Jimmy Page

He is widely recognised as one of the greatest guitarists of all time. As part of the Jubilee celebrations Brian May performed a guitar solo of God Save the Queen, as featured on Queen's A Night at the Opera, from the roof of Buckingham Palace. His daughter, Scarlet Page, is a respected photographer. The launch of the musical coincided with the Queen's Golden Jubilee. Since 1990, Jimmy Page has been instrumental in remastering the entire Led Zeppelin back catalogue and is currently involved in various charity concerts and charity work particularly the Action for Brazil's Children Trust (ABC Trust), founded by his wife Jimena Gomez-Paratcha in 1998. It has since been staged in Barcelona, Spain; Melbourne, Australia; Cologne, Germany; and Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Page has been one member of Led Zeppelin that has always left open the option for a group reunion. The musical was written by British comedian and author Ben Elton in collaboration with Brian May and Roger Taylor.

Following a highly successful tour in 1995 to support No Quarter, Page and Plant recorded Walking Into Clarksdale, their first full CD together since 1979. In 2002, a musical or "rock theatrical" based on the songs of Queen, entitled We Will Rock You, opened at the Dominion Theatre in the West End of London. The soundtrack to the special was released in 1995 as the CD No Quarter, and in 2004 as the DVD No Quarter Unledded. The song "Bohemian Rhapsody" was re-released after appearing in Wayne's World, and subsequently topped the US billboard chart. The 90 minute special, dubbed UnLedded premiered to the highest ratings in MTVs history. Several other films featured their songs, including Iron Eagle, Wayne's World, Small Soldiers, Super Size Me, A Knight's Tale, The Girl Next Door, and Shaun of the Dead. In 1994, Page reunited with Plant for the penultimate performance in MTVs "Unplugged" series. Queen contributed music directly to the movies Flash Gordon and Highlander (the original film directed by Russell Mulcahy).

Source: IMDB. It is unknown whether or not Mercury was aware he had AIDS at this time. In addition, he also collaborated with director Michael Winner to record the Death Wish 3 soundtrack, released in 1985. Ironically, the band were to hardly meet for another 3 years, during which time Freddie Mercury did some solo work and Roger Taylor did some work with The Cross. Various other projects soon followed such as The Firm, with Paul Rodgers, session work for Graham Nash, Box of Frogs, and Robert Plant, a solo album Outrider, a collaboration with David Coverdale in Coverdale Page, and a live album with The Black Crowes. I mean, how can you split up when you have an audience like this, I mean, really! We're not that stupid!". In 1984, Page recorded with Plant in the guise of The Honeydrippers. I mean, really, look at this! (cheers).

Page then linked up with Roy Harper for an album and tour. "...and earlier on, there were rumours of us splitting up, but I mean, fuck 'em!. Page made a successful return to stage with the ARMS Charity series of concerts in 1983 which honoured Small Faces bass player Ronnie Lane. At the Knebworth concert held with some 120,000 in attendence on August 9th that same year, Freddie makes the following statement:. After Led Zeppelin disbanded in 1980, Page attempted to form a supergroup with ex-Yes members to be called XYZ however it came to naught. What do you think?" Audience: "No!" Freddie: "Forget those rumors, we're gonna stay together 'till we fucking well die, I'm sure!". As a result their final studio album (In Through the Out Door) was more heavily influenced by bassist John Paul Jones and singer Robert Plant. the rumors are that we're gonna split up.

Page and drummer John Bonham would frequently be absent from the recording studio in the band's later years, showing up after songs were already written. A memorable and prophetic moment occurred when Freddie Mercury told the audience: "There's been a lot of rumors lately about a certain band called Queen.. This habit would severely affect his later performances with Led Zeppelin, which were often hit-and-miss. The Wembley concert, part of a UK tour in 1986, attracted 150,000 people over two nights. In 1976 Page started using heroin. Queen embarked upon many popular tours, with memorable shows (including the historic Live Aid concert) held at Wembley Stadium in England, and at the Rock in Rio festival in Brazil, although only the group's final tour, in support of the album "A Kind of Magic", ever actually made any money. His guitar solo in the famous rock song "Stairway to Heaven" was voted by readers of Guitar World Magazine as the greatest guitar solo of all time. This resulted in a stunning moment at Live Aid at which almost 100,000 people at Wembley Stadium clapped their hands over their head in unison to "Radio Ga-Ga.".

