Just reread my guitar ledgends collectors mag devoted entirely to queen from sept 2005, Brian may qoutes in an interview with GL,on thier new upcoming tour..Paul was a huge influence on Freddie's life. That's an important factor in how we feel about working with him. There is a connection there. BM. That is something i never
read about, how much a influence paul was on Freddie?
Queen also used to Open up for Mott The Hoople to... Just because you are better then someone doesn't mean you can't look up to them. That's not saying that the Brian May quote is ture, but it's not impossible either.
Well...I just dont knwo if its a thruth that Paul was on of Freddie's favourite singers, as has been said in interviews and such..but..maybe, maybe not, leaning towards not.
Over the past year or so, Brian and Roger have been saying how Freddie looked up to Paul Rodgers as an influence, and was one of his favourite singers. Someone mentioned the possibility that Brian and Roger were doing that for marketing purposes, but it seemed kind of far-fetched at the time.
At the VH1 show last week, Roger said Paul was Freddie's singer. So now I'm pretty convinced that Brian and Roger agreed to make this claim in order to market the Queen+Rodgers amalgamation better.
Freddie's favourite singer was Aretha Franklin, and we all know that. I've never once read or heard of an interview where Freddie even mentioned Paul.
Discuss.
I agree Freddie loved jimi Hendrix, aretha, liza
But I have never ever heard in 32 years of being a fan and seeing them perform in 1977 and 1982 that freddie or any one close to him ever mentioned that Paul rogers influenced him. Freddie did remark at one time that he really liked George Micheals voice. And I believe that this is being said to soothe the fans into believing that hey... Paul was a big influence to Freddie so Hey hes our new frontman if Freddie liked him then why not everyone, its all for pr purposes.
Just because he was stated as an influence on Freddie doesn't mean it's not true. I'm sure there are many people who don't always sight all of their influences. I don't think it really matters at this point anyway...
Cheers
I think it's easy to forget that Paul has been around a long long time, and yes back in the day he WAS an immense influence on many singers. I can rememeber the huge buzz that went around when Free and Bad Company released records, they were the Michael Jackson Thriller of there day.
I have no doubt Freddie liked listening to Paul, most people in the late sixties and seventies that liked rock loved him.Then he just dissappeared for a while.
Imagine in thirty years if madonna came back looking as good and as fit as Paul does, your kids would say, who? what? No? well it's just the same.
When I was at school, Free and Bad Company were very very big.
I don't think Freddie every said Paul is my favorite singer, but you can bet he was up there, I have no reason to doubt Brian and Roger because I remember the buzz at the time.
Good stuff, Togg. I too doubt that Paul was 'the man' in Freddie's eyes, but at the time, Free was big, and the first Queen album was a very striaghtforward rock album, a la Free. I'm sure Paul influenced Freddie's singing in the early days, but by Queen II, Freddie Mercury became Freddie Mercury, and he became a singer unlike any other. I've read virtually everything possible on Queen since I got into them in '75, but until this tour I never knew Roger liked 'Let ther be drums.' If Roger were dead, and they toured as Queen and Neil Peart, and Freddie introduced Neil Peart's drum solo by saying Sandy Nelson was a fave of Roger's, we'd all be saying, 'who the hell is Sandy Nelson? I've never heard Roger mention them.' Roger worked with Sigue Sigue Sputnik, Feargal Sharkey and other diverse acts. Freddie liked the Beatles, Hendrix and Aretha. These guys were music fans too, you can't just create, I'm sure Freddie heard and liked Paul Rodgers' voice, to what extent, we'll never know.
Boy Thomas Raker wrote: Good stuff, Togg. I too doubt that Paul was 'the man' in Freddie's eyes, but at the time, Free was big, and the first Queen album was a very striaghtforward rock album, a la Free. I'm sure Paul influenced Freddie's singing in the early days, but by Queen II, Freddie Mercury became Freddie Mercury, and he became a singer unlike any other. I've read virtually everything possible on Queen since I got into them in '75, but until this tour I never knew Roger liked 'Let ther be drums.' If Roger were dead, and they toured as Queen and Neil Peart, and Freddie introduced Neil Peart's drum solo by saying Sandy Nelson was a fave of Roger's, we'd all be saying, 'who the hell is Sandy Nelson? I've never heard Roger mention them.' Roger worked with Sigue Sigue Sputnik, Feargal Sharkey and other diverse acts. Freddie liked the Beatles, Hendrix and Aretha. These guys were music fans too, you can't just create, I'm sure Freddie heard and liked Paul Rodgers' voice, to what extent, we'll never know.
Excellent post. With that, I'm rethinking my position on the subject now.
That is a true fact, I also am rethinking tho when free and bad company first came out I did like a few of thier songs, tho I was not into thier music as much as the other bands at the time.