Hi folks. In the last post, I had mentioned the creation of what I call The Queen Family, as apposed to The Royal Family. The Royal Family were a bunch of fans who would show up at possibly every show of The Crazy Tour in 1979 and this is obviously different from that, as I will explain.
The Queen Family consists of any band, or musician who has ever played with Freddie, Brian, John or Roger over the years and it is a rather large and diverse bunch of musicians, spanning many genres. For example: Lady GaGa and Motörhead are among the many who have played with Brian and it’s obviously a crazy huge list. I had decided to create the family, because of all of the bands and guests who had played at the tribute to Freddie and this would include everyone who was on stage and even those who sang along with Liza Minnelli, while she powered her way through We Are the Champions.
In some cases, I will give consideration to musicians who are fans, but who may never get a chance to play with Queen, dew to their genre. For example: extreme metal stalwarts Max Cavalara and his brother Igor went to see Queen in 1981, when they had played in San Paulo Brazil during the tour of South America. Max has mentioned being a fan and especially, of the fast version of We Will Rock You from Live Killers. So, I’m going to include such bands as: Sepultura, Soulfly, Cavalera Conspiracy, Nailbomb, Deftones, Fear Factory, Limp Bizkit, Korn, Prong, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Lamb Of God, Killer Be Killed, Mastodon, Converge, Gojira and any other band who has members playing on anything that the Cavalera brothers or even Sepultura have been a part of, together and individually.
Another case is Rob Halford, who is also a Queen fan and one of his favourite singers is Freddie. He has actually met and spoken with Brian when he was asked to attend Buckingham Palace, on behalf of Judas Priest and he tells the story about this, in his 2020 book Confess. He has also met Freddie a couple of times over the years, at a bar and on either a boat, or a yacht. He didn’t really get a chance to talk with Fred, but he is most certainly welcome as far as I’m concerned. Besides, I like his work in and outside of Judas Priest and this also opens the door to include Pantera, because Rob did a vocal with them on the track Light Comes Out of Black, which is actually cool.
Any band who has covered Queen is also included, even if I am not a fan of them. Metallica is here, but we also have such artists as: Nine Inch Nails, Puscifer, Panic! At the Disco, Michael Bublé and any other band who has covered Queen. Even if you have sampled, or remixed Queen you are in.
Even comedy is not immune from being a part of the family, with Monty Python and of course, without Ben Elton we wouldn’t have had the We Will Rock You musical. Besides, Eric Idle is friends with Queen manager Jim Beach and he also manages Monty Python too, according to Eric’s 2018 memoirAlways Look on the Bright Side of Life: A Sortabiography. To be honest, I believe him and also according to the book, late Beatle and friend of Eric’s George Harrison and his wife Olivia got him a jukebox and Eric’s son loved 2 songs on it: Money by Pink Floyd and Bohemian Rhapsody by you know who.
This extends to everyone who has played with anyone, who has played with any members of Queen and many more, as you can see. I happen to like the majority of the bands here and even if I don’t necessarily like them, I respect them for what they do. After all, they are a part of the Queen Family, as are we the fans, whether we have been to a Queen concert or not. Our own entry is by simply purchasing Queen music on iTunes, or physically. Streaming is just that and I do not count streaming as a purchase, not even with a monthly nominal fee for those who have subscribed to either Spotify, Apple Music, or YouTube music. However, if you have purchased music and are subscribed to a streaming service, you are in. Of course, having Queen clothing helps and showing off your fandom that way lets everybody know that you are a loud and proud Queen head.
Finally, you can’t leave out any bands who have influenced Queen as a colective and individually. We all know that Freddie loved Jimi Hendrix, but also Liza Minnelli and her mother Judy Garland equally. What’s wrong with that? The answer is… nothing at all and this further extends to even more musicians, making the Queen Family… … well… … gargantuan? I don’t know, but that’s the best I can come up with to describe how mammoth the family is with all sorts of musicians from all different eras of music, as well as comedy.
I got the idea for my version of The Queen Family from Slipknot and their Knotfest concept, of touring with a bunch of bands they like, in a traveling festival, similar to Ozzfest, which was started by Sharon Osbourne in response to Lollapalooza turning down her husband, then allowing Metallica to be a part of it in 1996. Well, Ozzy did eventually play at Lollapalooza with Black Sabbath, but not in the traveling festival incarnation in the 90s. I personally don’t like the Knotfest concept, because it is Slipknot and I would want to only see Slipknot and not a bunch of bands whom I don’t care about all that much. However, The Queen Family is all inclusive, if musicians have a shred or more, of Queen in their DNA and regardless of how much I like all of the bands and artists included.
In conclusion, it is a crowded family of musicians whom I believe deserve to be mentioned alongside Queen in the same breath and remember, this is only my version of it and you as a Queen fan, may have your own. So, let’s all enjoy Queen and our favourite bands and artists, who keep us holding on and reminding us of Queen, in a positive way.
All Gord's People 