlined the whole incident, which landed him in the hospital (which is dangerous because, you know, coronavirus). “Reality check ! For me. No – the Virus didn’t get me yet – thank God. Hope you’re all keeping extra-safe out there,” the post begins. Then it gets real. “I managed to rip my gluteus maximus to shreds in a moment of over-enthusiastic gardening. So suddenly I find myself in a hospital getting scanned to find out exactly how much I’ve actually damaged myself. Turns out I did a thorough job – this is a couple of days ago – and I won’t be able to walk for a whil...