Page also put to use his bowed playing technique he developed during his session days, and experimented with feedback devices and a theremin. Beginning with "News Of The World" in 1977, Queen began to write songs with the specific purpose of involving the crowd, like "We Will Rock You" and "We Are The Champions," and tailored some songs, like "Radio Ga Ga" to involve claps. His landmark guitar solo from the song "Heartbreaker" (Led Zeppelin II) has been credited by Eddie Van Halen as the inspiration for Van Halen's trademark 2-hand tapping technique. Mercury immersed himself in the crowd's adulation and thrived off their excitement, a trait for which many, including Kurt Cobain (in his suicide note), have expressed admiration. His use of distorted fuzz guitar ("Whole Lotta Love"), slide guitar ("You Shook Me", "In My Time of Dying"), pedal steel guitar ("Your Time is Gonna Come", "Tangerine"), eastern scales ("Black Mountain Side", "Kashmir"), acoustic guitar ("Gallows Pole", "Bron-Yr-Aur") and recording techniques made Led Zeppelin a prototype for all future rock bands. The energy with which they performed, the excitement, enthusiasm and pure adrenaline Freddie Mercury brought with his vocal performance, was so natural and so genuine that the audience almost always joined in and sang. As a producer, composer and guitarist for the band, he was one of the major driving forces behind the rock sound of that era, with his trademark Gibson Les Paul guitar and Marshall amplification. Along with their contemporaries KISS, they changed live concerts forever from the staid, stodgy events that had prevailed since the time of the Beatles, where performers would merely stand around and play their instruments.

Page's past experiences both in the studio and with The Yardbirds was critical in the success of Led Zeppelin in the 1970s. Queen's live performances were truly groundbreaking, employing massive lighting rigs, pyrotechnics, and other special effects to make their shows into engaging theatrical events. After a handful of shows on their first tour, The New Yardbirds renamed themselves Led Zeppelin. True to form, Taylor and May are in constant communication with fans, collectors and industry experts to find out where demand lies for future releases and where the industry and new technology is headed. Despite the departure of Keith Relf and Jim McCarty in 1968, Page wished to continue the group with a new line-up. The Queen camp continues to work on future concert releases, at least one more video collection (Volume 3) and the rest of album catalogue in the DVD-Audio format. The musical potential of the line-up however was scuttled by interpersonal conflicts caused by constant touring and a lack of commercial success. Brian May has said he would like to see the entire Queen catalogue reproduced in this format, as it is closer to what the band envisaged for their work years ago.

Within weeks Page was again offered to join The Yardbirds and at first played bass guitar with the group after the departure of Paul Samwell-Smith, before finally switching to twin lead guitar with Beck when Chris Dreja moved to bass. Known for their densely layered arrangments and backing, this medium seems tailor-made for Queen's music. On May 16, 1966, drummer Keith Moon, bass player John Paul Jones, keyboardist Nicky Hopkins, Jeff Beck and Page recorded "Beck's Bolero" in London's IBC Studios. The experience gave Page an idea to form a band with John Entwistle on bass (instead of Jones), however the lack of a quality vocalist and contractual problems sent the project down like a "lead zeppelin". So far, two of Queen's most acclaimed albums, A Night At The Opera and The Game, have been fully remixed into DTS Surround on DVD-Audio albums. After being invited to replace Eric Clapton in The Yardbirds on March 20, 1965, Page turned down the offer and instead suggested his friend Jeff Beck. DVD releases of their famous 1986 Wembley concert (titled Live At Wembley Stadium) and 1982 Milton Keynes concert, and two Greatest Video Hits (Volumes 1 and 2, spanning the '70s and '80s) have seen the band's music remixed into 5.1 and DTS Surround Sound. It is estimated that Jimmy Page appeared on 60% of rock music recorded in England between 1963 and 1966. Under the supervision of Brian May and Roger Taylor, numerous restoration projects have been underway involving Queen's lengthy audio and video catalogue.

