What is your idea about the relationship between those four. Which two do you think got along the best and which didnt. I think Freddie and Roger had a fun extrovert connection while Brian and Freddie the most brotherhood/competitive bond. On the other hand Brian and John never got along that well for me. Or perhaps John and Roger. Of course they all respected each other.
Jazz 78 · Member since
Interesting... Freddie and John from what I gather seemed to be close as brothers. It was my understanding that after Freddie died he took it very bad and hid away for a while. But when it came to the music I think they got on very well and did some collaborating Roger and John I believe got along particularly as they were the bottom end in the band and according to one interview I saw of them they at one time went skiiing together and of course we've all seen the interview on Korean television with them both as well as a few other interviews on promotional tours at that time so the bond must have been strong between them. Brian and John? You never see them interact much onstage and to me their relationship is a mystery. Brian and Freddie? I think they had a pretty good relationship professionally but personally they probably kept their distance. Roger and Freddie...Good times, close friends,rock and roll excess shared.
Stelios · Member since
I agree. Freddie was like an older brother to John even though his campness made John feel uncomftarble at times for what i know from things shared. Also they had this thing with dance/black music and they collaborated to songs. Rogers and Brians bond seem to have evolved after Freddies passing. It seems that they werent always the best bodies they are today. I really wanted to have an insight to these things and especially to hear Johns view. Especially the impact of Freddies death to him.
matt z · Member since
I've assumed that it also had a lot to do with John's retirement. Maybe he wants to be the family man and enjoy the time "that's left" (which may even be extraordinarily long).
someone's premature passing will often advance a perspective or change another. Mortality's a bitch... but FM "conquered" quite a bit.
Funny though,.. If one were to ASSUME about their inter relationships... that's how it all appeared to be. Oddly, never thought about Bri + John being best buds er anything, and a lack of evidence would kinda enhance that perspective. I always thought the same ...Rog + Fred (best buds-both can keep up with crazy lifestyle) Fred + John (great confidants-storytellers) Rog + John (good friends) Bri + the rest... i cannot say. But being that Rog and Bri were in SMILE... one would assume that even if its not heavily public... they were all great buds,
Holly2003 · Member since
I never really paid much attention to this but I've never read anything to suggest John and Fred were like brothers or even that close (i.e. a relationship deeper than being in a band together, with all that entails). There was some musical compatability, especially in the later part of their career, and there are some stories of Fred taking John under his wing a bit because he wanted him to feel a part of the band, but it's hard to imagine them being very close. And while a lot of these things become a blur after a while, I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that John was uncomfortable with some aspects of Fred's behaviour. You have to remember also that over the course of 30-40 years people change a lot and so do relationships, so it's quite probable there is no one "relationship" between any of the band members, just a series of evolving relationships depending on each's personal circumstances. For example, I get the impression that Brian and Rog were close in the early days, drifted apart a bit when Roger became interested in New Wave music, but now they're closer than ever. Or that could be nonsense. There's no way to know for sure without being close to the band.
The Real Wizard · Member since
There are elements of truth in this thread, but in the end there will always be plenty that we won't know. I get the general sense that they weren't exceptionally close to one another (save perhaps for Roger and Freddie), especially by the 80s when it became more of a business relationship. John griped about that even after the success of Live Aid. They bonded after Freddie revealed his illness, and that's probably when they were the closest.
In 93/94, Brian and Roger apparently weren't speaking. John and Roger started Made In Heaven without Brian. There's an interview from 1993 where Roger has some not-too-cheerful things to say about Brian. But they clearly made up, and since No-One But You it seems like John hasn't spoken much to Bri and Rog.
About a month ago, someone asked Brian for John's contact to do an interview with him, and Brian responded with something like, "I haven't even spoken with him in years."
Russian Headlong · Member since
This is just my perception.
