My Queen Story

I was introduced to Queen in 1976, age 14, when my boyfriend Ken describe A Night at the Opera during Art class. I'll never forget his descriptions of each song and how each song was amazing on its own. He had also perfected Freddie Mercury's moves, which I learned to do from him rather than Freddie. I had not seen Freddie perform yet.

After about a year of hearing about Queen, I finally saw them on the Midnight Special with Wolfman Jack. They showed Queen performing on the popular BBC show, Top of the Pops.

When I saw Freddie Mercury perform that night, nothing existed but Freddie running around on a tiny stage as if he were performing for thousands. Intrigue pulled me into his world so that I could escape mine. After that night, I grabbed the TV guide and scoured the pages to see if Queen was playing anywhere on TV  that week. I just had to see Queen again! Thankfully, Queen was featured regularly on the Midnight Special for several years.

That Christmas I got the album, A Night at the Opera. It was the first year I didn't ask for the latest Osmond album. Shortly afterward, I was kicked out of the house and given a bus ticket to California. I had nowhere to go, but if you're going to be homeless, choose a warm state! I also knew my biological father lived somewhere in California, though I didn't know him at all or where he lived. I packed my suitcase, just one, and threw in some clothes. The only non-essential possession I packed was A Night at the Opera.

By some miracle, I found my father in Westminster and moved in with him and my new family. I had three little brothers! I promptly introduced them to A Night at the Opera, which they devoured. I still have audio cassettes of them singing "Death on Two Legs." I lived with this family for about 6 months, then went back home to Arkansas because, well, I was 16 and very troubled. My grandmother agreed to take me in. I eventually landed at my parents, which lasted a year before they kicked me out again. By that time I had many Queen albums, and I brought them all with me to an apartment I rented with Ken's brother. 

The little apartment, which was condemned after we left, was a party spot for everyone in our circle. Queen music was played constantly, and we even got a kitten named Queen. The landlord was not impressed and kicked us out as soon as he discovered the kitten. I couch-hopped for a while in Arkansas until I had run out of places to stay. My aunt Lela in Kansas invited me to move in with her, which I did immediately. Of course, my Queen albums came with me, along with my boyfriend, Ken, but that's another story. 

In 1980, I read in Circus Magazine that Queen would be performing at the Kansas Coliseum. I also saw that I could order tickets through the magazine. I ordered tickets for me and three of my friends. Our road trip to Kansas City was an event in itself, blasting Queen tunes the whole way. We had 8th row on the floor seats. Those were the days that drugs were offered in the open. We all passed on the cocaine but I may have smoked a bit of weed.  I cannot describe the concert. I honestly don't have the words.

After their North American tour, Queen didn't come back to America. It was difficult keeping up with what they were doing, but I enjoyed the music until I went through a backward masking phase and burned all my albums in my Grandmother's burn barrels while she made fried chicken. I was not going to be influenced by a band that has hidden messages in their songs when played backward! Thankfully that phase didn't last long, but the burning of the albums was forever. I can't even tap into the regret I feel over that. I just had to start from scratch with my Queen collection.

Queen music was the soundtrack of my life. They are so ingrained in my consciousness, I can't imagine being without their music. After Freddie died, I lost touch with the band until 1996 when I discovered a Queen chatroom on the internet. I taught myself web design and created a website about Brian May titled "The Official UNofficial Page for Brian Mayniacs.

"The Official UNOFFICIAL Page for Brian Mayniacs
does most of the things that May's pages at the
official Queen site should do, but fail to..."

Record Collector, Oct. 1999

I became the co-owner of brianmay.com until 2002 when Brian May himself came online and retrieved the domain from Tim Davis, the other owner of brianmay.com. No money was exchanged - it was a gift to Brian - and he owns it to this day.

Also in 2002, I worked with Paul, a Queen fan I met online who happened to live near me, to host the first North American Queen convention and raise money for AID Atlanta. The convention was repeated the following year and every year since in different states. The conventions were filled with Queen activities, such as an art expo, raffles, trivia, auction, karaoke, Queen impressions, rarely seen videos, and of course Queen music everywhere. Jackie Smith, the president of the Queen Fan Club in England, and video messages from Brian May were also present. I paid my way to the conventions by drawing the band members and selling the prints. I sent one of my originals, "Baby Freddie" to Jer Bulsara, Freddie's mother. She sent me a Christmas card with a lovely handwritten letter of thanks. Wow... just wow.. to think one of my drawings may be hanging in Freddie's childhood home.

Queen is so much a part of my life that when Bohemian Rhapsody came out, I was moved to tears from just seeing the trailer! The movie itself was beyond what I had imagined. I gave my review in another post. I highly recommend it!