Queen - Prince Consort Road, London, UK
N 51° 29.994 W 000° 10.685
30U E 695859 N 5709194
This PRS for Music blaque plaque indicates that Queen made their "first public performance in London here 18July 1970". The plaque, that was initially within Imperial College London is now on the building's south face in Prince Consort Road.
Waymark Code: WMWBG2
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 08/08/2017
Views: 2
The full wording on the PRS for Music plaque reads:
PRS for Music
Queen
first public performance
in London here
18 July 1970
PRS for Music Heritage Award
The BBC website tells us about the award in an article dated 5th March 2013:
Rock band Queen have been honoured with a music heritage award at the venue where they performed their first concert in 1970.
Brian May and Roger Taylor both unveiled a plaque at Imperial College.
Drummer Taylor said the college represented the "germination" of the band.
Queen have sold 300 million records including 16 number one albums and 18 number one singles.
PRS for Music created the Heritage Award scheme in 2009, to recognise important live music venues where successful artists performed.
The pair said it was wonderful to return to the college where they spent their student days.
Booking Jimi Hendrix
Guitarist May said: "It's very nostalgic. It hasn't been that long for me because I came back here to finish off my PhD in 2007, so it's a familiar place. It was such a long time ago."
Taylor said: "We've been very lucky. We've had a lot of recognition and stuff like that but it's very nice because it does hold all kinds of memories for us.
"I've just discovered my 1970 diary it's quite revelatory! A lot of our activity revolved around this college."
May said he was a member of the Entertainment Committee when he was a student and booked some big music acts.
"A thousand people bought tickets to see Jimi Hendrix and a couple of years afterwards we played the same hall which was a big thrill for us. That's what we're commemorating here," he said.
Queen's lead singer and songwriter Freddie Mercury died in 1991.
Mike Grose played bass with the band for a few months, including for their debut show on 18 July 1970.
However, the famous line-up of the group was not complete until February 1971, when John Deacon took over bass-playing duties.
Wikipedia has an article about Queen that tells us:
Queen are a British rock band that formed in London in 1970. Their classic line-up was Freddie Mercury (lead vocals, piano), Brian May (lead guitar, vocals), Roger Taylor (drums, vocals), and John Deacon (bass guitar). Queen's earliest works were influenced by progressive rock, hard rock and heavy metal, but the band gradually ventured into more conventional and radio-friendly works by incorporating further styles, such as arena rock and pop rock, into their music.
Before forming Queen, Brian May and Roger Taylor had played together in Smile. Mercury, then known by his birth name, Farrokh "Freddie" Bulsara, was a fan of Smile and encouraged them to experiment with more elaborate stage and recording techniques. Mercury joined in 1970, suggested the name "Queen", and adopted his familiar stage name. Deacon was recruited before the band recorded their eponymous debut album in 1973. Queen first charted in the UK with their second album, Queen II, in 1974, but it was the release of Sheer Heart Attack later that year and A Night at the Opera in 1975 which brought them international success. The latter featured "Bohemian Rhapsody", which stayed at number one in the UK for nine weeks and helped popularise the music video.
The band's 1977 album News of the World contained "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions", which have become anthems at sporting events. By the early 1980s, Queen were one of the biggest stadium rock bands in the world. "Another One Bites the Dust" (1980) became their bestselling single, while their 1981 compilation album Greatest Hits is the best-selling album in the UK and is certified eight times platinum in the US. Their performance at the 1985 Live Aid concert has been ranked among the greatest in rock history by various music publications. In 1991, Mercury died of bronchopneumonia, a complication of AIDS, and Deacon retired in 1997. May and Taylor have performed under the Queen name with Paul Rodgers and Adam Lambert as vocalists on several tours since.
Estimates of their record sales range from 150 million to 300 million records, making them one of the world's best-selling music artists. Queen received the Outstanding Contribution to British Music Award from the British Phonographic Industry in 1990. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.