Why Queen last 20 years?

Hi everybody...I would like to bring to dicussion something....related to myself and the fact of being a Queen fan ....well ..let´s just get to the point....last febraury it was my 30th birthday...I don´t know why (i imagine anyway)...but its´s a particular moment of my life..I feel diferent..I feel like I am becoming a man...I mean...not beacause of the age...just I feel something is growing inside of me..And I just don´t get very well with things I used to...years ago..I just feel I have grown up in an adult way....on the other hand..I was watching some Queen videos on you tube...and suddenly I realize that this four persons...(Freddie, Brian, Jhon, Roger) had been together for more than 20 years in a very difficult moments of their lives....(family friends lovers sons married, millions, etc).so what´s the point?...becoming a man in my own life....means also that I have changed a lot...and a lot of people and persons stayed on the past....so the questions is...What do you guys think that make this four person stay together for so many years?...and please do not tell about money...20 years is a lot of time..and you go trough a lot of different situations and feelings...is like they behave like a family or something...do I explain myself with this questions?...what do you think?
-Why and how they kept together?

Well it obviously is NOT money. The Beatles stayed for money but broke up because they had no chemistry.  They all got along well together, basically.  They had chemistry most bands don't have.  That's why they stayed together while the Beatles, Deep Purple, and other bands lose members because of poor chemistry.

What the poster above said. Also the talent  & fans the band had.

Good question. I think it has to do with a lot things for instance;

1. They were four totally different individuals, what keeps working with each other fresh in terms off musical input etc.   

2. They treated each other equally and respectful. They all were 25% of this band called Queen.

3. When they got bored or had no inspiration or just had enough of it for a while, they put everything on a back burner and they all went their separate ways doing some solo work, collaborations, family time or going on holidays. They were clever enough to know that everybody needed his own breathing space from time to time.

4. Although they did not socialize a lot with each other outside the band, they were good friends and partners in crime. Try to find nasty things they said about each other, there are a view but generally they closed the ranks on almost everything and the occasionally stress inside the band was kept private (except their personal views on for example "Hot Space" and things like the "It's a Hard Life" video, mostly funny remarks).

5 They were serious musicians and perfectionists but they did not take themselves to seriously (tongue in cheek factor). Although most people didn't get that. I think that's essential for your own sanity being a part of this demanding and mind bubbling business called pop music.

6. Most people working for or with them loved them. You don't always hear that in the music business.

I really think that they just had the common sense to keep a good thing going, despite whatever short term problems they would've had like interpersonal conflicts.  They were very, very smart to do it too.  Persisting through dips in the quality of work, they made some stuff on the last couple of albums that was the equal of their best material.

Having said that, I'd be very hesitant to say (as lalalalaaa did) that the Beatles had no chemistry, or bad chemistry.  It's a fallacy, because on the days that it was working it was *exactly* the chemistry that made them so dang brilliant and sellable.  Even in their disintegrated state, they could set things aside and knock something out like the rooftop gig.  If THAT isn't chemistry at work, I dunno what is!They didn't lack chemistry; they just outgrew the thing that they'd created together.  It's really more a case of four people growing up and consequently, growing apart.





Deep Purple, on the other hand, are a great example of personal chemistry (or a lack thereof) ...  which is a big shame of course considering the best music they made (period) was with the two guys that could not stand each other (Gillan and Blackmore).

But yeah, I've often wondered about Queen's longevity, considering the arguments they were supposed to have been having behind the scenes.  Again, it all really comes down to common sense, which they had in oodles...  you do not kill the goose that laid the golden egg!  They were onto a good thing, they kept it rolling.

First few years: Personal friendship + the desire to make it
[i]BoRhap-Crazy [/i]era: Not wanting to kill the golden goose
Early 80's: Disapointing (from a commercial perspective) solo/off-Queen affairs
Late 80's: Mercury's pending death brought them close again

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[b]Sebastian wrote: [/b]

First few years: Personal friendship + the desire to make it
[i]BoRhap-Crazy [/i]era: Not wanting to kill the golden goose
Early 80's: Disapointing (from a commercial perspective) solo/off-Queen affairs
Late 80's: Mercury's pending death brought them close again
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Might be some truth to that, but I still think that if Freddie hadn't been ill, they would still have stayed together and kept recording, and I think touring. Might have still done solo stuff etc, but I think they would have stayed as a unit called Queen. if he hadn't died, I think they'd still be going now and going great guns. I think they would have been the first act to play the new Wembley etc.

