Oct 13 2008 By Jane Tyler
Photographs of rock legends Queen which have never been seen before will go on show in Birmingham this week.
The pictures were taken by family and friends and are so rare many have not even been seen by the band members themselves.
St Paul's Gallery, at Northwood Street, in the Jewellery Quarter has been given the exclusive rights to show them in an exhibition which starts on Thursday and continues for a month.
There are 66 images in the show, covering nearly all the years of Queen. They include the very early days, stunning pictures of the late Freddie Mercury, the group together, and individually in all their various guises.
The surviving members of Queen are expected to attend a private viewing of the launch at the gallery ahead of their appearance in a concert at the NIA that night.
Mingling with specially-invited guests at the gallery on Thursday will be Queen’s Brian May and Roger Taylor and former Free frontman Paul Rodgers, who they have teamed up with for their latest tour.
The photographs were collected by Queen’s art director Richard Grey who rounded them all up from various sources and has kept them safe in Dorset until their unveiling to the world in Birmingham.
St Paul’s Gallery scooped the pictures because it has the largest collection of album cover art in the world and it has the right to reproduce signed pieces.
Gallery owners obtained the previously unseen pictures when they initially approached Queen to sign art prints from the News of the World and Jazz albums.
A spokeswoman for St Paul’s said: “It was during a conversation with management and the art director that these photographs came into discussion.
“The gallery asked permission to show these, as they carry much memorabilia from various musical legends and so had a great interest in being the first to unveil these here in Birmingham.”
On Thursday St Paul’s will also be releasing its limited edition fine art prints of News of the World and Jazz album covers, which the band members will be signing during their personal appearance.
• The opening day of the exhibition is by invitation only, but afterwards is open to anyone. link
Hi All.
Just to let you know that whils the article says it is a private view on Thursday, this is actually incorrect. The show is open to all fans etc from 1200 hrs on the 16th oct 2007 with both the signed limited edition prints and also the unseen Queen photos on show.
If anyone would like to come please call or contact the gallery ( www.stpaulsgallery.com ) or just come along when convenient.
Also whilst we hope Queen will visit the collection, we only know they have an intention to visit at some time during the exhibition. ie between 16th Oct until Mid Nov and not necessarily on the 16th. Sorry!
Hope you can all have a look as the photos and prints look fantastic. Kind regards, St pauls gallery
OMG!![img=/images/smiley/msn/teeth_smile.gif][/img] I can't wait to see them! That's so cool....... and weird because the members themselves haven't even seen the pics. hahaha