Long Live Queen: The Enduring Legacy of Freddie Mercury and the Music of Queen

The lights go down. The crowd erupts into anticipatory cheers and applause. Stage lights flicker as the unmissable rattle and hum of a legion of VOX AC30 amplifiers begin to crackle into life. As the muffled, distorted vocal intro of arguably one of the greatest concert openers of all time breathes its way through the line array speakers, a silhouetted figure strides through the haze, clad in a glitzy, disco ball-like jacket and leather gloves that would make even Liberace blush. Freddie – is that you? Alas, it is not. But as Adam Lambert's devastatingly excellent vocal cords navigate their way through Queen's stadium anthem, 'One Vision', like a lightsabre would through the even world's sturdiest butter, it's easy to see why legends like Brian May and Roger Taylor feel so at ease sharing the stage with the American Idol finalist. Lambert is good. Almost too good.

This was back in 2015, in one of the UK's many soulless, corporate-owned stadia, at the tail end of Queen and Lambert's world tour. Despite the feeling of being engulfed in advertising boards, agonisingly slow queues for the toilet and the £6.00 price tag on a pint of terrible beer, watching the ageing legends and the effervescent Lambert perform hit after timeless hit that evening was like being in the back seat on a time-travelling road trip, accompanied by the greatest mix tape ever compiled. One might assume that the audience that night would have comprised of folks who themselves grew up alongside the likes of May and Taylor, and for whom Queen's renowned Live Aid show seems like recent history, despite being 35 years ago. This isn't the case, however.

From the lofty heights of my seat in the arena that night, it was quite an experience to see kids as young as 10 (didn't the tickets say 16+ only? Oh well… I won't tell if you don't!) head-banging along to 'Tie Your Mother Down' with the similar vigour and enthusiasm of their adult companions. You don't need me to tell you, but I will, that Queen's catalogue has truly transcended generations in a way that few band's rarely ever do. How else do two dinosaurs, in May and Taylor, continue to sell out the world's biggest venues, standing behind lead singers who die-hard Queen fans would argue aren't a patch on the late, great Freddie Mercury – indeed, Lambert (38) wasn't even born in the band's heyday. What's the secret to their longevity and what keeps audiences, young and old, coughing up cash to join in the singsong?

Queen's legacy hasn't just been prevalent in their continued touring and the imminent arrival of a new live album in collaboration with Adam Lambert. Bohemian Rhapsody, the long-anticipated Mercury biopic, won the Golden Globe for Best Picture following release in 2019, and became the highest-grossing music biopic of all time – all of this, despite rife controversy during production and a mixed reception from audiences. What the film did achieve was affording the band another moment in the spotlight and made them relevant in the eyes of younger audiences who had previously resisted giving in to dad's pleas to switch off Drake or Cardi B's latest offering in favour of A Night at the Opera on the morning school run. Despite the films flaws, actor Rami Malek succeeded in portraying Mercury's, let's say, colourful character, warts and all, in a way that was fresh and sympathetic. Just like that, overnight, Queen was 'cool' again. Suddenly, Queen t-shirts were adoring mannequins in Primark windows and Mercury moustaches were flying off shelves in the run up to Halloween.

Mercury's air of mystery and charisma undoubtedly plays a huge part in how the band continues to enjoy success. The day of his untimely death is recognised annually amongst people in the music biz; for die-hard fans of the flamboyant frontman, it's a day still so full of mourning that it deserves booking a day off work for. Freddie, rightly so, demands the spotlight for his contribution to the band's legacy, but other band members deserve a fair share of the glow for their part in things.

Brian May, the band's lead guitarist and proud owner of one of the most voluminous, curled barnets in the business (still to this day), has earned himself an almost cult-like following amongst guitar nerds and singer/songwriters. The quiet, level-headed voice of calm in the group, May's virtuoso on the six string elevated the band above rival groups – his skill, distinct tone and knack for beautiful melody is still recognised amongst the world's best guitarists as unparalleled. Aside from mastery over his instrument, May was also vital in the song writing process. He and Mercury bounced ideas against one another in an almost competitive fashion. May is widely credited, for example, as the lead architect in the dazzling arrangement of the band's genre-bending anthem, 'Bohemian Rhapsody'.

