In a live broadcast Sunday, Queen Elizabeth II spoke about the coronavirus situation. It was a serious and reassuring speech. But, she wore a green dress, a green-screen-green dress. The internet, starting with Peter Chiykowski, took it from there.
One commenter quipped that the dress was the Queen's "'Easter egg' to provide entertainment to the quarantined masses." Unlikely, but fun to think about.
THIS ONE:
green-screen-screengrab via Peter Chiykowski/Twitter Read the rest
Brian May, "your friendly neighbourhood rock star" (as he described himself in a post) is doing a series of "MicroConcertos" on his Instagram account. On them, he shows fans and fellow guitarists how he achieves some of his famous Queen licks.
Brian is also using his account to try and keep fans' spirits up and to encourage them to take self-isolation very seriously, observe sterile technique, and to make the most out of the time. "Keep calm and create" he summarizes.
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This spontaneously turned into a ‘Star Licks’ type tutorial ... as an experiment, really. I don’t think I’ll Ever try to do it this way again, though - because it was ridiculously time-consuming trying to put it all up on IG ‘Stories’. Here’s a very rough potted version for posterity. Tell me how useful (or not!) it was. OK ? Bri
A post shared by Brian Harold May (@brianmayforreal) on Mar 21, 2020 at 5:10am PDT
Image: Screengrab Read the rest
One imagines the late Queen frontman might have enjoyed this very much.
“I crocheted Freddie Mercury!,” says the very eager and talented crafter birdsaremybuddies on IMGUR.
I usually crochet animals.
Freddy was my first attempt at a person.
Here's the full view of their crafty creation:
They got this delightful pattern from Mojo Moji design, and with it you can crochet the iconic and legendary former singer of Queen yourself.
Moji Moji offers the pattern for free, but the considerate thing to do is donate something if you can, because this wonderful crafting project supports the Mercury Phoenix Trust:
The Mercury Phoenix Trust was founded by Brian May, Roger Taylor and their manager Jim Beach in memory of rock band Queen’s iconic lead singer Freddie Mercury who sadly died in 1991 from AIDS related pneumonia. In the last 21 years the Trust has given away over 15 million dollars in his name and funded over 700 projects in the global battle against HIV/AIDS.
As a tribute to the legendary Freddie I’ve created his likeness in amigurumi, capturing his essential awesomeness in yarn!
Here's the full crocheting process from birdsaremybuddies on IMGUR.
I crocheted Freddy Mercury
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Jewish a cappella group Six13 spun their own adaptation of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" in their delightful "Bohemian Chanukah.":
Is this the eighth night
We light with family?
Recall with great pride
Our escape from Greek tyranny?
Kindle the lights
Remember the Maccabees
How did those five boys
Lead us to victory?
Thanks, Jake! Read the rest
My daughter and I saw Bohemian Rhapsody this weekend and came straight home to listen to Queen real loud. As we were digging around YouTube, we came across this incredible "Bohemian Rhapsody" cover by Canadian artist Marc Martel. Turns out he's the guy the band's Brian May and Roger Taylor endorsed to travel the world singing as Freddie Mercury in the tribute show, The Ultimate Queen Celebration. He's also the guy whose vocals were mixed in with the isolated tracks from studio recordings of Mercury himself for use in the film. Watch the video and I think you'll see why they chose him. What talent!
He told Noise11.com:
"They hired me to do some of the singing in the movie and give the audience an immersive experience and not be able to tell where the singing is coming from. It is to make the audience believe they are really watching Freddie Mercury sing...
The way it works in movies the actor will perform their part based on the music. All of the music was prepared before shooting..."
And he told Metro:
"It is an amalgamation of a few voices. But predominantly it is my hope and the hope of everyone that we will hear as much Freddie as possible. I think that is the goal for all of us."
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IT'S PERFECT. Read the rest
This is too silly not to share. Like the headline reads, it's Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" featuring the vocals of "Mr. Chicken," an (extra)ordinary squeaky rubber chicken.
Thank you, YouTuber Franco Muñoz for bringing us this much-needed laugh.
(The Awesomer)
Previously: Despacito performed by a rubber chicken Read the rest
Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?
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That Gamer created this lovely 8-bit rendition of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," along with many of Queen's other greatest hits. Read the rest
Here's a version of We Will Rock You that actually rocks instead of sounding like a stadium full of drunk teenagers. It's from a 1970s BBC session, according to the liner notes. Right on! Read the rest
In a new scientific study, researchers conducted acoustical analysis of Queen singer Freddie Mercury's singing voice. While he spoke in a baritone voice, Mercury had a tremendous singing range. But his real vocal superpowers were a rather unique vibrato combined with his ability to use subharmonics, like a Tuvan throat singer. The Austrian, Czech, and Swedish scientists report on their research in the journal Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology.
"Perceptually, Freddie Mercury's irregular (and typically faster) vibrato is clearly audible in the sustained notes of famous songs such as 'Bohemian Rhapsody' (A Night at the Opera) or 'We Are the Champions' (News of the World), and it appears to be one of the hallmarks of his vocal style," they wrote.
In other Mercury news, a notebook containing some of his last lyrics will be auctioned off at Bonham's in June. It's estimated to go for £50,000-£70,000.
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Isolated vocal tracks from Bowie and Queen's "Under Pressure" (1981). Original below.
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Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" was released 40 years ago. Here is Queen's Brian May and Roger Taylor along with the group's studio engineer Justin Shirley Smith on the history of this feat of rock opera. This clip is from the bonus DVD on Queen's Greatest Video Hits 1. "Bohemian Rhapsody" is on Queen's LP A Night at the Opera and the track will be released as a special edition vinyl 12" this month on Record Store Day Black Friday!
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Vintage Youtubeage from 2007. Read the rest
There was little surprise at Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee, but that's probably the point. Dutifully present were the Queen, the rain, the warm beer and the National Health Service glasses and teeth (I can say this, I’m British) and, surreally, hundreds of photographic Queen masks handed out for free. Parts of the crowd looked like a monarchist V for Vendetta; R for Regina? Read the rest
From Cyriak, of course. [Video Link] Read the rest
