♪ (ragtime music) ♪
- ♪ Somebody (Somebody) ♪
♪ Ooh, somebody ♪
♪ Can anybody find me? ♪
- Queen.
- OHH!! Ohh, Queen!!
- ♪ Can anybody find me? ♪ - Who is this group?
- ♪ Somebody to love (holding note) ♪
- I don't care. He looks amazing.
- ♪ (He works hard) every day ♪
- I like that beat.
- ♪ I try, I try ♪
- Very good. I like 'em.
Music from my past.
- My high school, high school years.
- ♪ She's a Killer Queen ♪ - This is from my time.
- ♪ Gunpowder, gelatine ♪ - This is high school.
- ♪ ...with a laser beam ♪
- (singing along) ♪ Guaranteed to blow your mind ♪
- ♪ Anytime ♪
♪ (electric guitar solo) ♪
- Ohh. They put on the best concerts.
- This is classic. This is classic rock.
- It's pretty much what rock and roll is all about.
- ♪ You got mud on yo' face ♪
♪ You big disgrace ♪
♪ Kickin' your can all over the place ♪
♪ Singin' ♪ - (singing along) ♪ We will ♪
♪ We will rock you ♪
- I know this song. - ♪ We will ♪
- Who did that song?
- ♪ ...rock you ♪ - It's played before every sports game
at my high school.
- It's like a basketball game.
- I like the music. It's always been one of my favorites.
- ♪ We'll keep on fighting ♪
- All right. Another hit.
- (singing along) ♪ We are the champions ♪
- ♪ We are the champions ♪ - A pretty far-out performer.
- (singing along) ♪ No time for losers ♪
- (singing along) ♪ We are the champions ♪
- ♪ Of the world (holding note) ♪
- Yeah. Freddie Mercury, amazing.
- It's great! I know all the words.
- ♪ Don't stop me now ♪
- All such great songs.
- Good stuff.
- ♪ Don't stop me now ('Cause I'm having a good time) ♪
♪ Don't stop me now ♪ - And so many different looks.
- Miss these guys.
- Too bad he passed away. He was a great performer.
- So good. This is a good day. (chuckles)
Get to watch Queen.
- I like it. That's good music.
- ♪ ...thing called love ♪
- Oh yeah. "Crazy Little Thing Called Love."
- Right up there with the great voices of rock.
- ♪ ...can't handle it ♪ - Why don't I know this name?
- ♪ ...called love ♪
- 'Cause I certainly know the hits.
- Never saw it with the Fonzie thing going on.
- Elvis tribute there.
(laughing)
- So many different genres.
You know, he's got a little bit of Elvis thing going in this one.
- ♪ Another one bites the dust ♪
- I didn't realize that I knew all these hits.
- (singing along) ♪ Another one bites the dust ♪
- ♪ And another one gone, and another one gone ♪
- (singing along) ♪ Another one bites the dust ♪
- ♪ Hey, I'm gonna get you too ♪
♪ Another one bites the dust ♪ ♪ (hard chord) ♪
- I think that's probably been stuck in a lot of people's heads.
- Keep on rocking, Queen.
- ♪ Is this the real life? ♪
♪ Is this just fantasy? ♪ - Doesn't get better than this.
- ♪ Caught in a landslide ♪
♪ No escape from reality ♪ - It's so recognizable.
- ♪ I don't wanna die ♪
♪ I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all ♪
- This is right there with "Stairway to Heaven"
and some of the handful of greatest rock songs ever.
♪ (rock verse ends, piano note repeats steadily) ♪
- (singing along) ♪ I see a little silhouetto of a man ♪
♪ Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the Fandango? ♪
- ♪ Thunderbolt and lightning ♪ - And then the classic
four faces. - ♪ (Galileo!) Galileo! ♪
- (singing along) ♪ Galileo! Galileo! ♪
♪ Galileo Figaro ♪
- ♪ Magnifico-o-o-o-o ♪
- Oh, oh, just so good.
- ♪ ...aside for me ♪
♪ For me ♪ - That scene in Wayne's World,
you know, that was us.
- ♪ (imitates powerful guitar solo) ♪
I feel like going...
- Just wanna bang your head, don't you?
- ♪ ...and leave me to die? ♪
- This is good stuff. Freddie Mercury at his best.
