Following the death of Freddie Mercury in Nov 1991 Queen have been revered as an iconic rock group and released a successful album 'made in heaven' and several compilation albums. It has also continued as a successful live act thanks to the draughting in of alternative vocalists over the years.
Interestingly bassist John Deacon stepped away from the group following Mercury's death and has taken no part in subsequent live or recorded projects under the Queen moniker leaving Bryan May and Roger Taylor to continue as Queen.

My question for discussion is had Mercury not died and Queen continued as a four piece would they still be viewed as iconic today or would they have faded into obscurity or broken up by now?

I reckon the hits would have dried up at some point as the group aged. We've seen this happen with other rock bands - the Rolling Stones, Bon Jovi and U2 are three examples. However all three remain hugely successful live touring acts.

We will never know but I'd like to think that Freddie & Co would still be filling stadiums across the world playing the Queen back catalogue.

The 1991 album Innuendo had its share of hits. I particularly liked the title track which to my ears is structured similarly to Bohemian Rhapsody.

What are your thoughts?

It would be interesting because Queen more than any other band that I can think of are known as a great singles band but a poor album band. In the current market they wouldn't sell many singles so the question is whether having A-listed songs on Radio 2 would be enough to shift a decent number of albums.

I suspect they'd have gone on to have many hits in the 90s. At only 45 when he died, Freddie could've gone on to have many more years as a concert performer.
Not sure whether they'd still be here today- I can see that internal tensions & perhaps the will to go in different musical directions may have seen them drift apart.

I also think that John Deacon's departure, which occurred after Freddie's death, would've happened if the band had carried on with Freddie at the helm. He always seemed to be a tad reluctant at coming along for the ride.

I think following on from a split Freddie would've continued to have hits(maybe not in Today's charts), come out fully & been a mentor to other younger artists like Adam Lambert or Robbie Williams. I could totally see him as an X-FactOr judge- and what a character he'd be!!

I suspect by now he'd be releasing the occasional solo album & regaling in his "rock royalty" status

Whilst we're on alternative histories-imagine ('scuse the pun) John Lennon mourning the assassination of David Bowie on 8 Dec 1980. Apparently Mark Chapman also planned to kill Bowie, & his plan was to disappear from Lennon's apartment if he failed in his attempt on Lennon's life & go to the theatre where Bowie was performing the Elephant Man a few blocks away & shoot Bowie instead.

The starman could've died 4 decades ago!!

This they wouldnt have hit singles but they woudl still sell albums but thats the same for most bands now tbh.

I will say yes. They would have done a Stones and toured and still released stuff. The fans would still buy.

There would definitely be the demand for Queen to tour

Queen's stuff was getting worse as the years went by. I'd hate to have seen the state they'd be in now unless they were only touring and doing their classic stuff. Their stuff near the end like The Invisible Man, Scandal, The Miracle, Innuendo, I'm Going Slightly Mad and Headlong were God Awful.

The hits would have dried up but they would probably have kept touring.

I think they would have been like The Rolling Stones, not having chart hits, but still doing massive tours every few years or so.

They would still be doing massive shows around the world but id doubt there would be much new music being made or sold.

i think they would have kept on going like the who or the stones, an album here and there that wouldn't sell much, singles not on par with the hey day, but people going to hear the hits and classics. perhaps the odd solo album from freddy, and maybe even something interesting from that but not big selling

if they can keep doing the same without him then they could certainly do it with him

The only big hit from Innuendo (before Freddie's Death). Was the title track, which reached number 1. The other singles, I'm Going Slightly Mad, Headlong and The Show Must Go On. Were not very big hits even though the Latter became a very well known song.

It was Freddie's death that made These Are The Days Of Our Lives into the massive hit it became.

Queen would've definitely still gone strong in the 90s when physical copies of music was still the norm to the public.

When you think of These Are The Days Of Our Lives being released after Freddie's death, and that song being 1991's second biggest selling single after just two weeks of sale. Had Freddie still been alive, that song could've possibly still been a #1 single just like Innuendo was an instant #1. I doubt it would've spent 5 weeks at #1 and become a million seller but it would've still been successful I reckon.

When you consider Queen singles were released throughout the 90s (Heaven For Everyone) and sold in decent numbers, I'm sure Queen would've continued and still been successful.

I don't think it would have unfortunatly. The Show Must Go On is of the same quality and it only reached no 16. It was released about a month before Freddie's Death and I suspect if it had been relased after that too would have been a massive hit.

Funny thing about it is, I suspect it was one of the last non top ten singles in history. To have become well known by the general public.

Nice to read the views expressed so far. I think its likely Freddie would have done more solo work too. Maybe he would have become a reality show judge on the voice or x factor?

Was The Show Must Go On already available on an album when it was released as a single?

I know TATDOOL was released as a tribute, and no doubt having Bohemian Rhapsody as a AA-side single must've boosted its sales. I know my sister bought the single on cassette.

The last quarter of 1991 was quite strange in that 4 songs during those months entered at #1 which was really unheard of back then. Of course those songs were mightily hyped by the media (U2, Michael Jackson, George & Elton and the aforementioned Queen).

1992 was a terrible year for sales so maybe Days Of Our Lives, being a new single, might well have benefitted from the low sales period and bagged the #1 spot whilst only selling 25% of what it actually sold in total. Pretty sure Innuendo got to #1 thanks to a low sales point in early 1991. In fact, I think Days Of Our Lives sold more in its first week of sale than Innuendo sold in total although the death Freddie was a major factor in this.

