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| Biography |
| On February 18th 1990, Queen were honoured yet again when they were recognised by the British Phonographic Industry (at last) and presented with an award for their "Outstanding Contribution To British Music'.They all collected the award and went on to host a huge, star studded party at London's Groucho Club. The Cross released their second album on March 26th called MAD BAD AND DANGEROUS TO KNOW, a title taken from a quote used to describe the eccentric Lord Byron! The Cross also undertook a short German tour. Brian, meanwhile, wrote and produced the haunting music for a version of Shakespeare's Macbeth, performed at London's Riverside Theatre. In November 1990 Queen signed a major new recording deal in North America with the Disney financed "Hollywood Records". Hollywood immediately began the task of pushing Queen back up the popularity ladder, and plans were laid to remaster and re-release the entire back catalogue on CD. So far the collection had not been available on that format in the USA. On December 7th The Cross played their only UK date for some time, at London's Astoria Theatre, at yet another Queen Fan Club Party. Brian joined them on stage for the encore. On January 14th 1991 the band released the six and a half minute long epic"Innuendo"as a single. It was a massive success, giving the band their third UK number one single and ensuring them the number one slot throughout Europe. The album, also called INNUENDO, was released on February 4th and crashed straight into the UK chart at Number one, and reached the top slot throughout Europe. In March 1991 The Cross went into the studios to start work on their third album, BLUE ROCK. The album was released in September on Elektrola in Germany only Queen went into studios in April to begin work on their next album. On May 30th 1991 Freddie filmed what was to become his final video for Queen, with the haunting Days Of Our Lives. A version featuring Disney animation was made for the USA. Brian organised the Rock section of the Seville "Guitar Legends" festival, and amongst those chosen by Brian to perform their music were Nuno Bettencourt, Stevie Vai. Joe Satriani and Joe Walsh, to name but a few. The concerts were performed live in October on the site of the Seville Expo 92 exhibition. GREATEST HITS TWO was released in October 1991, a double album featuring 17 tracks. They also repeated their earlier success by releasing Greatest Flix 11 and Greatest Pix I 1, this time compiled by Richard Gray. A special box was also release called Box Of Flix containing Flix I & 11 plus four bonus tracks. Needless to say both Hits 11 and Flix I I were number one in their respective charts! On November 23rd 1991 Freddie announced to the world that he had AIDS. Just the next day his fight was over and he died peacefully at his home, surrounded by family and friends. The world was in shock. Freddie had kept his illness very private, and only those closest to him had been aware of just how close to the end he really was. Fans from all over the world sent flowers and cards and many travelled to London to be outside Freddie's house. A quiet family cremation service was held three days after his death, conducted in the Zoroastrian faith that Freddie's parents followed so strictly. In April, Brian had been commissioned by a London advertising agency to write a piece of music for an advertising campaign for Ford cars. The resulting track, Driven By You, was so good (and proved so popular) that Brian released it as his first solo single on November 25th. It made the top ten in the UK charts. As a tribute to Freddie, and to raise funds for the Terrence Higgins Trust to continue the fight against AIDS, as Freddie's last wishes had requested, Bohemian Rhapsody/These Are The Days Of Our Lives was released as a double A sided single. It entered the UK chart at number one, where it remained for five weeks, raising over one MILLION pounds for the AIDS charity. In December 1991, Queen had no fewer than 10 albums in the UK top 100. In February 1992, the annual BRIT awards recognised Freddie with a special posthumous award for "Outstanding Contribution To British Music" and out of three Queen nominations, "Days Of Our Lives" won the Best Single of 1991 award. At that awards ceremony, Roger and Brian announced plans for a massive, open air concert at London's Wembley Stadium lo celebrate Freddie's life, and give him a send off to remember. |
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