Queen The Greatest – a celebration of 50 of the greatest songs, performances and achievements from the Queen story so far. To start the journey we revisit the song that started it all, Keep Yourself Alive.
Queen The Greatest - celebrating 50 of Queen's greatest moments. It's 1974 and the band get to follow in the footsteps of their heroes when they deliver three memorable sell out shows at London's prestigious venue, The Rainbow.
A look back at the single that brought Queen their first major chart success before going on to become one of the band's most recognised and well-loved compositions. A timeless classic, it continues to attract new fans and as recently as 2018 was covered by 5SOS.
As Queen's fan base started to grow outside the UK, so did the number of foreign cities featuring on the tour schedule. Each presented an exciting new experience for the band, and opportunity to connect with new fans from different countries, which is exactly what happened in November 1974 for one such 12 year old fan who had an extraordinary encounter with Freddie, Roger, Brian and John.
Continuing the celebration of some of Queen's greatest achievements so far, in this episode we revisit A Night At The Opera. Considered by many to be their best album, Queen's perilous financial situation at the time made this an incredibly risky leap of faith, creating a genuine make or break moment for the band.
Continuing the journey through some of Queen's outstanding moments from the last 50 years, we celebrate the extraordinary achievement that has seen all four members of the band write hit singles for Queen. The songs will be very familiar, but who composed them might come as a surprise. This week, we look at five hits penned by drummer, Roger Taylor.
"I remember being quite worried about it!" (Roger Taylor). A look back at Christmas Eve, 1975, as Queen prepare to perform a live concert for the first time in front of a TV and Radio audience of millions. Includes rare audio and images from the sound-check.
After the incredible success of A Night At The Opera and Bohemian Rhapsody, all eyes were on Queen to see what they would do next. As Freddie Mercury worked on his next composition, inspiration came from one of the world's finest singers and ended up with him, Brian and Roger becoming a Gospel choir. Was it better than Bohemian Rhapsody? The man himself thinks it might be...
Following their breakthrough year of 1975, Queen wanted to say thank you to their UK fans, and what better way than to stage an enormous free concert in London's Hyde Park. It was Queen's biggest show to date, and as rare interview and news footage from the time reveals, it truly was a night to remember.
An exclusive interview with Brian May revealing the inspiration behind not just one of Queen's greatest hits, but one of the most recognisable and loved songs in the history of rock music.
Continuing the celebration of one of Queen's most famous hits with an exclusive interview with Brian May. This episode Brian reveals the secrets of the track's iconic guitar solo.
Having celebrated We Will Rock You last week, this next episode has to be, of course, all about We Are The Champions. Freddie's anthem may have been 'the most egotistical thing I've ever written', but it is also the perfect crowd pleaser to bring any Queen show to a thundering climax.
A celebration of Queen's long lasting relationship with Japan which started when the band were overwhelmed by the extraordinary welcome at the airport when they arrived for their first tour in 1975.
Continuing our celebration of Queen's enduring relationship with Japan - highlighted by a smash hit Album release in 2004 and an extraordinary festival performance ten years later.
Continuing the journey through some of Queen's outstanding moments from the last 50 years, we celebrate the extraordinary achievement that has seen all four members of the band write hit singles for Queen. This week, we look at five iconic hits brought to the band by brilliant bassist, John Deacon.
After seven years together, Queen's dream of creative and financial independence finally comes true. A look behind the scenes at that pivotal moment, featuring archive footage of Freddie, John and Roger, as well as a rare interview with the band's long term manager, Jim Beach.
As the 70s draw to a close, a change of scenery and a song written in ten minutes by Freddie in the bath, finally delivers that elusive number 1 slot across the board in America.
Queen kick off the 1980's in style with what would become their biggest selling single ever. But in true Queen fashion, it was a song unlike any of their others, coming from an unlikely source, and representing another massive gamble.
An unusual venture sees Queen take on a movie soundtrack, with the band determined the resulting album should be as musically rewarding as their previous ones. Brian and Roger describe how this exciting project came about and broke new ground.
To mark the bands first decade, Queen's Greatest Hits was released - packed with 17 of their biggest hits to date. Today it's still the ultimate playlist, and the biggest selling UK album, ever.
Celebrating five of Queen's biggest hits, all written by the band's iconic lead guitarist - Brian May. Including classics such as "I Want It All", "Save Me" and, of course, "We Will Rock You".
Off the back of their tremendous success in North America, Queen are invited to venture into new territory and tour South America. It turns out to be one of their biggest challenges yet - but the response from the vast, enthusiastic crowds is beyond anything they could have imagined.
