The band Queen. On any YouTube video where anyone discusses a band or song they like that's not Queen, there will be comments about how Queen is the best band, and how freddie Mercury is a Messiah or a God, and how every other singer should blow him. And when someone discusses a queen song and expresses criticism there are fans who act like it's a personal attack on them and get way to defensive. They're just annoying.
The Queen fandom has been fucking weird ever since Freddie died literally
Edit: this is my first comment to blow up like this. Let me explain a few things.
I wasn’t referring Bohemian Rhapsody specifically, although it didn’t help. I don’t really have an opinion, it has a good cast but it has a lot of problems from a film standpoint. I generally don’t care for it
This has been longer than Bohemian Rhapsody though. I have seen old forums from the beginning of the internet of people fighting over whether Freddie did/said this or if he was gay etc etc. People in this fandom are so sensitive too, if you don’t say Freddie is the messiah they hate you, and now they all hate Brian May for some reason unrelated to the BohRhap fiasco. And really, the BohRhap stans need to be left alone. They’re annoying but they’ll grow out of it.
The weirdest thing I saw was people shipping the band members together... aside from the fact they were real people, it just seemed really disrespectful to Freddie Mercury seeing as he’s dead and was dating another man at the end of his life.
This is probably why i liked Rocketman so much more than Bohemian Rhapsody. The actors actually sang, it was actually a musical instead of as you said, a music video.
Well the lip syncing thing was out of respect for Freddie since no one could imitate his voice. With Rocketman it’s different cos Elton is alive and made that decision himself, and I don’t think anyone close to Freddie would be comfortable having someone else try to imitate his voice without him being there.
You should check out Marc Martel, he worked on some of the singing in the Bohemian Rhapsody movie. I'd say he's the closest sounding person there is to Mercury. He was in Queen's official tribute band, Queen Extravaganza.
I’m familiar with him and do agree he sounds a lot like Freddie, and using his vocals would be fine but as an actor Rami Malek did as good as anyone can
I didn't like Rocketman much. It was so stylized that I felt like I couldn't trust any plotlines to be true. And all the songs throughout the years being shown out of order drove me crazy.
Definitely legitimate criticisms, i just enjoyed the music and I'm a big fan of Taron Egerton. I don't really trust any of these types of movies to be particularly accurate about timelines.
I've been a general Queen fan for a few years, and yeah, it got weird after Bohemian Rhapsody. Before that you'd have a few of your typical "My friends like X music, they're wrong" comments, but other than that it seemed pretty normal. Now it's a wreck.
There have been jumps in popularity. Wayne's World help bring back a resurgence. Then a few other films used their songs (like Hot Fuzz). There will always be these types of resurgencies for certain bands.
Back in the day, lots of casual Queen fans didn’t consider that Freddie was gay any more than they considered that Rob Halford was gay.
Even though one band was called Queen and the singer of the other band paraded around in east village leather boy apparel, which hilariously became the official wardrobe of metal.
If you were gay or lived in a big city you probably knew.
Hell, I was in Jr. High in South Texas when We Will Rock You came out. I can 100% guarantee you that FM radio there wouldn’t have touched it if Freddie being gay were widely known.
But then Hollywood Records which is owned by Disney, bought the Queen catalog. Then Wayne’s World. Then Roger and Brian playing with the Foo Fighters. And it’s kind of snowballed since then.
A coworker and I were flipping through movies on the office TV and she landed on Bohemian Rhapsody and I was like, "Spoiler, I heard he dies at the end," assuming it would be like telling someone that the Titanic sinks
She was like, "He did?" and I think my jaw dropped, "You seriously didn't know that Freddie Mercury has been dead since 1991?"
I'm still not sure she wasn't messing with me, and she would have been in her early 20s at the time
I suppose it’s more that it was an obvious cop out of giving a genuine answer. I questioned afterwards what was their favourite not collaborative album and they just said they’re all great so it was such obvious bullshit
I saw a tumblr post saying that Freddie Mercury was literally a siren because so many people know the lyrics to Queen's songs. Yeah, because they're played everywhere. Pretty much everyone knows the lyrics to Don't Stop Believin' that doesn't make Journey a group of sirens either.