I think if Freddie'd been alive still, Queen would of performed a single with Eminem!

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[b]Sweet Insanity wrote: [/b]



I think if Freddie'd been alive still, Queen would of performed a single with Eminem!

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Oh, god help us! I hate to say it, but if that were to have happened, then that's the one good thing about Freddie being dead and John leaving the group; they wouldn't have teamed up with a rapper!

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[b]Amazon wrote: [/b]

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[b]Sweet Insanity wrote: [/b]



I think if Freddie'd been alive still, Queen would of performed a single with Eminem!

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Oh, god help us! I hate to say it, but if that were to have happened, then that's the one good thing about Freddie beingd dead and John leaving the group; they wouldn't have teamed up with a rapper!


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Freddie was big on the dance scene thing... I really think, with all the rap in the 90s and 00s, he would of gotten involved with someone. Especially since Eminem likes Queen.

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[b]Sweet Insanity wrote: [/b]





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[b]Amazon wrote: [/b]













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[b]Sweet Insanity wrote: [/b]















I think if Freddie'd been alive still, Queen would of performed a single with Eminem!













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Oh, god help us! I hate to say it, but if that were to have happened, then that's the one good thing about Freddie beingd dead and John leaving the group; they wouldn't have teamed up with a rapper!


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Freddie was big on the dance scene thing... I really think, with all the rap in the 90s and 00s, he would of gotten involved with someone. Especially since Eminem likes Queen.
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You may be right. I guess I can't be too horrified since I liked HS and that's not exactly rock. But call me biased, I just don't like rappers, and if Freddie were still around, I just hope that he wouldn't have gotten involved with one.

On the FMTC DVD, Roger Daltrey explains that there is a very special spirituality that develops within a band.  And he is right! Especially with a band like Queen where all four members were equally crucial to the band.   A band becomes your family.  And in Queen’s case, they lived many bonding experiences from the band’s outset, like the mishaps on their earliest American and Australian tours where they stood by themselves like a gang. When Brian got sick in Australia, they could have replaced him and carried on with the American tour, but they didn’t.  They knew they had something extraordinary and they knew they could only make it with those four forces onboard.

I also think that, the fact they didn’t give too many interviews at the peak of their career kept the band’s mysticism which was a kind of anchor to reality for the four members.  And as Zebonka said, they were very smart not to break up.

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[b]lalaalalaa wrote: [/b]



Well it obviously is NOT money. The Beatles stayed for money but broke up because they had no chemistry.  They all got along well together, basically.  They had chemistry most bands don't have.  That's why they stayed together while the Beatles, Deep Purple, and other bands lose members because of poor chemistry.

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the beatles chemistry was still there when they split. ironically enough they fell out about two years after the split. before 1970 they had had the usual kind of arguments that queen also had many of.
the split for the beatles was down to one thing (person) alan Klein. he was bankrupting a golden goose and mcCartney severed the partnership to prevent them all ending up broke.

as for queen...what chemistry have they got? they might still be friends after all these years - but they have completely forgotten whatever knack or gift they had for making good music. it's all fairly mediocre fodder these days

doesn't matter what you think of them - U2 are a band with chemistry - and they have managed to sustain their key lineup for 30 yrs now....no small achievement

They were such good friends in the beginning (and before they formed) but they didn't form based on that - Smile auditioned Roger thoroughly, and Freddie hung around with Smile quite a bit before they took him in.  And they went through a few bass players before finding John.  So they deliberately chose to work together based on merit rather then friendship.  And even when they fought, as has been said before, they kept it between themselves and held a united front.  Also, because they all wrote, and all had a huge amount of input into it there was (maybe?) less cause for jealousy and rivalry.  They had to prove themselves to each other, and that maybe helped keep their egos from getting totally out of control resulting in a split?  They needed each other, even though some of the solo work is good, it doesn't have the magic of Queen.  With the Beatles, John and Paul carried the weight of the song writing, so it wasn't as even a team as Queen were.  Also, the Beatles went into business together and spent a lot of non-working time together, which would increase teh possibility for tension.  When Queen needed space they stayed away from each other, which may have allowed them to keep it together for work.

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[b]Sweet Insanity wrote: [/b]

I think if Freddie'd been alive still, Queen would of performed a single with Eminem!
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Ouch.  Another One Bites the Dust on Greatest Hits 3 is bad enough!  Although it would have been interesting!  :)