John Deacon

John Richard Deacon was the bassist for the rock band Queen, also playing rhythm and acoustic guitars in several of their albums as well as ocassional keyboards. Born 19 August, 1951 in Leicester, United Kingdom, he was the youngest member of Queen. He is the author of the hits "Another One Bites The Dust" and "I Want To Break Free", which show that his contribution to Queen was significant.

Related Topics:
Bass - Rock - Queen - 19 August - 1951 - Leicester - United Kingdom - Another One Bites The Dust - I Want To Break Free

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Deacon is also the only member of Queen never to sing any vocals on any of their tracks, even admitting in interviews that he was incapable of competing with the three strong vocalists in the group. Regardless, in music videos and live performances he often lip synched, making it appear that there were four vocalists in the group. He was never credited with vocals on any of Queen's studio or live releases and to date there is no known Queen recording featuring his singing voice.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He first attended Langmoor Junior School before moving to Gartree High School and Beauchamp Grammar School. It was here that he formed his first band, The Opposition in 1965 at the age of fourteen. He played a rhythm guitar bought with money loaned by one of the other band members. He became the bassist after the original bassist was fired for not being of the same quality of the rest of the band. As well as a dedicated musician Deacon also was the band's archivist, taking clippings from newspapers of even the advertisements featuring The Opposition. After being in the band for four years, Deacon played his final concert with the band (now called The Art) in August 1969. He left as he had been accepted to study electronics at Chelsea College.

Related Topics:
Beauchamp Grammar School - 1965 - Rhythm guitar - 1969 - Chelsea College

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Although he left his bass and amplifier at home in Oadby, after less than a year in London, he decided he wanted to join a band. By this time Queen had actually been formed by Freddie Mercury, Brian May and Roger Taylor, and Deacon even saw them once October 1970. Then in early 1971 he was introduced to Taylor and May by a friend at a disco who told him that they were in a band that had just lost its bassists. A couple of days later he auditioned in a lecture room at Imperial College and became the last member of Queen to join the band. Since the band's last bassist drew attention away from Mercury, Deacon was selected for his musical talent, his quiet demeanor and his electrical skills.

Related Topics:
Oadby - Freddie Mercury - Brian May - Roger Taylor - 1970 - 1971 - Imperial College

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

During this time he was known as "Deacon John" and credited as such on Queen's first album. Not long after its release he requested that he be referred to by his proper name.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

His first song Misfire was on their third album Sheer Heart Attack. It was a nice, but unnoted song. But his second song for the band You're My Best Friend was a world wide hit.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He was the 'quiet' member of the band, and the others said that he was in charge of most of the finances. His last public appearance with the band was at an AIDS Charity event in 1997, and his last direct involvement with Queen, was with the recording of No One But You.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He has made it clear that he endorses the 'Queen' projects put forward by Brian May and Roger Taylor, and was partially involved in the early stages of the preparation for the We Will Rock You musical. But currently, Deacon has retired from the music scene, and even declined to participate in a 2005 Queen reunion tour. According to The Sun, he was not impressed with Robbie Williams's version of We Are the Champions, recorded for A Knight's Tale and also was not impressed with the re-make of We Will Rock You done by Britney Spears, Pink and Beyonce with Brian May and Roger Taylor for a UK Pepsi television commercial in 2004.

Related Topics:
We Will Rock You - The Sun - Robbie Williams - We Are the Champions - A Knight's Tale - Britney Spears - Pink - Beyonce - Brian May - Roger Taylor - Pepsi

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He lives in South-west London with his wife Veronica and their five sons and one daughter. John occasionally visits the Queen fan club to keep up to date with the world of Queen but remains an elusive character. He enjoys drinking tea, playing golf, and music wise "likes a bit of everything". According to The Sunday Times Rich List he is worth £50 million in 2004.

Related Topics:
The Sunday Times - Rich List - 2004

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As a trained electrical engineer, he often used to jimmy up equipment for the band. His most famous creation is the "Deacy Amp", used by Brian May.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~