Undoubtedly, one of the best measures of a band's legacy is the frequency at which other artists cite them as figures of inspiration or influence. Which bands are held up as aspirational figures amongst the music industry elite? When you've 'made it', who are the acts that keep you toiling away in the studio, pursuing a Bo Rap of your own? One automatically thinks of The Beatles, Michal Jackson, Rolling Stones… but Queen are very much in the mix too. In fact, alongside the Fab Four, they are arguably near the top of the pile in the eyes of many, particularly when speaking with rock bands and male singers who identify strongly with Mercury's vocal prowess and showmanship.

"I've always loved Queen. I've loved how their musical diversity has gone over all the place," Muse's drummer, Dom Howard, told Forbes magazine back in 2011.

"Your average listener perhaps doesn't appreciate the extent of Queen's influence. Not just from a musical point of view, but also in terms of sheer work ethic," said Artist Management Services' Chief Exec, Ben Marshall. "Those songs simply do not get written without Freddie and Brian spending countless hours sat down at the piano or sweating in the studio. It's a lesson to young musicians in what it takes to last in this industry. Talent maybe gets you places in the short-term: a habit for hard work is needed to have a lasting career."

Mesmerising frontman? Check.

Guitar hero with gorgeous curly locks? Check, check.

Musicians who are actually willing to put in the hours? Triple check!

So that leaves us with the fruit of their labours: the songs themselves. When all is said and done, that night in 2015, inside the Nottingham Arena, Queen could have had DIY SOS's Nick Knowles, wrapped in spandex, singing lead vocals, and the place would still have been packed to the rafters. Why? Because every song on the set that night was iconic. The concert could have run until the early hours of the morning, and Adam Lambert would still have had a sufficient catalogue of hits to draw upon to keep his crowd enthralled. From ferocious hard rock songs like "Sheer Heart Attack" to moody ballads such as "Somebody to Love,", from nostalgic pop offerings like "Radio Gaga," to the dancefloor filler, "Don't Stop Me Now," Queen have got all eventualities covered.

Speaking of the band's influence on his own studio work, Matt Hunt (AMS Head of Production) was keen to highlight the songs in Queen's discography that often go under the radar:

"If you dig a little deeper, and actually listen to the records in their entirety, you find that the greatest hits only tell half of the story. The B-sides, the album tracks… there's so many hidden gems in there. I think that's the main thing about a band like Queen – they only wrote good songs."

Speaking in 2011 in an interview to promote the upcoming world tour, drummer, Roger Taylor, spoke about the enduring love that exists for the songs and how the band managed to keep breaking new ground:

"One of the things that contributed to it is we made a lot of different kinds of records… There was quality in the construction, in the melodic content, and in the playing and the singing… It went from hard rock to almost rockabilly to a little bit funky to grandiose, it covered a lot of ground and maybe that’s one of the reasons, coupled with the fact that I think it was basic popular music of quality."

A year on from the release of Bohemian Rhapsody in cinemas, the legend of Queen and Freddie Mercury lives on. In addition, through touring with a renowned talent like Adam Lambert, the band keeps the music going with a renewed vigour, reaching all corners of the world and entering the hearts of younger audiences like never before. When it comes down to it, Queen's popularity and legacy remains intact, even 40 years down the line, for one reason: the music.

One of the few hits Freddie was never able to sing live, 'I Want It All' was released in 1989 in the twilight years of the band with Mercury at the helm. In the song, the master of showmanship sings:

I’m a man with a one track mind
So much to do in one lifetime
Not a man for compromise and where’s and why’s and living lies
So I’m living it all, yes I’m living it all
And I’m giving it all, and I’m giving it all

A song often mistaken for being about materialism with little thematic substance, another interpretation would be that the song displays a person’s awareness of ambition and the determination to reach their ultimate goal. One would hope, were Freddie still alive today, he would look upon the enduring passion for his work and feel his mission were accomplished.