Saturday 28 March 2015

Sacha Baron Cohen back at helm of Freddie Mercury biopic

Sacha Baron Cohen back at helm of Freddie Mercury biopic and will write, direct and star

21:30, 27 March 2015
By Hannah Hope

The Borat and Ali G star quit the project two years ago following 'creative differences' with band members Brian May and Roger Taylor

Sacha Baron Cohen is back at the helm of a film about the life of Queen singerFreddie Mercury.

The Borat star, 43, quit the project two years ago over “creative differences” withband members Brian May, 67, and Roger Taylor, 65.

But Queen’s manager Jim Beach announced an “important breakthrough” in the seven-year “saga” of getting the biopic made.

He said Baron Cohen had returned and will write and direct as well as star.

Famous moustache: Sacha Baron Cohen as Borat

Mercury died in 1991 of Aids complications, aged 45.

The long-awaited film has been dogged by problems since 2010.

First 007 actor Ben Whishaw, 33, had to step in when Cohen pulled out, and then director Dexter Fletcher also abandoned the project when he and Graham King, who is producing the film for Sony, did not see eye to eye about the direction of the project.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/sacha-baron-cohen-back-helm-5415319

Queen pay tribute to Jim Beach

Queen pay tribute to 'illustrious and inimitable' manager

by Rhian Jones
about 19 hours ago

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Queen's Roger Taylor and Brian May (pictured) paid tribute to their long-serving manager, Jim Beach, for "being the glue that's held the band together for 40 years" at last night's Artist and Manager Awards.

The duo presented Beach with the Peter Grant award, named after the late Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin manager, and awarded for outstanding achievement.

Said Taylor: "Jim Beach has been the glue that's kept the band of Queen together for 40 years now. Without his tireless terrier like machiavellian plotting, we wouldn't really be around these days."

May agreed, adding that without Beach the band wouldn't be "anything like we are".

"I don't think we’re without talent, but without a manager like Jim, it wouldn’t have been able to find its fruition, and we certainly wouldn’t be here in the state that we are today, still alive!" he added.

Paying tribute to Queen's frontman Freddie Mercury, who died in 1991, and bass guitarist John Deacon, who retired at the same time, May said: "Freddie and John would be as enormously proud as we are.

"Jim is such a worthy honoree of the Peter Grant award and we are incredibly happy to present this award to our illustrious manager and inimitable manager, Mr Jim Beach."

Beach used his acceptance speech to highlight the work both Taylor and May have done over the last 20 years to keep the band alive, including their latest worldwide tour that saw them perform 67 sold-out gigs with US singer/songwriter Adam Lambert. The MMF, Queen's "incredibly dedicated" team, and his wife were also on his thank you list.

"In 1991, when Freddie died and John Deacon decided to retire, fortunately for me, Brian and Roger decided to continue with the music of Queen and they've worked tirelessly in that ever since. I take my hat off to them for pulling off [their latest tour], both musically and physically.

"Secondly, [I thank] the Queen team, some of whom have been with us for 30 years, for their incredible dedication and their perfectionist attitude, I could never have done what I've done without them.

"Finally, when Queen approached me in 1977 to ask if I'd over from [former manager] John Reid, I spoke to my wife who said that she hadn't married me to watch me walking up the same pavement for 30 years and walking into the offices of [law firm] Harbottle & Lewis.

"It was those words that pushed me into giving up my day job and entering the real world. I thank her very personally for quite frankly being one of the most wonderful partners you could ever have."

Other winners on the night included Hozier (Breakthrough Artist), Sam Denniston (Breakthrough Manager), Ed Sheeran and Stuart Camp (Artist & Manager Achievement) and Imogen Heap (Pioneer).

Previously announced awards went to Jackie Davidson (Writer/Producer Manager), Henry Village (Entrepreneur), Paul Fenn (Industry Champion) and Placebo (Artists' Artist).

http://www.musicweek.com/news/read/queen-pay-tribute-to-illustrious-and-imitable-manager/061326

Tuesday 3 March 2015

Brian May says he's thrilled that Queen are reigning again

Why the show must go on: Brian May says he's thrilled that Queen are reigning again

By NICOLE LAMPERT FOR THE DAILY MAIL

PUBLISHED: 22:30 GMT, 27 February 2015 | UPDATED: 22:30 GMT, 27 February 2015

When Freddie Mercury died from Aids-related bronchopneumonia aged just 45 in 1991 it was temporarily the end of Queen, the band whose Greatest Hits album is still the most popular record ever sold in this country.

