Guitar legend Brian May recently stated John Deacon is still ‘very much part of Queen’ 26 years after he parted ways with the band.
Bassist John Deacon had departed the music industry and public life for good in 1997 shortly after recording the Queen single ‘No-One but You (Only the Good Die Young)’.
Deacon was a pivotal member of Queen from 1971 and contributed to all 15 of their studio albums from 1973’s ‘Queen’ through to 1995’s ‘Made in Heaven’, however he hasn’t been involved in the two collaborative versions of the band, Queen + Paul Rodgers and Queen + Adam Lambert.
Brian May recently took part in a ‘reader interview’ with The Guardian where he answered a series of cutting questions put to him by fans.
One fan asked the double question – whether he had any “inkling” that Deacon would exit Queen for good, and why did he think Deacon walked away.
“All I can say is that, historically, John was quite sensitive to stress,” Sir Brian replied. “We all found it hard, losing Freddie (Mercury), but I think John particularly struggled.
“We did do a couple of things together, in 1996: the recording of ‘No One But You’ – the song I wrote about Freddie when we were putting up the statue to commemorate him in Montreux (Switzerland) – and one show in Paris.
“It was to open the ballet season with an amazing new work by Maurice Béjart, about Mozart and Queen. We played with John on bass, and Elton John sang with us.
“At that moment, John just looked at us and said, ‘I can’t do this any more’. We knew that he at least needed a break, but as it turned out he never came back.”
He explained how John Deacon is still involved in Queen, Brian continued: “I don’t think that I can go into much more detail – we have to respect the fact that John needs his privacy now – but he’s still part of the machinery of the band.
“If we have any major decision, business wise, it’s always run past John. It doesn’t mean he talks to us – generally he doesn’t – but he will communicate in some way. He’s still very much part of Queen.”