EDIT; Just checked, both TSMGO and TATDOOL were both on Innuendo (album) which had been released earlier in the year so that sort of squashes my thoughts above after all.

Yes on the album Innuendo and Greatest Hits 2 released in 1991. Days of our lives was also released on Innuendo. Earlier in the year.

I reckon that Queen would the be biggest touring band in the world.

A lifelong Queen fan here, I don't think it'd be hugely different had Freddie never got sick - something like this:

- Queen would still exist, and it would indeed still consist of Freddie, Brian, Roger and John. However, they would work together only to promote new compilations or live releases, and very occasionally for stripped-down performances on special occasions. Their final studio album would have been released somewhere between the late-1980's and mid-1990's.

- Roger would be the day-to-day face of Queen. He would be doing the occasional solo stuff, and possibly even working with Brian still. They may even still be knocking about with Adam Lambert.

- John would have mostly retired upon Queen's cessation of recording new material. Whilst he would indeed perform with the band at their rare shows, he would be strictly unavailable for interviews, and be completely invisible in showbiz otherwise.

- Brian would still be championing badgers, foxes and Kerry Ellis. He'd still have completed his astrophysics PhD, he'd still be a fellow of NASA and ESA, he'd still be doing the stereophotography and politics stuff. Not much changes here.

- Freddie would have long retired the strutting peacock, the outfits, the moustache and the half-microphone stand, maybe he still would have done so in 1986. He would have moved into musical theatre and, in his mind, more "serious" music. Expect tuxedoes, popera and some beautiful solo material primarily piano-based. And he would have finally settled down, probably publicly discussed his sexuality, and be married or in a civil partnership. And maybe even expect an Elton-esque hairpiece!

The truth is that there was considerable friction in Queen by 1986, which is why Freddie returned to the solo stuff, and Roger even went as far as forming a new band (The Cross). It was Freddie's illness that brought them back together towards the end of 1988. Who knows how long that would have lasted had that not brought them back together. Maybe even as far back as then, Queen would have become a loose confederation.

Reading this paragraph made me think of their track Days Of Our Lives which I've always liked ever since it was released back in December 1991, but it's made me realise that had it not been for Freddie's illness, this song may never have been written. I never knew all this about Queen until reading the above.

It's given me some food for thought.

As I understand it, John Deacon had pretty much said "The Miracle" was going to be his last, and then subsequently (once talked round) that "Innuendo" was REALLY going to be his last. I think Brian, Roger and Freddie would have gone on but at a reduced pace with Freddie mainly doing his own stuff, the three only getting together once every very few years (when the cash got tight) to do a new album and/or touring and/or special shows (jubilees, milleniums etc.)

Brian and Roger have just sold out an entire North American/European arena tour so yes, If Freddie had still been alive there would without question be demand for them still. Would they have stayed together though? I don't know, that's a difficult one to answer. They drifted a bit in the mid-80s to do other projects plus John seemed to be getting tired of it all. My guess is John only agreed to do Innuendo because he knew it would be Freddie's last. I doubt he'd still be with the band 25 years later.

Like others have suggested, I could see Queen having becomes a Rolling Stones-like band. The hits would have stopped despite maybe the odd new album, but they would have still been huge stadium fillers. It would have been ace if Freddie were alive if they could have played Wembley Stadium this year, as it would be the 30th anniversary of their Magic Tour concerts there.

The pattern established by The Miracle and Innuendo would have carried on for a good 15 or so years - huge top 3 lead single (I Want It All/Innuendo etc) and then the rest charting lower top 40 or so, right up to downloads arriving in the late 2000s when their singles fortunes begin to slip along with most legacy acts. Their albums would continue to hit #1 with ease right up to today, and as mentioned the tours are huge - they'd have headlined Glastonbury at least twice in the last twenty years.

You can also bet some major collaborations with Freddie and whatever big dance act/DJ of the moment doing really well, similar to how 'Living On My Own' posthumously hit #1 - Freddie Mercury feat. Paul Oakenfold, Freddie Mercury feat. Chicane, and - dare I say it - Freddie Mercury feat. will.i.am. Some may recoil in horror at those but I can see him relishing being a hit with a new audience, lending his voice to the house/trance/EDM-etc beats of the era.

Very good point. All you have to do is listen to the first minute of Radio GaGa or the instrumental break down to hear that even in the early 80s, Queen were becoming more influenced by the emergence of dance music.

I think if Freddie was still alive, he would've had a massive summer hit with David Guetta about 5 years ago when Guetta could do no wrong in terms of popular dance music in the charts.

the term "dance music" to describe the type of music most people will think of now, wasn't used back then. house music didn't start until years later. they recorded radio gaga in 1983, which was the period between the end of discos popularity and before even early house music. hi-nrg was the type of dance music that mainly filled the gap between disco and house but it wasn't anywhere near as popular and it didn't sound anything like radio gaga, neither the beats or the synths or bass

queen had only started using keyboards around 79 so it sounds more like they were influenced by other rock bands using synths than dance music, even if hot space was more influenced by dance music. if anything it sounds more like georgio moroders 70s disco sounds, perhaps a touch of kraftwerk, so more retro than anything else

many commercial rock bands were doing similar synth prominent tracks around that time and it just sounds like queen were jumping on the same trend