If I didn't do this well, I just wouldn't have anything to do...I can't cook, and I'd be a terrible housewife.I'm just a musical prostitute my dear
The bigger the better; in everything.
Years ago, I thought up the name Queen...It's just a name, but it's very regal obviously, and it sounds splendid...It's a strong name, very universal and immediate. It had a lot of visual potential and was open to all sorts of interpretations. I was certainly aware of the gay connotations, but that was just one facet of it.
"I am as gay as a daffodil." (Speaking in 1974)
"All my lovers asked me why they couldn't replace Mary but it's simply impossible. The only friend I've got is Mary and I don't want anybody else. To me, she was my common-law wife. To me, it was a marriage. We believe in each other, thats enough for me. I couldn't fall in love with a man the same way as I have with Mary." (On Mary Austin, late 70s interview)
"Following the enormous conjecture in the press over the last two weeks, I wish to confirm that I have tested HIV positive and have AIDS. I felt it correct to keep this information private in order to protect the privacy of those around me. However, the time has come for my friends and fans around the world to know the truth and I hope that everyone will join with me in the fight against this terrible disease." (Statement released on 23 November 1991)
Oh, I was not made for heaven. No, I don't want to go to heaven. Hell is much better. Think of all the interesting people you're going to meet down there!
Modern paintings are like women, you'll never enjoy them if you try to understand them.
I think I'm totally original. I'm sure there are many people who see themselves in me, but that's to them. I'm me, basically, and that's how I like to be.
My voice takes a beating. The more vocal gymnastics I do in the studio, the more I have to do on stage.
The Carmen Miranda of rock 'n' roll. But what can I say? I'm a flamboyant personality. I like going out and having a good time.
Oh God, I pray I'll never get AIDS. So many friends have it. Some have died, others won't last much longer. I'm terrified that I'll be next. Immediately after each time I have sex I think, 'Suppose that was the one? Suppose the virus is now in my body? I jump in the shower and scrub myself clean, although I know it's useless and anyway it's too late.
Fame and success have brought me everything, except a loving, on-going relationship. I seem to eat people up and destroy them no matter how hard I try to make things work. Sometimes I wake up in a cold sweat, screaming with fear because I'm so alone. That's why I go out looking for someone who will love me, even if it's just for a one-night stand. I fall in love far too quickly, and I end up getting hurt and scarred. It seems I just can't win.
I am a manipulator of life.
I have to go out every night. I hate staying in one room for too long anyway. I just like to keep moving.
[on his band Queen] We're in the music business. It's in my blood. The only thing I can do is to write music and perform. That's what I'm going to be doing and I think all of us are going to be doing until we die.
I'm not married to music, I'm married to love.
I always knew I was a star, and now the rest of the world seems to agree with me.
I'm a very tragic person, but there's always an element of humour at the end.
The most important thing, darling, is to live a fabulous life. As long as it's fabulous, I don't care how long it is.
I don't think I'll make old bones and I don't care. I've lived a full life. I really have done it all and if I'm dead tomorrow I don't care a damnOne of my early inspirations came from Cabaret (1972). I absolutely adore Liza Minnelli, she's a total wow. The way she delivers her songs, the sheer energy, the way the lights enhance every movement of the show. I think you can see similarities in the excitement and energy of a Queen show. It's not glam rock, you see; we're in the show-business tradition.
[on Queen] We're the bitchiest band on earth, darling. We're at each other's throats. One night Roger Taylor was in a foul mood and he threw his entire bloody drum set across the stage. The thing only just missed me - I might have been killed.
I don't like to explain what I was thinking when I wrote a song. I think that's awful, just awful. When I'm dead, I want to be remembered as a musician of some worth and substance.
I like to enjoy myself and what better way to do it than on stage in front of 300,000 people?
I'm just an old slag who gets up every morning, scratches his head and wonders what he wants to f**k.
I love George Michael because he moves so well and has a sense of dignity and fun.
Something like Bohemian Rhapsody didn't just come out of thin air. I did a bit of research, although it was tongue-in-cheek and it was mock-opera. Why not? I certainly wasn't saying I was an opera fanatic and I knew everything about it.
I don't want to keep playing the same formula over and over again, otherwise you just go insane. I don't want to become stale. I want to be creative.
I'm a flamboyant person. I like to live life. I certainly work hard for it, and I want to have a good time. Don't deny me that. It might not come again and I want to enjoy myself a little.
I liked to sing, I don't know, call it natural gift or whatever, you know, I'm not afraid to say it. It's just I like to sing and then I suddenly realized that I could actually write songs and then make my own music rather than before I would, you know, sort of copy Elvis Presley songs and things as I do, then I realized that I could actually write my own songs and do it my own way. Then suddenly, you know, there was a little taste of success.
In terms of press and things, I'm a very hated person, but I hate the press as well. So that goes both ways, but to me I think I've learned to live with it. I'd be a liar to say I'm not hurt by criticism because I mean everybody is, you know, of course I want everybody to say I'm wonderful and they like my songs, but I mean I don't mind actually a sort of genuine well thought out criticism, but I mean of course you're going to get... just... people review our albums without even listening to them and things like that, but I mean that's the way of the world and before I used to get really mad and start tearing my hair out but now I don't have anymore sleepless nights, so just I learned to live with it. Let them all come.
It's lovely to hear that We Are The Champions is a song that's been taken up by, you know, football fans 'cause that's a winners' song which keeps coming back, I can't believe that somebody else hasn't written a new song to take it over.
I relax in ways most people can't understand. I can relax by actually just sleeping on a plane when I'm flying for 20 minutes, that's my relaxation. That's all I need. I don't need too much sleep. I don't, you know, I don't need tons of sleep, I can go with 3 or 4 hours sleep every night. That's enough for me. I recharge my batteries in that short a time and I'm up again.
When I'm dead are they going to remember me ? I don't really think about it, it's up to them. When I'm dead, who cares ? I don't.
[on Jimi Hendrix] He really had everything a rock & roll star should have - style, presence; he didn't have to force anything. He'd just make an entrance and the whole place would be on fire. He was living out everything I wanted to be.
[speaking at his last concert with Queen at Knebworth Park, August 9th, 1986] Earlier on there were rumors of us splitting up, but I mean - fuck 'em - how can you split up when you have an audience like this?
[on rumors he had AIDS] AIDS changed my life. I was extremely promiscuous but I stopped that. Anyone who is promiscuous should have a test. I'm fine. I'm clear.
[on Manhattan in the 1980s] It's sin city, but you have to come away at the right time. Stay a day too long, and it grips you. Very hypnotic. It's all tripping in at 8 or 9 every morning, and taking throat injections so I can still sing. It's a real place. I love it.
[on what other people thought his songs were about] If you hear it, darling, then it's there.
We started off on a sort of heavy metal footing in the days of Led Zeppelin. I think Led Zeppelin are still one of the greatest heavy metal bands that ever lived.
[in 1985] I think right now George Michael is very very good.
Stevie Wonder, writing a ballad, you just can't top that guy.
A concert is not a live rendition of our album. It's a theatrical event. I have fun with my clothes onstage; it's not a concert you're seeing, it's a fashion show.
I've worked hard for money. Nobody's given it to me dear! I've earned it so it's mine to do what I want with. So if I want a pyramid in Kensington and I can afford it, I'll have it.
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