Celebrating what is, for many, the greatest collaboration in rock history. The story of how Queen were joined in Montreux by David Bowie, and a night of fooling around in the recording studio resulted in a number one single.
Having essentially invented the Music Video with Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen went on to create some of the most iconic promos in rock history. Here we celebrate a few of their finest, including a couple that upset the suits at MTV.
Celebrating another Queen classic, this time composed by Roger Taylor, which was not only a worldwide smash hit single, but also arguably the band's most distinctive video, as well as a year later at Live Aid, becoming one of the most memorable moments in the history of live music.
Celebrating the evolution of Freddie Mercury as the ultimate showman. From the beginning, Freddie understood the importance of winning a crowd, and over the years became the absolute master - culminating in one of the most iconic moments in music history at Live Aid in 1985.
Originally released on Queen's 1975 "A Night At The Opera" album, this beautifully unassuming ballad looked destined to be one of the band's hidden gems. Instead, it grew into an emotional duet that is a cornerstone moment in the Queen live show to this very day.
No celebration of Queen's greatest moments would be complete without a look back at their record breaking performance at Rock In Rio, featuring some rare interviews from the after show party.
Queen's finest 20 minutes? Hear from all four members of the band as we look back at Queen's stunning contribution to one of the most important and memorable events in music history.
A fascinating glimpse of Queen at work in the studio on the smash hit single "One Vision", which resulted from, at the time, a unique collaboration between all four band members....with added help from a Chinese Takeaway menu.
With just twenty minutes of rough footage to show, Director Russell Mulcahy hoped it would be enough to persuade Queen to write one song for his new movie. He ended up with an entire soundtrack that included some massive hits.
It's 1986 and preparations are underway for what would become Queen's biggest and most successful stadium tour. This is the first in a two part story going behind the scenes of the record breaking Magic Tour.
Continuing our look at Queen's record breaking Magic Tour. As the tour reaches its climax, and within just a few short weeks of each other, Queen play three of their most memorable and iconic gigs.
When it comes to their work in the studio, and their live performances on stage, Queen have reached iconic status. But in true rock n roll fashion, their ability to throw an extravagant party, is also legendary.
To complete the celebration of Queen's song writing prowess by looking at which band member wrote which hits, this week it's the turn of the majestic Freddie Mercury. Incredibly, despite some of his biggest hits having been covered in earlier episodes of this series, there were still plenty of absolute classics to choose from.
A look back at how Queen roared into the 1990's and celebrated their twentieth anniversary with the release of the Innuendo single and album, both of which entered the UK charts at number 1.
One of the cornerstones of the Queen sound, Brian May and his legendary Red Special guitar are an integral part of any Queen song or performance. Here Brian reveals how he approaches his unique live solos.
A look at the hugely influential contribution of Queen's very own Roger Taylor and how, despite his reluctance to do them, his brilliant drum solos have evolved over the years.
Determined to give their best friend the 'biggest send off in history', Roger, Brian, John and Jim Beach prepare a celebration concert that would become one of the most memorable nights in music history.
A look back at Queen's fastest selling studio album. Compiled by recordings made by Freddie in his last days, this was an emotionally challenging experience for Brian, Roger and John - but the results are stunning.
Revisiting the extraordinary collaboration between Queen, Versace and the revolutionary choreographer, Maurice Bejart (with some Mozart added for good measure!) - and featuring what would be John Deacon's final live performance.
Queen kick off the new millennium in style by taking London's West End by storm with their musical - We Will Rock You, which goes on to become a global phenomenon.
The story of how Brian and Roger found it impossible to ignore a phone call from Nelson Mandela saying "can you rescue my concert?"
A look back at the collaboration between Queen and Paul Rodgers that included a run of sell out tours around the world - with Brian and Roger performing in some cities for the first time, as well as revisiting some old favourites.
In 2012, for their first full shows together, Queen and Adam Lambert plan a short, introductory tour in Europe - but then a show in Kiev's Freedom Square, in front of a massive crowd of over 350,000 people and a TV audience of millions, is added at the beginning. This is the story of that first gig.
As the UK gears up for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee, we look back at the Golden Jubilee in 2002 which resulted in one of the most iconic moments in rock history, courtesy of Brian May.
In 2018, the long awaited biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody, hit the movie screens and took the box office by storm. Not only did it set new records and enjoy incredible success at Awards ceremonies, it also introduced a whole new wave of fans to Queen's timeless music.
Queen The Greatest draws to a close with a two part look at Queen + Adam Lambert. This week looks at how the collaboration has enabled Brian and Roger to revisit some favourite venues and cities, while also enjoying spectacular new experiences.