Brian/Roger -oldest friends from smile and both the real true rockers although it is clear they used to fight like brothers. musically i think they both liked the more heavy stuff. They continue to fly the flag but their work with AL, RW, 5ive and pepsi embarass me. Brian/Freddie- Main songwriters in early days but suspect they differed on music greatly from The Game onwards. John and Paul Prenter could have killed Queen with their rock/metal fans after Hot Space basically wanting to have no guitars! Brian/John- Musically they were poles apart. John more into pop/funk, Brian into metal/aor. I suspect John looked at Freddie as an ally musically although i suspect Fred liked a wider range of music despite writing a lot of pop/dance crap from 1980 onwards. I suspect now they not even on speaking terms Roger/Fred- worked on the market together, both party animals, musically I think Roger looked up to Fred but didn't like the disco/dance stuff (although he wrote some dance/pop stuff too) he was more into hard rock as was Fred too at times before he got involved in gay disco pop sounds. It is rumoured that RT is only person who knows the real meaning of Bo Rhap, suggests they were quite close but not that close if you know what i mean...;) Fred/John- From AOBTD Fred and John seemed to be responsible for poppier numbers which I hate. FWBF, OYOL, huge parts of Hot Space etc, I hate all that stuff and it was these two who pushed Queen away from their 70's rock/metal original fans but i suppose they got new pop fans in the 80's too. I have read that John was disgusted by lots of fred's antics but musically in the 80's they were both looking to take Queen more into gay dance sounding stuff, although Fred would still pen heavy stuff too, (hitman, princes) John basically did not seem to be into that stuff at all except iycbt off jazz. Roger/John- I saw when i was in the fan club that in the 80's they socialised a bit family skiing trips etc, although musically i think they had very different views, maybe because they were not the 'main songwriters in the early days. They seemed close when fm died but then post MIH i suspect there is a falling out and privately not much love lost between them today. i can understand some of jd's reluctance seeing some of the Queen + work (PR aside which was excellent). However, i do feel john has showed a lot of contempt towards the fans, no interviews, no appearances yet still taking the royalties, id be pissed with him too if i was RT/BM.
The Real Wizard · Member since
That looks pretty accurate overall.
It's not like John owes the fans anything, as he chose to retire, just like anyone at any job. But in the music business there is still a price to pay, as evidenced in the recent Days Of Our Lives documentary. It's not like they wrote him out completely, but his roles in the band beyond playing bass were barely mentioned at all. There was even a bit of revisionist history in there, suggesting that John was barely involved with Made In Heaven. But that's the price of admission. Or leaving, in his case.
queenUSA · Member since
From a cosmic perspective, the universe pushed these 4 together to do the amazing things they did. That is something too powerful to have lasting differences - so I basically wish John could talk to them. Who wins with things this way?
GratefulFan · Member since
The Q interviews earlier this year offered some insight on the various relationships. Roger followed by Brian, both near the bottoms of their pages:
When you hear and read about Queen's carreer, it never looked like you are dealing with four good friends - there seemed to have been rows and fights from day 1 until the time when Freddie came out about his AIDS condition to the band. Fans seem to have a desire to believe that their favourite band is a group of close buddies who make it against the odds but I do not believe that was the case with Queen. I think that Freddie always was totally honest about that: why kill the goose that laid the golden eggs. Queen stayed together because they were successful and all four of them were much too intelligent to let personal animosities come into their ways. Certainly Roger and Brian were good friends in the early days and Roger and Freddie seem to have been good friends until Freddie's death but I would not be surprised if John would have had a problem with Freddie's lifestyle and Brian surely must have had some resentments against John's anti-guitar politics in the 1980s. Many problems were carefully hidden from the public - for example Paul Prenter was never even mentioned by any Queen representative until the recent DOOL documentary.
About John's alleged "contempt" towards the fans - I wonder if people ever consider that John Deacon might have very good reasons to distance himself from the band - apparently he already distanced himself from the band as early as the late 80s. After all, he never came into Brian's and Roger's way and signed off all their projects after Freddie's death. Let us not forget that he could have vetoed away everything. Brian and Roger have no reason to be "pissed off" by John imo. The band was finished after Freddie died - Brian and Roger have no right to expect John Deacon to take part in their money-making machine - just my opinion.
Óli Gneisti Sóleyjarson · Member since
Regarding John I simply think that the whole rock career was a bit of an accident which he never fully enjoyed. Freddie, Brian and Roger all wanted to be stars while John just wanted to be in play in a band for a while.
Mr Mercury · Member since
This might add a little insight to how things "might" be between Brian and John these days. This is from this months Classic Rock mag.
Brian was asked
"When did you last go round to John Deacon's house for a meal?"
His reply
"A very long time ago. I see John's offspring, but John prefers to stay away. And we respect that completely. We have this agreement where we leave each other alone"
On the one hand I think, ok John really does just want to have peace and quiet away from the whole music business hence this "agreement". But then, on the other hand, and coupled with Roger's comment on the Jo Whiley show about John coming back from Bali "looking like he was on mushrooms - he was a strange one", I think all is maybe not that well between them. I hope its the latter though......
Holly2003 · Member since
[QUOTE]The Real Wizard wrote:
In 93/94, Brian and Roger apparently weren't speaking. John and Roger started Made In Heaven without Brian. There's an interview from 1993 where Roger has some not-too-cheerful things to say about Brian. [/QUOTE] ===========================================================================
Brian wrote in 2003 that Freddie wrote Soul Brother for him. So Brian & Freddie obviously had a good relationship. Brian said in the 90's that Freddie was like a brother to him. As for John, he is always welcome to come back to the band if he ever chose to do so!
