**Wed
19 Feb 03**
BRIAN AND ROGER IN MADRID TUESDAY
ED:
In response to two enquiries we have recieved that it had been on Spanish
Radio that Brian and Roger would be in Madrid on Tuesday for a Press
Conference...
Brian
and Roger are in Madrid for a press conference Tuesday midday to announce
the Spanish production of We Will Rock You. They will meet with around
300 media and also do one-to-one interviews with Spanish TV and print
press.
They then go on to South Africa where they will record with Dave Stewart
of the Eurythmics before going on to Australia for the press conference
in Melbourne on 11th March to announce WWRY Australia. While in both
countries they will attend auditions.
The Queen 2003 bio [see below] will be given out at these press conferences
which includes information on the sessions they're doing in South Africa.
QUEEN
2003 – Biography
‘The
Mighty Queen, it would appear, are unstoppable...’ so wrote one
of the UK’s most influential daily newspapers recently.
The writer, in his review of 2002 was passing comment on the fact that
some 30 years since Queen first emerged, the past year saw the band
match the achievements any of their previous peak years.
Queen again reached No.1 in the album charts - with the 3 CD greatest
hits The Platinum Collection compilation, topped the DVD charts around
the world with Greatest Video Hits 1, achieved the feat of having London’s
biggest selling musical stage production with We Will Rock You, and
found themselves title holders of the public’s favourite single
of all time with Bohemian Rhapsody in no less than 3 definitive polls
including one conducted by Guinness World Records. The band even received
a coveted star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame.
None of this, however could top their defining moment in 2002 - the
band’s triumphal appearance in June celebrating Queen Elizabeth’s
Golden Jubilee when Brian May performed the UK national anthem live
from the roof of Buckingham Palace and 1.2 million people outside the
Palace rose to their feet as one to welcome the band on stage with a
roar that could be heard around the UK’s capital city.
It does appear that time and the sad death of lead singer Freddie Mercury
have not diminished the enduring songwriting and performing talents
of arguably the most universally appealing and charismatic band of the
past three decades.
Queen arrived in 1972, an extraordinary – and to some, preposterous
– fusion of 70’s glam and late 60’s heavy rock and
intricate vocal harmonies. By the end of the 70’s Queen had become
one of the most popular bands of all time rivalling the Beatles in terms
of their chart and live performance achievements and their ability to
inject into the industry some of the most revolutionary audio and visual
techniques which would influence and reshape the decades that followed.
The legend that became Queen – John Deacon, Brian May, Roger Taylor
and the late Freddie Mercury – have accounted for record sales
in excess of 150 million across the world since the release of their
first album, Queen, in 1973. To date they have released 21 albums, all
of which have been certified gold or platinum in virtually every country.
They have provided us with some of the most classic singles of all time
– Another One Bites The Dust, I Want To Break Free, Radio Ga Ga,
Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Somebody To Love – and provided
a legacy which lives on at sports events throughout the world, where
tracks like We Are The Champions and We Will Rock You have become anthems
to endless teams worldwide. They have influenced countless of today’s
top contemporary artists – Axl Rose, The Foo Fighters being two
of scores of artists who credit Queen as their greatest inspiration.
And it appears each new decade brings a new generation of fans; the
classic Bohemian Rhapsody became a No.1 hit all over again when the
song appeared in the cult youth comedy, Wayne’s World. The band’s
musical We Will Rock You nightly attracts one of the largest and most
vibrant audiences seen in London theatre-land.
The Queen musical will open in 2003 in Spain and Australia, the band
have plans for one or two special reunions, and in June Queen will be
enrolled into America’s Songwriters Hall of Fame at a ceremony
in New York following their induction into the legendary Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame in March 2001. With all of this to look forward to
in the coming year, the ‘juggernaut that has become Queen’
(The Times) shows no signs of applying its brakes for some time to come.
Meanwhile the members of Queen continue the work that began with the
Freddie Mercury Concert in 1992 when they formed the Mercury Phoenix
Trust, the AIDS foundation set up in Freddie’s memory and dedicated
to helping AIDS organisations throughout the world. To date the MPT
has provided over $12 million to AIDS projects throughout the world.
It announced last year that for the coming 12 months it will focus its
work on Help Kids, South Africa’s Child Welfare Society project
caring for children in crisis, operating under the patronage of Archbishop
Desmond M Tutu and with the support of Nelson Mandela’s Children’s
Fund, while continuing to address other cases worthy of support across
the globe.
Currently Queen are writing and recording with Dave Stewart from the
Eurythmics some special tracks which will be released in aid of the
Nelson Mandela Foundation to help increase awareness of his call that
‘AIDS is now a human rights issue’. Working with local musicians,
the recordings will begin in South Africa in early March for release
later this year.
**Tue
25 Feb 03**
WWRY PRESS CONFERENCE IN MADRID
Brian
and Roger were in Spain today, where they conducted interviews with
the Spanish Press and TV. A 30-minute Press Conference took place at
the Calderon Theatre - which israther grand. The Queen Biography, published
last week, was made available to those in attendance.
QOL
advise that tickets for the Spanish production, which runs from 1 October
2003, go on sale soon. See local agents for details.
From:
http://www.idealspain.com/Pages/Entertainment/Madrid_ent.htm
"Teatro
Calderon: Atocha, 18. Tel 914 023 601. Tickets 2.000-3.000ptas. Largest
theatre in Madrid, seating over 2,000 people. Mostly features opera
with performances on most nights."