Page also formed a brief songwriting partnership with then girlfriend, Jackie DeShannon. Queen is credited by artists like Foo Fighters, AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Guns n' Roses, Def Leppard, Trent Reznor, George Michael, Metallica, The Smashing Pumpkins, and The Darkness as having a major influence on their sound. In 1965 Page was hired by Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham to act as house producer for the newly formed Immediate Records label, which also allowed him to play on tracks by John Mayall, Nico, and Eric Clapton. Queen is noted in particular for its musical eclecticism and groundbreaking live shows. Under the auspices of producer Shel Talmy, Page recorded The Kinks "You Really Got Me" (1964) (although there is a dispute on whether Page or Dave Davies played lead), the guitar part on Them's "Baby Please Don’t Go" (1965), and recorded a lead guitar part on The Who's first single "I Can't Explain", although there is disagreement over whether or not it was used. Queen is remembered for its never-seen-before theatrics, showmanship, camp and bombast so much that critics have since classified the band as a major player in the evolution of rock music. His studio output in 1963 included Brian Poole & The Tremeloes' "Twist and Shout", Heinz's "Just Like Eddie" and in 1964, The Rolling Stones "Heart of Stone", Marianne Faithfull's "As Tears Go By", The Nashville Teens' "Tobacco Road", Dave Berry's "The Crying Game", and Lulu's hit "Shout". The tour which will lead the band through Spain, Holland, Germany, England, Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic and Sweden will feature both classic Queen tracks as well as material from Paul Rodgers.

After brief stints with the band Micky Finn, and Carter Lewis and The Southerners, Page committed himself to full-time session work. In the meantime dates for the ?2005 Queen + Paul Rodgers? tour have been announced. His first session for the label was the recording "Diamonds" by Jet Harris & Tony Meehan which went to Number 1 on the singles chart in 1963. At the end of 2004, it was announced that Queen will reunite and return to touring in 2005, with Paul Rodgers (founder and former lead singer of Free, Bad Company, and The Firm) who will be singing in Freddie Mercury's place, as frontman, but will not be in the band as Brian May has announced recently to the Queen fan club, that Paul Rodgers will be "featured with" Queen, not replacing the late Freddie Mercury. It wasn't until an offer from Mike Leander from Decca Records that Page was to receive regular studio work. The album is entitled "Dragon Attack" after one of Queen's earlier recordings. He was spotted one night by John Gibb of The Silhouettes, who asked him to help record a number of singles for EMI, "The Worrying Kind" and "Bald Headed Woman". A tribute album has appeared, but not with musicians of note.

While still a student, Page would often jam on stage at the Marquee with bands such as the Cyril Davis All Stars, Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated and with guitarists Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton. The band still appears from time to time, minus bassist John Deacon (whose few public appearances are normally to pour cold water on any rumours of a Queen get-together involving him) making "Queen & ..." projects with various guest musicians, something which Deacon is said to generally support. Living from out of the back of a van and intermittent wages however, led Page to take up a totally different focus in painting at Sutton Art College in Surrey. Queen never actually disbanded, although their last album of original material (not including compilations) was released in 1995, titled Made In Heaven, put out four years after Freddie Mercury's death, and constructed from Freddie's final recording sessions in 1991, plus material leftover from their previous studio albums. Page was then asked by Neil Christian to join his band, The Crusaders, which gave him his first taste of touring life and an appearance on a November 1962 single, "The Road to Love". Musicians such as Annie Lennox, Guns n' Roses, Def Leppard, Elton John, George Michael, David Bowie, Metallica and Liza Minnelli (along with the three surviving members of Queen) perfomed most of Queen's major hits. After graduating from school with an initial aim to work as a lab assistant, Page’s love of the guitar saw him switch to playing for Beat poet Royston Ellis before joining his first band, Red E Lewis and The Red Caps. On April 20, 1992, the public shared in the mourning of Mercury's passing at The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, held at London's Wembley Stadium in Mercury's honor.

