How Queen Coped with Bad Reviews on Their Debut Album
Queen is one of the most legendary bands in rock history, but few saw the band that way when they released their self-titled 1973 debut album.
In a new documentary series on Queen’s YouTube channel, Brian May and Roger Taylor look back on their debut and how it received poor reviews, especially in their native U.K. Fortunately, though, May had a great way to cope with the bad reviews.
He said, “We looked at some of the reviews for the Led Zeppelin albums that had been out at that time, some of which were appallingly bad. And we thought, well, if they can run these people down, we shouldn’t be too worried about being run down ourselves.”
May added, “Being a band is a great help. I think if I’d been a solo artist, I think I’d have laid on the floor and cried. It was bad, but we had the four of us and it’s like, ‘screw these guys, we know what we’re doing’. That saved us.”
Brian May Says John Deacon Still Has a Say in Queen Business
John Deacon hasn’t appeared with Queen since a one-off performance with Elton John in 1997 in Paris in Ballet for Life where they performed “The Show Must Go On.” Despite stepping away from the band, the bassist is still involved with their business.
Brian May revealed this in a new interview with Mojo. Regarding decisions related to Queen’s legacy and its ongoing business, May said the Deacon still has a “‘yes’ or ‘no’ say” in things. May noted, “We get messages that he’s happy with what we’re doing, but he doesn’t want the stress of being involved creatively, and we respect that.”
The guitarist added, “Freddie [Mercury] we can’t talk to, sadly. But the four of us worked as a team for so long that Roger and I have a pretty good idea what our fellow Queen members would be saying. This thing is longer than anybody’s marriage.”
With that in mind, it’s safe to assume that Deacon has some sort of say in the recent sale of Queen’s catalog. In June, news broke that Queen sold their catalog to Sony Music for $1.27 billion. That deal, though omits revenue rights for live performances, which will be retained by May and drummer Roger Taylor.
In May 2023, reports surfaced via CNN that Universal Music Group was in discussion to acquire the Queen catalog from Disney Music Group for over $1 billion. At the time, Disney Music Group denied the news of the sale and told CNN they have “no plans to sell the catalog.”
CNN noted, “That sum remains arguably the highest amount a music catalog has sold for, but if the Queen sale goes through, a new record will be set.”
In May 2024, Billboard reported a catalog sale was “finally getting close” to the tune of $1.2 billion. The outlet also reported that the deal included “publishing and ancillary income streams,” which included the revenue from the 2018 hit biopic Bohemian Rhapsody.