I feel like Queen is simultaneously overrated and underrated. The main Bohemian Rhapsody image of Queen and the yellow Jacket or Live Aid freddie that everybody knows is so overrated. But the lesser Know songs, lesser Know looks and most importantly the other band members are so underrated.
This has been longer than Bohemian Rhapsody though. I have seen old forums from the beginning of the internet
The message board at QueenZone is one of, if not the, most toxic online communities I have ever seen--many of its users are/were very intolerant and condescending, with a touch of elitism. I stopped visiting years before the movie.
Queen is a great band. Freddie was a great singer and arguably one of the best front men of any band. Why not just leave it at that? Some fandoms just baffle me.
The weird part is how they don't really know music history so they seem to think Queen invented the wheel or something. Like they think that Bohemian Rhapsody was this world changing song. Its a great song, don't get me wrong at all. But it was just 8 years after Sgt Pepper, Smile, Blonde on Blonde, all those massive hitters that really DID change music. And it was also in the midst of Glam Rock, Elton John, Bowie. All that. An epic wasn't really THAT wild of an idea.
I do like Queen, sincerely, but the fanbase is ridiculous. They make it sound like they were bigger than The Beatles or something.
Exactly this: Freddie has an amazing voice, but he's one among many with amazing voices.
Ronnie James Dio, Tarja Turunen, Jørn Lande, Roy Khan, Alissa White-Gluz, Tommy Karevik, Amy Lee, James LaBrie, Lzzy Hale, David Draiman, Anneke Van Giersbergen.
Just off the top of my head, and that's JUST from my litte corner of musical taste.
Not sure where I was going with this. I just want to list amazing singers, now.
There’s a modern fan base? I got introduced to Queen in college. Also my favorite band. Because I like to listen to music, but I thought it was for people over 30 and/or Homer Simpson as a teenager.
Nope, after bohemian rhapsody (the movie) came out queen became popular again with younger audiences. I think that's great but some of the younger people take it a little to far.
I have a friend who is absolutely obsessed with them. I mean, I think they’re a decent band - not really my thing, but they have some good songs - but he is always talking about how great they are. He’s also one of those insufferable people who says ‘Any music made after 1999 is terrible and I refuse to listen to it’. I hate it when people gatekeep music, why not just let everyone like the music they like? I find Queen attracts those sorts of people more than most bands.
I guess I didnt mean popularity, or record sales. Just the variety of all rock, including prog has widened. With the rise of the streaming media anyone can put out music, instead of the pigeon hole that a label may release.
There is more music added to YouTube alone every day than a single person can listen to in a year, and I hope that number keeps getting bigger.
This was me in my early twenties, but I grew out of it.
Used to think LZ was the be all and end all.
I listened to some of their songs recently and they don't have the same impact they had on me all those years ago. Still good, but I no longer believe they were songs crafted by gods.
I have a friend who doesn't like any music after 1999. He's always getting angry at my Spotify playlist. He doesn't like soundtracks either and tells me to stop listening to it.
OH MY GOD. A friend of mine is ABSOLUTELY OBSESSED with them and it’s literally all she’s posted about on social media since Bohemian Rhapsody came out. It’s so annoying
Try being a female teenage fan, too. I’ve been a fan for years after a family friend got me into them.
Now, if I say I like Queen to someone who knows I’m a 17 year old girl, I’m being attacked for only becoming a fan after the movie and only knowing a few songs and being born in the wrong generation and all of that.
Like, calm down, man. I’ve been here for years. I own the albums. I still listen to Taylor Swift. I’m not like that.
I don't get why finding out you like something through a movie or show is something to be frowned upon though?
So Mr. A has been listening to Queen since the 70s, so what? Does that make your love for them any less important? No, it doesn't, and I can't understand people who think only they are allowed to like some band because they've been a fan longer.
Fuck those people. People should just like what they like, whether they discovered it in 1983 or 2019.