At the age of 14, Page appeared on ITV's Search For Stars talent quest programme. His funeral services were private, held in accordance with the Zoroastrian religious faith of his family. King. Within 24 hours of the announcement, Mercury was dead at the age of 45. Page's musical tastes however also encompassed acoustic folk playing particularly that of Bert Jansch and John Renbourn, and the blues sounds of Elmore James and B.B. On November 23, 1991, in a prepared statement made on his deathbed, Freddie Mercury finally acknowledged he had AIDS. The Presley song "Baby Let's Play House" was an early favourite on his first electric guitar, a second hand 1949 Gibson. Highlights of the album were the epic title track, reminiscent of Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir"; the hard-rocking, rollicking powerhouse "Headlong"; and the anthems "The Show Must Go On" and "These Are The Days Of Our Lives".

His early influences were rockabilly guitarists Scotty Moore and James Burton, who both played on recordings made by Elvis Presley, and Johnny Day who played guitar for The Everly Brothers. Although his health began to deteriorate, Mercury was courageous in handling his contributions. Jimmy Page began learning guitar when he was 12. That album became Innuendo. His father was an industrial personnel manager and his mother a doctor's secretary. Mercury flatly denied these rumors, but knowing the actual truth as his other bandmates did, they decided to make an album free of conflict and differences. Page was born in the north London suburb of Heston in Middlesex. Even tabloids worldwide got in on the news.

. In 1991, rumors started spreading that Freddie Mercury was suffering from AIDS. He was the founding member for the band Led Zeppelin and, prior to that, a member of The Yardbirds from late 1966 through 1968. This record continued the direction of A Kind of Magic with a polished pop-rock sound and hits like "Invisible Man", "The Miracle" and "Breakthru". James Patrick Page, known as Jimmy Page, (born January 9, 1944) is widely considered one of the greatest and most influential guitarists in rock and roll. After working in various solo projects during 1988 (including Mercury´s collaboration with Montserrat Caballé, "Barcelona") the band released The Miracle in 1989. It sold out within 2 hours, and over 120,000 fans packed the park to get a glimpse of Queen one last time live.

They couldn't book Wembley for a third night because it was already booked, but they managed to get Knebworth Park. On this tour, Queen performed for the last time together. It is rumored that Freddie contracted AIDS that year as well. Freddie teased the capacity crowd of 89,000 that Queen might be breaking up, only to tell the crowd that it was just a silly rumor, and that Queen would be together until "we fucking well die, I'm sure!" much to the delight of the crowd.

Later that year, Queen went on a sold-out final tour, known as The Magic Tour, in support of their 1986 release, "A Kind Of Magic", which culminated at Wembley Stadium in London and resulted in the triumphant live double album, "Queen Live At Wembley Stadium", which has become for many fans and critics, Queen's ultimate live document, (released both on CD and also as a live concert film on DVD), and live recording and film of Queen at their transcendent pinnacle. This album was very successful, producing a string of hits including the title track "A Kind of Magic", "Who Wants To Live Forever?" and "Friends Will Be Friends". In early 1986 Queen recorded the album "A Kind of Magic", inspired by the 1986 Russell Mulcahy film Highlander. It was used in the film "Iron Eagle".

Revitalised by the reponse to Live Aid and the resulting increase in record sales, Queen ended 1985 by releasing the single "One Vision", an uptempo guitar-based song credited, unusally for this period, to the four members of the band. In the eyes of critics and fans alike, the group stole the show at the worldwide extravaganza, performing some of their greatest hits and wowing audiences with their energy and superb musicianry and showmanship. Then came 1985, and the benefit concert Live Aid, which Queen were invited to perform at. This led to the members of Queen branching off onto solo projects during this period.

In 1984, Queen successfully bridged the gap between hard rock and pop with the album The Works, which included the incredibly successful glitzy rock anthem "Radio Ga-Ga," the gorgeous pop of "I Want to Break Free," (a song that would become an anthem of the supressed left-wing of Brazil and later Coca-Cola "C2" Commercials), the heavy, hard-rock live favorites "Hammer to Fall" (a poetic commentary on the Cold War) and "Tear It Up." Despite these hit singles and live barn-burners, the album failed to sell well, contributing to tensions within the band. The album was especially disappointing to the hard-rock faithful that followed them through the 70s since their first album and their breakthrough success "Sheer Heart Attack." Nonetheless, the album included "Under Pressure," the only real highlight, and "Body Language," a single that only gained attention in the U.S., netting a surprise number 11 hit. The result was the 1982 album Hot Space, an album which, either fairly or not, has been almost unanimously regarded by critics and die-hard, loyal fans alike as being one of their worst. The response to "Another One Bites the Dust" was overwhelming, so the band decided to do an entire album of disco/funk influenced songs.

