@Real Wizard:
We have to go by what was told by the Queen members in interviews and Magazines and nowhere any of them mentioned they broke up at any point. None of us exactly know what happened unless you have first hand information from Brian or Roger or John or Jim Beach? Else, Let one of them come out categorically and say it. Brian May himself said it is a movie and it is not a documentary. Now are we saying that we should believe the movie rather than documentary?
According to interviews given by different members of band, Queen were breaking up all the time , not just Freddie, even Brian, Roger and John at different point in time. John even wrote 'I want to break free'. In this interview, Brian May said, “We went through a bad period in Munich” We struggled bitterly with each other. I remember John saying I didn’t play the kind of guitar he wanted on his songs. We all tried leave the band more than once. But then we’d come back to the idea that the band was greater than any of us. It was more enduring than most of our marriages.”
http://medium.com/cuepoint/the-game-how-queen-conquered-and-lost-america-a3c48103ac62
Roger Taylor in a recent Mojo interview when talking about live aid mentions that he went to Freddie's house after live aid and this is what he said.
http://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/music/1153084/Queen-Live-Aid-Anniversary-Roger-Taylor-Freddie-Mercury-band-music-fans-Bohemian-Rhapsody
Q Taylor told Mojo: " There was a point during We Are The Champions where the audience was swaying as one, like a field of wheat, and I thought, 'Oh, OK.'
"I went back to Freddie's later and at some point in the night said, 'You know what, Fred, I think we were really good.'
"It gave us a second wind."
Roger going to Freddie’s house after live aid does not sound like a band breaking up!
In the interview that Freddie gave to SImon Bates in 1985 2 weeks before Live aid, he clearly mentions that he has told the band that he is exhausted after the works tour and his solo project and wants to take a break until December 1985 to make a new Queen album. He clearly says that he is happy with Queen. Listen around 3.09 mark
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K63qkenvggY
All these interviews tell not about the band breaking up, just taking a break from each other for some time as they did after the end of Hot space tour in 1982 ! Why would they want to break up after live aid after that enormous success? It does not make sense. I believe Freddie’s interview than the movie. In fact I trust all the band member interviews before 1991 and to a certain extent until John Deacon was still part of Queen. Anything after that I am not entirely sure.
2. I don't agree with the ultimatum to Freddie after live aid either. It could have been a frank discussion between 3 colleagues and friends on their future and of course about Paul Prenter but not in the way Movie has portrayed.
Brain May talks about finding about the damage done by paul Prenter in USA, when trying to promote Freddie’s solo album in USA.
“Relations with Radio was not taken care of – we had a new man in charge of Promotion on the road, who, unknown to us at the time, was very high handed and rude with the media people and gave them the impression that we no longer cared. We only later discovered the huge extent of the damage much later, when trying to get Freddie’s solo record played. There was great resentment (radio people, like the rest of us, need to feel loved, and important!), and word of mouth on our tour was distorted by people who now wanted to see us fail”
This is probably when Freddie found out about Prenter’s damage too and that's when Queen decided to fire Prenter but Freddie chose to keep him may be out of loyalty.
3. Another part I don’t agree is about Freddie’s portrayal in the movie.
The movie should have clearly made a distinction about whether it was a completely Freddie movie or a queen movie. If it was a Freddie movie then they should have showed a little bit about his childhood at least. Him being sent away to boarding school at such an young age and seeing his parents only once in 7 years and having to fend for himself, his family’s conservative views, played a major role in shaping of his character, good and bad.
If it was a queen movie, they should have shown faults of all characters. All of them had tantrums not just Freddie. All had strong egos. Ofcourse, Freddie said he threw a lot of tantrums in early career, as he believed that’s how rockstars behaved. But are we saying that Brian or Roger or John never threw a fit and were well behaved all the time in their entire career!
http://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/episode-1-peter-hince-queen/id1481579080?i=1000451437667
Peter Hince in a recent podcast, mentioned 'Freddie and Brian fought all the time but movie showed they never fought and Brian comes off as an angel'. He also said Brain once wanted his garden rubbish taken out! He clearly says the script bears no relevance to what had happened. It was cruel to show Freddie thrown out of the band and had to ask the band if he can join them for live aid. He said it was complete bollocks (his words).
In another interview, he said, “People talk about Freddie and his ego, but his ego was not as big as people think. It was all a persona. He could make fun of himself, whereas some of the other guys in the band couldn’t do it in the same way. You could have a laugh with Freddie, but you knew were the line was. He wasn’t necessarily the prima donna that everybody thought he was.”
http://www.loudersound.com/features/what-freddie-mercury-was-really-like-an-insider-s-story
Fred Mandel and Spike Edney also echo the same thing. Fred Mandel in a podcast said he would not have anyone talk bad about Freddie. Yes Freddie had his wild ways but by all accounts by 1984 he had sobered down.
http://kesq.com/news/2019/11/04/queen-keyboardist-talks-bohemian-rhapsody-film-rami-malek/
Edney said his Queen band mates were all characters and quick workers. He remembers them all having their own opinions and defending their corners, as is seen in the film, but it was usually Freddie Mercury who had the last word. "The Freddie Mercury I knew was all professional and a fun man to be around. I didn't see the sort of deep insecurity that this film portrays," said Edney. He also mentions that by 1984 he had sobered down and was playing trivial pursuit with him and others during off time!
So it was not all Freddie’s ego, there were creative tensions, big egos of all 4 of them. Per Hince, all of them took drugs except Brian May. But he also said none of them were ever unprofessional !
Showing Roger as an idiot is a lot different than showing some one as the sole destroyer of Queen. I used the word destroyer as that was the word used by some in the comments section about the movie ' Freddie destroyed Queen'. Please tell me if this is a fair judgement of Freddie. Not all of them who watched the movie would go on to read about Queen history. Heck, Lot of the Adam Lambert fans who follow Q+AL, still don't know or care about Queen history even after 10 years! But this unfair perception of Freddie will stay in their minds forever.
Reg. Pete Brown incident, Freddie did throw stuff by his own account and told by David Wigg, John Reid. But I doubt if Freddie was that violent so as to throw stuff at someone and seriously injure them. Here is what probably might have happened. Freddie probably threw a mirror in the wall or somewhere which might have accidentally hit him slightly and caused an injury and he might have exaggerated it a bit for effect.
Anyway, who in their right mind would talk flippantly if they were smashed on their head by a huge mirror and also tell Freddie told him to pick up the pieces afterwards? Did he have a huge gash in his head after the incident? Was there any photos of him with injury or anyone else corroborating th