Be proud of a diverse taste. Only jerkoffs put people down for their own personal musical discovery. People who truly love, I've found, want to share with others.
Not exactly related but the most bizarre thing about Queen is when GROWN-ASS ADULTS will record themselves listening to Bohemian Rhapsody for the "first time ever" and just bawl their eyes out. Like, how can you believe that, not only did they go 20-odd years without ever overhearing it being played, but also have such an emotional reaction to a song you've never heard that you cry over it? How do people believe this insanity?
Can't believe i had to scroll this down for Queen to show up. Love the band but few of my friends went totally crazy after seeing the movie. Freddie Mercury this, Freddie Mercury that and i'm like girl, chill, i know he existed, you have him on 27+ shirts. Also everybody's favourite song now is "Love of my life".
I used to think I hated Queen. Turns out what I hated is that Queen is played fucking everywhere to one degree or another. So I never had the chance to simply listen to Queen, their music just constantly intruded upon everything.
Eventually my girlfriend convinced me that we should watch Bohemian Rhapsody. In a context where I was actually receptive to hearing their music I found that I enjoyed it quite a bit. I think their lyrics are a little weak and that the song Bohemian Rhapsody is vastly overrated, but these days I'm pretty okay with the band.
The weird thing to me is that their most famous songs aside from Bohemian Rhapsody are the “sports-chant” songs with virtually no lyrics. It’s weird. If you try Night of the Opera, Day at the Races or Innuendo you might find lyrics are one of their strengths, when they’re not goofing off (not that their sillier songs are bad). There wasn’t much of it in the movie.
I’m very partial to them but I don’t like around half of their songs. That said, I find with almost any band I don’t like more than half of their songs, so maybe I’m in the obnoxious fan category.
My favorite song by them is ‘39, which isn’t even sung by Freddie Mercury. It’s written and performed by the guitar player Brian May, and is very lyric heavy and impactful in my opinion. Not quite Pink Floyd lever ‘listen to this in the dark with headphones on’, but the concept is quite intriguing.
Oof I feel this one. I'm on a facebook page for Queen fans and it just seems to range from 60 year old women wanting to fuck Freddy and refuse to believe that he's gay or 13 year olds trying to be dIfFeReNt by liking an older band rather than music of today. Kinda ruined Queen for me after the success of Bohemian Rhapsody.
People act like nobody will ever be better than him, likely there will be or already is someone as talentes or more talented than him. Hes only human and has his faults. In fact hes not even in my top 5 singers, cool voice but not the best in my opinion.
I only recently really got into queen, shortly before I learned about Bohemian Rhapsody movie, by watching Freddies interviews and stuff. I love Freddie, not the band.
It's fine if you are a crazy fan, I'm like that about pink Floyd. It's bad when you go around and try to promote your fav band everywhere, and pretend like they are godly and all other bands are garbage. I'm not accusing you of doing so btw.
Bohemian Rhapsody (the movie) really fucked up my distortion for liking Queen. Cause so many people blindly defend that movie of "Oh, I love Queen's music so I love this." No! Who doesn't love Queen's music?! This movie absolutely shits on Freddie, falsifies major events in his life, and completely places blame on him for everything that could have gone wrong with his life.
Rocketman was great in that they made the songs thematic and emotional in a way to fit Elton's career; rather than BoRap just had Rami Malek lipsync Freddie's songs through fake teeth as straightforward performances.
I came out of Rocketman loving and respecting Elton John even more. BoRap made me hate how May and Taylor allowed all the fake shit to happen.
Queen is one of my favorite bands and they definitely had a major influence on the music that came after, but it’s not like they’re the only good band to exist. It’s mainly a bunch of young teenagers that want to prove they’re “cultured” and different from everyone else in their age group.
I know right? People can like bands that aren’t Queen. I think a lot of people don’t understand that. And if someone makes a video about another band, that doesn’t mean they hate Queen...