The group also released a widely successful greatest hits CD, their first, which showcased their rock highlights during the first phase of their career. The memorable riff showed up for Vanilla Ice's hit, "Ice, Ice Baby, prompting a lawsuite over the use of the sample. The single netted a number one in Britain and a well-remembered rock anthem, a fan-favorite of both Queen and Bowie legionnaires. 1981 saw Queen collaborate with David Bowie for the single "Under Pressure".

The album sold poorly, but served as a showcase for Queen in a different light. 1980 also saw them do the innovative and critically-acclaimed soundtrack for the movie Flash Gordon. The album also featured two of Queen's greatest ballads; "Play the Game" and the fan-favorite "Save Me," both of which were hits in Britain and well-remembered by rock fans in the States. It stayed at number one for four weeks in the United States, and the album went four times platinum States-side.

It combined Queen's rock sensibilities with a funky minimalism that resulted in a discofied rock classic. The album featured the "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" single, as well as the monster hit "Another One Bites the Dust" a track that was released in 1981 after Michael Jackson suggested it would make a great single. The album turned out to be their highest selling non-greatest hits. Queen kicked off the 1980s with the hugely successful album, The Game.

They also released the very successful single, "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," a song done in the style of Elvis Presley; the single made the top 10 in most countries and was the band's first number one single in the U.S. The album, entitled Live Killers, went platinum (twice in the U.S.) in most developed countries. They did, however, release their first-ever live album, in response to the exorbitant amounts of money Queen bootlegs were fetching. All band members, especially Mercury, noted frustration and disappointment with the album, and as a result, took a break from the breakneck schedule of one or more albums a year, and focused during the year of 1979 totally on a new album to come out in 1980.

Fan response was lukewarm to Jazz and for the first time Queen's sales saw a bit of a dip. The album cover was inspired by a painting on the Berlin wall. Important tracks of the album were "Dead on Time", "Let Me Entertain You" or "Mustapha", a song by Freddie, which had a very Arabian sound combined with heavy rock guitar. In 1978 the band released the Jazz album, including the hit singles "Fat Bottomed Girls" and "Bicycle Race", being a double-A-side single. This album produced the anthemic "We Will Rock You" and the famous rock ballad "We Are The Champions", as well as the punchy, near-punk sound of "Sheer Heart Attack" (not to be confused with the album of the same name released three years earlier) - and possibly an influence on Queens Of The Stone Age's "Feelgood Hit of the Summer" which features an alarmingly similar guitar riff.

This album had more of a sonic punch to it, as well as songs that were tailor-made to be performed (and subsequently have their greatest effect) live. 1977 saw the release of News of the World, an album that was critically panned at the time but has gained recognition over time. charts. "Tie Your Mother Down" was a typical Queen hard-rocker that produced a very recognizable riff and displayed Queen's trademark sense of humor. singles chart and number 2 on the U.K.

Staying true to their guitar-driven style, it was filled with Brian May's virtuoso harmony, and it went to number 11 on the U.S. The standout tracks were "Somebody to Love" and "Tie Your Mother Down." "Somebody" was an incredible rock ballad, on which Freddie Mercury mulitracked his voice to make a 100-voice gospel choir. Although it was by both fans' and critics' standards superb, it was unable to eclipse its predecessor, and thus as a result has been somewhat underrated. The album was done very much in the vein of Opera musically as well.

Plans were made to eventually release the two together as a package, but those plans never came to fruition. The cover was the same as Opera's, only with the colors inverted. Back in the studio and unable to really top A Night At The Opera in sales or quality, Queen recorded what essentially was a companion album, A Day At The Races, also in keeping with the Marx Brothers' movie theme for the title. It was official; Queen had hit the popular music scene.

The album was a smash in Britain, and went three times platinum in the United States. "I'm In Love With My Car" was a hard-rock tune, written and sung by drummer Roger Taylor, which is currently being used in Jaguar Car commercials. charts), a sweet, pure pop gem that was unlike anything Queen had ever done to that point. The album also featured "You're My Best Friend" (which peaked at 14 on the U.S.

