MOJO is thrilled to present the second of two deluxe bookazines, bringing together its finest writing on Queen. It’s in the shops now, and you can order a copy direct from us here.
“So much has been written about us over the years, but nobody before has attempted such an in-depth account… What MOJO have assembled here will remain unique for years to come.” So wrote Queen’s guitarist Brian May in his introduction to The Works 1970-1979, the first of MOJO’s two special editions on the group.
This second magazine takes up the story where its predecessor left off, charting Queen’s eventful ’80s and beyond via 132 pages of interviews, features and album reappraisals, illustrated with dozens of rare and iconic images, many from the group’s own archive.
The Works 1980-2021 begins with Queen riding high on the international success of The Game album and Another One Bites The Dust single, only to see the group alienate fans of their vintage heavy rock sound with 1982’s funky and experimental Hot Space. Yet salvation was soon to follow with their triumphant appearance at 1985’s Live Aid concert – as was tragedy, when in the late ’80s singer Freddie Mercury discovered he’d contracted AIDS.
Poignant accounts of the group’s last sessions together – for The Miracle and Innuendo albums – before Mercury’s untimely passing in 1991 are followed with in-depth interviews with Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor, reflecting on Queen’s extraordinary career and inimitable lead singer. The last features bring the story up to date, celebrating the group’s new lease of life as a live act, first with Free and Bad Company singer Paul Rodgers, and presently with American Idol sensation Adam Lambert.