Guitarist Brian May had a breakdown and the other two bandmates couldn’t see any future for the rock group. ‘We just walked away and thought it was over,’ recalls Brian.

‘Freddie’s death was such a huge blow for us personally and professionally that for a long time we just didn’t want to be Queen.’

Brian in action last month at the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam while on tour

It was the fans that insisted they came back, even without their front man. They started slowly but 2015, a year heralded by BBC1 televising their New Year’s Eve London concert, is already turning out to be very big for the band.

They have just finished a tour of Europe with American Idol star Adam Lambert and are about to bring out a new vinyl collector’s edition of their top ten album Queen Forever which came out at the end of last year. The album, while featuring many of their most famous hits, also has three Freddie songs which had never been heard before.

‘We were so lucky to find these hidden gems,’ says Brian, 67. ‘The funny thing is they were hiding in full view in our vaults. We knew what they were – they had labels on the tape boxes – we just didn’t realise that they were viable and could be finished off.’

The band’s huge collection of recordings has two full-time archivists who found the discarded tapes and brought them to Brian’s attention. ‘They said, “We’ve found something, do you want to come and have a listen?” I heard it and said, “Hmmmm, this could happen.”’

Brian on stage with Adam Lambert during Queen's first tour of Australia since 1985 last year

The three songs were all unfinished but have been completed using recording studio trickery. ‘There’s a track called Let Me In Your Heart Again and I remember why we quit working on it. We were having various discussions about the key it was in.

'It’s important how you pitch a thing and I was in the habit of pitching things to Freddie which he found difficult to sing. He said, “You’re doing it to me again, you’re giving me stuff which is making my throat bleed.” So we tried the song in different keys and then it got shelved because we never solved the problem.’

Another song, There Must Be More To Life Than This was one of three Freddie recorded with Michael Jackson but was never finished because they couldn’t get their schedules to coincide. While a third, Love Kills, was one Freddie recorded by himself. ‘Luckily on each of the songs we had just enough of Freddie’s vocal to make it work.’

Brian misses Freddie and says he thinks about him every day. But he’s thrilled the band has found Adam to sing with them on tour. ‘Adam’s not a replacement for Freddie, he doesn’t need to be,’ says Brian. ‘It’s very much a live and evolving thing.’

In the meantime Brian is still trying to make a film about Freddie’s life. A year ago Ben Whishaw was given the starring role after Sacha Baron Cohen was discharged for being too famous. Now the project has stalled because a director can’t be found. ‘We’ve been through an awful lot of directors,’ he sighs. ‘We’re making slow progress. We’re conscious that we’re the guardians of Freddie’s legacy. I’m not worried about how long it will take. It’s more important that it gets done right.’

It’s not just Queen which occupies Brian’s time. He has so many passions it’s a wonder he has time to breathe, let alone be a husband to actress Anita Dobson and a father of three.

There’s the star-gazing – a doctor of astrophysics, he regularly has his telescope trained on the skies – his campaign to stop badger culls, and his (almost) one-man campaign to get the world interested in stereoscopic pictures. These are stunning photographs from the Victorian era which, when viewed through a special machine, look like 3D images.

He recently made a film about some of them, depictions of devils known as Diableries, called One Night In Hell and when he’s not touring with Queen, he’s attending film festivals with his 3D short which is available to buy on iTunes.

So does Brian think he’s going to heaven or hell? ‘I don’t know, it’s hard to say,’ he says looking thoughtful. ‘I don’t worry about that. I just worry about trying to be a decent human being while I have the chance because that’s the most important thing.’ And then he smiles. ‘Anyway, I’m not going to die, you see.’

The limited edition 4 LP vinyl box set of Queen Forever is out on 13 April. One Night In Hell is available on iTunes, £1.99. See diableries.co.uk