Considered by many to be their greatest effort (some call it Queen's Led Zeppelin IV), this is the album that featured the huge worldwide hit, "Bohemian Rhapsody." "Bohemian Rhapsody" was number one in the UK for nine weeks, breaking the record set by Paul Anka's "Diana." It reached number 9 in the U.S.; when it was rereleased in 1992, it reached number one in the UK again, and hit number 2 in America. If Sheer Heart Attack's blend of eclectic styles and heavy-metal was considered to be gamut-running, their 1975 effort A Night at the Opera was all-encompassing. It combined campy, vaudeville British music hall with Led Zeppelin-like sound and Brian May's virtuosity on the guitar. charts.

The standout track was "Killer Queen" a British Top Ten and which got as high as number 11 on the U.S. Considered one of their greatest efforts, Queen made a surprisingly cohesive album with a wide variety of different types of music; British music hall to heavy metal tunes like "Stone Cold Crazy" (which Metallica would later cover and earn a Grammy for) and "Now I'm Here" (a live concert favorite); ballads ("Lily of the Valley"), ragtime ("Bring Back That Leroy Brown"), even Caribbean ("Misfire"). The album was huge in the UK and throughout Europe; it went gold in the United States. Later that same year, Sheer Heart Attack was released.

The album was highly experimental, so it garnered little mainstream attention, but the single got them on to the charts in Britain. 1974 saw two releases; the first being of Queen II, which had the hit "Seven Seas of Rhye" on it. It drew little attention, but succeeded in giving the band an FM radio anthem "Keep Yourself Alive." In hindsight, it's considered to be a strong first album. In 1973 Queen released their first album, a self-titled effort.

It was not until 1972 that they found John Deacon and started to rehearse for the first album, Queen. One of the first was Barry Mitchell. Freddie quickly stepped in for Tim and they started to search for a bass player. At some point Tim Staffell decided Smile was not going anywhere and he decided to join a band called Humpy Bong.

Still, he was very eager to share his ideas in which musical direction Smile should develop. At that time Freddie was a singer in other bands, such as Wreckage and Ibex. Freddie was Tim's roommate in Ealing Arts College and followed Smile's rehearsals and concerts closely. Brian May and Roger Taylor were playing on a band called Smile with bass player/singer Tim Staffell.

Most of the group's albums contained at least one song written by each member, and though Mercury penned a lot of Queen's hits, he was by no means the dominant songwriter; indeed, the group considered themselves creative equals, and quiet bassist John Deacon wrote one of their biggest hits, "Another One Bites the Dust." In their later years, two or three or even all four band members commonly contributed to individual songs; after arguments over the attribution of these cooperative efforts, the band agreed to simply credit "Queen" rather than single members (from The Miracle onwards). Though Freddie Mercury's personality always dominated in the press, all four members of the group actually wrote huge hits:. In 1971 John Deacon completed the lineup as bass guitarist. After the group's bassist and lead singer Tim Staffell departed in the spring of 1970, May and Taylor took on vocalist Freddie Mercury in April 1970 to form Queen.

The beginnings of Queen can be traced to 1968, when Brian May and Roger Taylor formed the trio Smile, at Imperial College, London, where they were both students. Their official crest, seen pictured, includes the zodiac signs of all four members. Queen are widely recognised as pioneers of heavy metal, glam rock, and stadium rock. The group is well known for its sports anthems and classic rock radio staples, particularly the hits "We Are the Champions" and "Bohemian Rhapsody;" the band promoted the latter, first released in 1975, with one of the earliest successful music videos, and later re-released it for the soundtrack album from the movie Wayne's World.

Queen is a British rock band which was popular in the 1970s and 1980s. Greatest Hits: We Will Rock You Edition (2004). 1-3 (2001). Platinum Collection, Vols.

Greatest Hits III (1999). The Crown Jewels (1998). Queen Rocks (1997). 1-2 (1995).

Greatest Hits, Vols. At the BBC (1995). Greatest Hits [Parlophone] (1994). Greatest Hits [Hollywood] (1992).

Classic Queen (1992). II (1991). Greatest Hits, Vol. Queen at the Beeb (1989).