Queen: John Deacon and Brian May send message to fans in 1994
One of the UK and the world’s greatest rock stars celebrates his 72nd birthday this weekend, but don’t expect to read or see anything about it.
Roger Taylor posted a classic picture of the pair of them in his Instagram. Although Brian May has not posted anything publicly, they have both said that they have had little to no direct contact with their bandmate for over a decade.
John Deacon was always the quiet man of Queen, not just during the band’s (original line-up) heyday, but even more so after the world lost Freddie Mercury in November 1991.
The musician completely retired from the music business and the public eye in 1997 and has rarely been seen since.
But his legacy lives on forever, including a beauitful love song he wrote for his wife – that provoked an outraged response from Freddie.
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Freddie Mercury and John Deacon on stage (Image: GETTY )
Freddie Mercury and John Deacon were always close (Image: GETTY )
Deacon’s naturally shy and retiring nature meant he didn’t push his own compositions forward as much as the other three, more dominant, band members.
Indeed, May recalled: “John didn’t write that many songs but when he did – as with Another One Bites the Dust and I Want To Break Free – they were big, big hits…
“John was a dark horse, generally the quiet guy in Queen. We would ask him sometimes, ‘Have you got anything, John?’ and he was very self-effacing about what he had written.”
Roger Taylor wrote some of Queen’s biggest hits (Image: GETTY)
In 1975 Queen were riding high on the already spectacular success of Bohemian Rhapsody from their fourth album A Night At The Opera.
The band had to decide which single to release next. Roger had famously been championing his track, I’m In Love With My Car. Instead, one of John’s was chosen – his first single in all his five years with Queen.
In 2019, Roger said: “I wasn’t opposed to it… You’re My Best Friend was poppy and lightweight, but I could see its commercial potential. You can’t always tell, though. I was never opposed to Another One Bites The Dust. I just didn’t think it would be a hit.”
Queen stars John Deacon and Freddie Mercury (Image: GETTY)
The band made the right decision. You’re My Best Friend hit number seven on the UK charts and sold over a million copies in the US. It also has a beautiful story behind it.
John wrote the song for his new wife Veronica Tetzlaff, who he had married in January 1975. It is unashamedly romantic, dedicated to a woman he tells, “You make me live” and “You’re all I see”.
John’s love for Veronica and desire to buy a family home had actually just precipitated an enormous moment for the band when they decided to split from their previous management over money.
Freddie said: “We had best-selling albums but we were still living in crummy basement flats on fifty pounds a week.”
Apparently, the breaking point was when John wanted an advance to buy a house. When he was denied the band decided to break their contract.
John Deacon was the quiet man of Queen (Image: GETTY)
After that, John became the main financial and business adviser for the band in the subsequent period, and still played an important role after John Reid came in as their new manager.
Freddie said; “John Deacon kept a very close eye on all our business affairs. He knew everything that should and shouldn’t be going on. If God had forsaken us, the rest of the group wouldn’t do anything unless John said it was alright.”
However, Freddie and John had a rare clash over You’re My Best Friend.
Queen made very little money before 1975 (Image: GETTY )
Freddie, of course, was the main keyboard player in the band. However, John played the Wurlitzer EP-200 electric piano on the track for the simple reason that Freddie refused to.
John later said: “Freddie didn’t like the electric piano, so I took it home and I started to learn on the electric piano and basically that’s the song that came out when I was learning to play piano. It was written on that instrument and it sounds best on that.”
Freddie, naturally, made his own feelings very clear: “I refused to play that damn thing. It’s tiny and horrible and I don’t like them. Why play those when you have a lovely superb piano?”
Although John is playing the instrument on the record, in the video he is shown playing a grand piano. And when the song was performed on tour with Freddie back at the keyboards, he once again refused to use an organ.