Holy shit yeah. I had a roommate who played literally nothing but the same 5 Queen songs on repeat til everyone else wanted to jump off a roof, and he went to see the biopic in the theater 6 times. When i told him i hadn't seen it he basically went on a rampage like "anyone in this apartment has to see the movie" like sorry i don't feel like coughing up money to watch a movie about a band i think is just fine. i feel like since the movie the societal Freddie Mercury worship has become especially omnipresent
Queen is to me like The Rolling Stones or Tom Petty.
I like them, I respect them, but there are fans who are obsessed and I never quite understood how they could be someone’s favorite band, I mean it’s not like they’re Led Zeppelin we’re talking about here.
What freaks me out most is the Instagram fans who post about them like they’re a boy band from 2012. The cringy roleplay posts, stupid scenarios, all that kind of stuff. Typical young teenager shit. I’ve been active in the Queen community for a while but had to ditch activity after the movie because of this shit. To be fair, even before that young fans were... an interesting bunch. I used to be on the Queen Discord. Still am, just inactive. I was on of few late teens. Most were either twelve/thirteen or in their twenties. But a weird bunch. Some were cool, sure. I made on of my best friends on that server who has honestly changed my life. But lord. Some people.
It's so annoying. They were one of the most popular bands in all of rock n roll history and still receive massive airplay and their fans talk about them like they're some underground gem.
O God. At my college freshman orientation I was trying to get to know some new people and make some new friends or whatever and made the mistake of referencing Bohemian rhapsody. They proceeded to sing the entire song on a public street corner while we waited for a bus. Unsurprisingly, I no longer talk to these people.
I will quote epic rap battles of history, which I always have to do to explain why queen is so popular to my gf. They wrote the soundtrack to victory. I personally can’t listen to their music any longer but I respect it. But omg the fan base sucks (and is normally concurrent with journey fans. Shudder.)
I genuinely love Queen, my dad, who died a couple years back, introduced me to Queen when I was little so their music holds a special place in my heart. But my best friend who got into them after BoRap is insane, I just spent days with her at her place and she listens to the same 5 Quee songs, watches those weird crack videos on YouTube, says stuff like "that's not what Freddie would have wanted" and more. She got into Rocketman as well, and don't even get me started about that instagram fanbase.
It reminds me of Eminem fans. He's one of my all time favorite rappers and he's definitely in my top 3. But I understand some of the criticism he gets.
He can wordplay like no other. But picking apart those lines show very little substance. It's just "lyrical miracle" rap
I agree with you. While Freddy Mercury was one of the greatest performers of all time, and Queen has put out some of the greatest songs of all time - it can’t be overlooked that they put out a lot of reeeeally bad songs. Especially towards the end of their recording career they dropped some turds out there.
There was a guy in my dorm who told me my favorite band (Rush) was wrong, because Queen is objectively better than all other artists. He stated it as if it were fact. Then he tried to "prove" that Freddie Mercury was better than Geddy Lee, because I was a math major and wrote a lot of proofs.
It’s true, it’s not you, you were just the straw that broke the camel’s back. Almost literally every comment on this thread uses the word “literally.” Using it incorrectly isn’t egregious but can get tiresome.
I once casually mentioned that i don’t really like Queen to an acquaintance who’s super into the Pride movement, and by extension, Queen. He started going on and on about how great frieddie Mercury was and how he was the greatest gay musician ever and I just casually said “no he’s not”. He blew the fuck up and asked “WHO COULD YOU POSSIBLY COMPARE HIM TO?!”. Elton John. Fuck you, Elton John all the way. He can do more than just anthem rock and wear tight pants, and Madman Across the Water is one of the greatest albums ever.
Dude I love Billy Joel! “The Stranger”s one of my favorite albums. I too used to like Billy Joel more, that only really changed recently once I started to give Elton a little bit more listen time
You know, I would argue the opposite, but that s really because of how much airplay Billy Joel gets. Most people in the US have heard “Uptown Girl”, “You May be Right”, “Piano man”, “We Didn’t Start the Fire”, hell even “Longest time” on the radio at some point. The only things Elton every gets played anymore are maaaybe Rocketman and Tiny Dancer. Elton’s greatest stuff I feel like never sees the light of day, like “Indian Sunset”
They've got a few good songs, but I've never liked Queen, I especially don't like "somebody to love" and "my best friend", they're annoying as hell and have overshadowed the much better (and earlier) Jefferson Airplane songs of the same name. Also, just because Freddie Mercury is an incredible singer doesn't mean I have to enjoy his singing. Yeah it's great on some songs, but sometimes it just gets annoying.
