Before solidifying their place as one of rock music’s most daring acts, Queen struggled with growing pains. While building a solid foundation in singer Freddie Mercury, guitarist Brian May, and drummer Roger Taylor, the London-based band struggled to hold onto bass players until February 1971. Then John Deacon came aboard, and the Queen we all know and love was born. On this day (July 2) in 1971, the quartet made it official with Deacon’s debut at the U.K.’s Surrey College outside London.
Queen’s original bassist, Mike Grose, played just three live gigs with the band before leaving in early 1971.
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They held onto his replacement, Barry Mitchell, for seven months before he exited in search of “something more bluesy and soulful, something with a brass section,” he told PopMatters years later.
Next came teenager Doug Bogie, who lasted just two gigs.
How John Deacon Became Queen’s Missing Piece
John Deacon had seen Queen perform in October 1970 and didn’t love what he saw, considering them no different than the crop of Led Zeppelin wannabes that were invading London at the time.
Still, he agreed to audition after meeting Taylor and May through a friend at a disco. Along with Mercury, the two watched him play in a lecture room at Imperial College in London.
For the other three, Deacon felt like the missing puzzle piece. His musical talent, coupled with his reserved demeanor, made him a perfect foil for the flamboyant trio.
“In the early days I used to be very quiet because I always felt I was the new boy. But I think I fitted in because of that,” Deacon said in an April 1996 profile. “They’d tried several other bass players before me, but their personalities seemed to clash. I was all right because I wasn’t going to upstage Brian or Freddie.”
Taylor agreed, telling author Mark Hodkinson, “We were all so used to each other, and were so over the top. We thought that because he was quiet he would fit in with us without too much upheaval. He was a great bass player too – and the fact that he was a wizard with electronics was definitely a deciding factor.”
The unbeatable lineup of John Deacon, Brian May, Freddie Mercury, and Roger Taylor would remain intact until Mercury’s death in 1991. Together, they would release 18 number-one albums and 18 number-one singles.
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