Queen decided it was time for new management. And they went for none other than John Reid, which was also Elton John’s manager at the time. It was a match made in heaven. Reid recognized Queen’s talent, and they went on to have a very fruitful professional relationship from there on out.
Queen was set to release a new album, “A Night at the Opera”, and they had a lot invested in its success, since they desperately needed a significant income. They knew that if this album didn’t make it big, they would most possibly would have had to dissolve the band and go their separate ways. Of course, fortunately, this didn’t happen.
Queen became famous by playing an opening act
Later on that year, on May 1974, Queen caught their big break by being asked to do the opening act for an English band called Mott the Hoople, which already had a big following in the UK at the time. Mott the Hoople had listened to Queen and liked their sound so much, that they asked them to be their opening act in a concert they had in the US, making this the first time that Queen would perform in front of an American audience.
Unfortunately, the band had to return home before the tour was over, after their guitarist, Brian May, woke up very ill one day with Hepatitis B. The illness was so acute that it almost caused May to lose his arm, but fortunately this wasn’t necessary and he recovered. Can you imagine if they’d amputated Queen guitarist’s arm?!
Dumping your manager is a sign of real success
Queen went on to release their third album, “Sheer Heart Attack”, which featured the well-known masterpiece, ‘Killer Queen’. The song was written by Freddie, and the album received high praise from critics, both in the UK and the United States.
Surprisingly enough, the band didn’t make nearly as much profit as they’d thought, with their newfound fame and glory. They found themselves still very much in debt. They discovered the production company they’d been working with had been robbing them blind, and Queen decided they weren’t going to take this anymore. Bravo!
Elton John said “Bohemian Rhapsody” wouldn't be a hit
“Bohemian Rhapsody” became one of Queen’s musical masterpieces. But no one could have predicted this at the time. In fact, very few people know that when Reid showed the finished track to Elton John, he said “Are you mad?!” He was referring to the fact that the song was over six minutes long! Not a good recipe for a hit single, since mainstream tunes at the time rarely went over the 3 minute mark.
But Freddie wouldn’t budge. When producers asked him to make the song shorter, he simply refused. He had created “Bohemian Rhapsody” with a vision in mind - to create a rock and roll opera, the first of its kind. Turns out the audience knew how to appreciate it, and the producers couldn’t have been more wrong. The song became number one on the music charts in the UK, where it stayed for nine weeks straight.
Freddie Was Very Private About His Personal Life
Freddie Mercury was very private about his personal life. Very few people actually knew what was going on behind the scenes. Apart from his band mates, the only other person who was ever really close to Freddie was his friend, Mary Austin, which he met in 1969.
They had a beautiful relationship, based on honesty and trust. As time passed, they grew closer and fell in love. They eventually moved in together, and one day, Freddie proposed.