Queen are a British rock band that formed in London in 1970. Their classic line-up was Freddie Mercury (lead vocals, piano), Brian May (lead guitar, vocals), Roger Taylor (drums, vocals), and John Deacon (bass guitar). Queen's earliest works were influenced by progressive rock, hard rock and heavy metal, but the band gradually ventured into more conventional and radio-friendly works by incorporating further styles, such as arena rock and pop rock, into their music.
The band drew artistic influences from British rock acts of the 1960s and early 1970s, such as the Beatles, the Kinks, Cream, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, the Who, Black Sabbath, Slade, Deep Purple, David Bowie, Genesis and Yes, in addition to American guitarist Jimi Hendrix, with Mercury also inspired by the gospel singer Aretha Franklin. May referred to the Beatles as being "our bible in the way they used the studio and they painted pictures and this wonderful instinctive use of harmonies."
At their outset in the early 1970s, Queen's music has been characterised as "Led Zeppelin meets Yes" due to its combination of "acoustic/electric guitar extremes and fantasy-inspired multi-part song epics". They have been recognised as having made significant contributions to such genres as hard rock, and heavy metal, among others. Hence, the band have been cited as an influence by many other musicians.
Many scholars consider the "Bohemian Rhapsody" music video ground-breaking, and credit it with popularising the medium.
Freddie Mercury performing onstage wearing a harlequin one-piece at Brøndby Hallen, Copenhagen in 1977
Freddie Mercury and Brian May photographed on Queens first solo British tour on October 30th 1974 at Manchester’s Palace Theatre.
Freddie Mercury onstage with Queen at the Brøndby Hallen, Copenhagen in 1977 on their A Day At The Races Tour
The first ever studio shoot with Queen. Photographer Johnny Dewe Mathews captures the early days of Freddie Mercurys vision.
Freddie live at the Rainbow Theatre in March 1974 wearing a Zandra Rhodes creation.
Limited edition of Morgan Howell's original painting of the cover of Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' vinyl single
With Freddie it was immediately apparent that I was in the presence of a charismatic visionary, he set the dress sense for the whole band.
Mick Rock cover artwork for the iconic Queen 2 album released in 1974
Marc Bolan playing with T.Rex in Copenhagen, Denmark in March 1973
Siouxsie & The Banshees posing by the canals in Amsterdam whilst on tour in 1979
A young Eric Clapton during his time with the Yardbirds in Manchester in 1964
The Cure on the road in Holland and Belgium during their 1980 'Seventeen Seconds' tour.
The Stone Roses are an English rock band, formed in Manchester in 1983, meshing '60s-styled guitar pop with an understated '80s dance beat.
Bruce Springsteen (Nicknamed "The Boss") is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and humanitarian.
AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. they have dubbed their music simply "rock and roll".
Oasis were an English rock music band formed in Manchester in 1991, to date the band have sold over 70 million records worldwide.
Here are the very latest prints we have added to our collection. We hope you love them as much as we do.
Welcome to our Jazz & Blues Print Collection - over 50 years of iconic images of the world's greatest Jazz & Blues musicians
The Rolling Stones have been entertaining audiences for more than 50 years. Our collections share the best images spanning their career
The USA has given us many of the world's greatest music artists - we celebrate the best of the best