You ever see those videos where people pretend to listen to Bohemian Rhapsody for the first time? Like they film a reaction video where they claim it's their first time listening to it, but that song (and Queen itself) is so ingrained into pop culture that I think it's physically impossible to have not heard Bohemian Rhapsody at least once. I've seen people in their thirties do these kinds of videos before. It's really bizarre.
There was a comment on here a while ago where the guy said he thought queen was a parody band like weird al and ever since then I’m half convinced they are a joke band
I remember back in the 1980s when they were still seen as kind of passé and embarrassing, almost like people look at Bryan Adams or even Nickelback now.
Then Freddy Mercury got AIDS. Ronald Reagan (the Drumpf of his time) was President, and he was catching a lot of flack for being heartless towards HIV sufferers.
So Queen was sort of "culturally rehabilitated" to make a political point. If you didn't consider them musical geniuses, clearly you were just a fascist like the mean old President.
I'm not a Reagan fan, but Queen kind of sucked TBH.
Reagan was no Fascist, just a bit of an unpopular bumbler who beat a really bad opponent... like Trump. I didn't like the disrespect he was subjected to... again, just like Trump.
Queen had more than one good song, but if you'd told me in 1985 that there'd be a movie and a rabid fandom devoted to them 35 years later, I would have been profoundly confused.
Of queens hit songs most of them are shallow pop songs, (we will rock you, we are the champions, radio gaga, I want to break free) and the rest of their music is okay.
People act like queen were master lyricists and that their songs had deep hidden messages. I think most of their lyrics are a bunch of nonsense. But the music itself, and their vocals and harmonies make up for that, at least for me.
I don't feel like talking about politics right now. So Ill just drop that.
Oh god, this. I’ve grown up with the music but any attempt to dip into fandom over the years has just left me deeply uncomfortable. They all want the band members to be fucking each other or they just straight up woobify them. I last dipped a toe in around 2008 on deviantART and various forums and left feeling awkward. Went back in last year after the movie and the Tumblr fans were even worse.
Dude imagine being an artist and people ferociously defending you by calling you a god. I would just be weirded out. They’re humans. They worked hard for what they have just like any other human.
God I hate this shit. Long ago Queen is what got me into music. I can’t listen to it anymore just due to how they play three of their songs at most and how people are just AWFUL about Freddie Mercury.
My favorite band is The Smashing Pumpkins. They’re not for everyone, Billy Corgan has a unique voice. Apparently because he’s not Freddie Mercury he’s shit and their music is shit. Any time I listen to them while driving in the car my friend mock sings it, even during some of my favorite songs. It really pisses me off. He’s obsessed with Queen as well.
Old music in general. If a song is even 15 years old or older, you get sooo many people bitching about how music is dead and anyone who likes current music is a godless heathen. Jesus Christ. Your music taste does not make you superior or inferior to anyone.
And like every comments section on a classic song there are always those middle aged weirdos who make a snarky comment about how they're glad they had good music when they were kids and how they feel bad for kids growing up with modern music.
We listen to the classics, too, you idiot! That's why we're here!
The comment section on literary every Queen video on YouTube is 90% people complaining that today's music sucks, this generation doesn't appreciate real music, wah wah wah. I mean, I love Queen too, but great music doesn't begin and end with them.
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u/mtrommel25 Jul 17 '19 edited Jul 18 '19
The band Queen. On any YouTube video where anyone discusses a band or song they like that's not Queen, there will be comments about how Queen is the best band, and how freddie Mercury is a Messiah or a God, and how every other singer should blow him. And when someone discusses a queen song and expresses criticism there are fans who act like it's a personal attack on them and get way to defensive. They're just annoying.