07-05-2005 – The Guardian – Queen most loved band

Twenty years after they stole the show at the original Live Aid concert, and 14 years after the death of Freddie Mercury, Queen have been crowned the most popular UK band of all time.

The group, currently on a critically acclaimed comeback tour with former Free singer Paul Rodgers taking on vocal duties, have overtaken the Beatles and Elvis Presley as the artists who have spent the longest time on the British album charts.

According to the compilers of the Guinness Book of British Hit Singles and Albums, Queen have spent 1,322 weeks on the chart, compared with the Beatles’ 1,293 weeks.

Roger Taylor, the group’s drummer, said yesterday he was staggered by the news. Speaking from Lisbon, the latest leg of Queen’s European stadium tour, he said: “We were always incredibly ambitious. But we never expected to see a list that read Queen, then the Beatles, then Elvis.”

The band’s first number one album, A Night at the Opera, came out in 1974. But James Bradley, the assistant editor of the Guinness book, said Queen’s achievement had taken a comparatively short time: Elvis Presley first charted in 1956 and the Beatles first made the chart in 1963.

Queen’s two greatest hits albums, the first of which spent 450 weeks in the charts and sold more than 4m copies, have accounted for much of their success. Endorsements from newcomers such as the Darkness have contributed to steady album sales, and the West End show We Will Rock You has also kept the band in the public eye.

In a nod to Mercury’s show- stealing performance at Wembley in 1985, Robbie Williams played We Will Rock You at Saturday’s Live 8 concert in Hyde Park.

Queen toured earlier this year for the first time since 1986, when Mercury fell ill. He died of an Aids-related disease five years later, at the age of 45.

“We never thought we would tour again,” said Taylor. “Paul came along by chance and we seemed to have a chemistry. Paul is just such a great singer. He’s not trying to be Freddie.”