Queen: 'A lot of people hate that we're so f***ing popular!'
Queen have hit back at critics of their phenomenally-successful Bohemian Rhapsody film, in exclusive interviews to be published in the new issue of Planet Rock magazine, on-sale on 25th October.
Issue 17 of our magazine has two special collectors’ covers to celebrate Queen’s coronation as Planet Rock’s Band Of The Year, and features new interviews with Brian May, Roger Taylor and Adam Lambert, in addition to a 12-page feature giving the inside story on the making of Queen’s A Night At The Opera (1975) and A Day At The Races (1976) albums.
Commenting on the advance media coverage in the UK for the film, for which Rami Malek collected Best Actor awards at the Oscars, the BAFTAs and the Golden Globes for his astonishing performance as Freddie Mercury, Roger Taylor tells Planet Rock, “There was kind of a mood of… an expectation of disaster.”
“We’re a funny old country, aren’t we? The trouble with us is, we’re too f***ing popular, and a lot of the media just hate that,” says Taylor.
“There were some decent reviews,” he points out, “but there were many that were kinda sneering and superficial. I thought, ‘You just don’t get it, do you? You weren’t moved, and whatever, but f you actually. F you all the way to the bank, actually.’”
“But bad reviews usually mean that it’s going to be really successful. I think people know a lot more than film critics, and the word of mouth via social media is so much more powerful than review from a guy who probably watches 40 movies a week, and has probably lost the essence of the joy of a movie.”
Released in October 2018, Bohemian Rhapsody has become the most successful musical biopic in history, grossing more than $900 million at the global box office. The film’s soundtrack, meanwhile, became Queen’s highest-charting album in the US in almost 40 years, peaking at number 3 on the Billboard 200, matching its performance on the UK album chart.
The Queen + Adam Lambert Rhapsody tour, which played to over 400,000 fans in the US this year, is coming to the UK in June 2020 for five shows at London’s O2 Arena (June 2, 3, 5, 6 and 9) and two shows at Manchester Arena (June 11 and 12). Tickets are on-sale from Planet Rock Tickets now.
“Queen is a big family at this point,” Adam Lambert tells Planet Rock, “and I think that the success of the film exceeded every expectation. As each wave of success has happened, Brian and Roger have been so excited and so proud, and that’s been great to watch.
“I’ve been thrilled to be working with these guys from the get go, and I’m incredibly grateful and incredibly humbled to continue with this band, especially with this new chapter where’s there’s all this renewed pop culture relevance. it’s very exciting to see them light up when the lights turn on.”
The new issue of Planet Rock magazine, with Queen on two covers, is on-sale from October 25. The issue also features Def Leppard, AC/DC, The Darkness, Motörhead, Uriah Heep, Whiskey Myers, Airbourne and more.