- (singing along) ♪ Oh, baby ♪
♪ Can't do this to me, baby ♪
- ♪ Just gotta get out ♪
- I think I've lost a lot of my hair
from listening to rock and roll bands.
♪ (tune slowing down) ♪
- ♪ Any way the wind blows ♪
- Very nicely put.
♪ (gong bangs) ♪ - Wow.
- Thanks. That was fun!
- Oh, makes me kind of verklempt.
It's good memories.
- (choking up) They brought me so much joy and pleasure.
You can't describe Freddie. Freddie was just...
He was a hoot. He was very opinionated. He was very much a diva.
But he was the sweetest person.
(movie reel clicks)
- (FBE) So this was a medley of songs
from the iconic British rock band Queen. - Ohhh. Queen.
- (FBE) Can you give us your thoughts about the band?
- It's a British rock band that came in at an era
where they fit right in and did quite well.
- They were something that had never been seen before.
There had never been a band like Queen.
- They've carried over a number of generations.
They're still contemporary.
- This is the blueprint for all rock and roll bands today.
This is the blueprint for theatrics and talent
and great musicality.
- Well, over the course of their career,
it's estimated that their record sales are somewhere between
150 to 300 million records sold,
which makes them one of the world's best-selling music artists.
- I believe that.
- (FBE) What do you think it is about Queen
that made them so successful? - They entertained.
- It was different. It was a whole different sound.
- Really great vocals.
It's fun to sing along with.
- They're always fascinating to hear, to watch.
- It appeals to a wide range of the populace,
not just the youth.
Even me.
- (FBE) So we're covering Queen today
because when this episode comes out,
it will be the 25th anniversary of their lead singer
Freddie Mercury's death. - Yes.
- I can't believe it.
- (FBE) Freddie Mercury is considered by many
to be one of the greatest singers, the greatest performers
in the history of music.
What are some thoughts that you have about Freddie Mercury?
- You know, I always admired him.
I thought he was really talented.
- His ability to deliver as a performer
were very positive and very good. I liked him.
- He painted a path for other people to be expressive
and really be themselves.
- It's really sad that he had to keep a lid on his
lifestyle until probably his death,
because it was very not okay in those days.
- (FBE) 25 years ago, when he passed away from AIDS,
he became one of the most famous people of that era
to die of that disease. - Right.
- (FBE) For you yourself, having lived through
when the disease was a big crisis in America,
can you talk about what that time was like?
- Oh, everyone was panicking.
- It was a mystery.
A tragic period.
- Just confusing, and
I have friends who actually died of AIDS, and it is a sad thing.
- I was a dancer, you know? I happen to be straight,
but 90% of the guys that I danced in shows with were gay.
And some of them were lost.
And it was just an ugly time.
- I was here when it first arrived and nobody knew what it was.
I was born and raised in West Hollywood, which, you know,
for lack of a better term, has a huge,
at this point, LGBTQ community.
My "uncles," you know,
uncle so-and-so who lived with uncle so-and-so--
just a courtesy term.
And they were going down to Mexico to get gold shots,
paying thousands and thousands of dollars for this,
trying to save their own lives, 'cause nobody knew what it was.
Nobody knew where it came from. Nobody knew what to--
This is the dawn of the whole thing.
- It opened up people to the gay community.
They learned to take care of them
and not just keep gay people so segregated
from the rest of society. It became a global disease.
It became an omnisexual disease.
- (FBE) When we talk about famous people who have died
on Elders React, it's often a lot of reflection
that will come from all of you.
What are your thoughts when talking about
someone like Freddie Mercury, who has been gone for 25 years now?
- I think that you wonder just how much more he could've done
with those 25 years.
- It's really weird when you think about people that die so young
and died so long ago.
It makes you want to take care of yourself.
- You always think, "What am I gonna do with my life, you know?
They're gone. What am I gonna do with the rest of my life?"
- Sometimes it gangs up on you, you know,
when it's person after person that was iconic for you
in some capacity or another.
We never know. We're here for as long as we're going to be here.
- (FBE) Finally, what do you think the lasting legacy of Queen
and Freddie Mercury will be over time?
- Oh my goodness, their hits will be a lasting legacy.
- Happiness. I think when you hear that music
and the joy and the excitement, how beautiful it is.
- They just had so much good music.
So the legacy is to keep changing, to keep trying new things,
to be innovative.
- Great music doesn't die. Great films don't die, you know.
That's the beauty of the entertainment business.
It's an escape from people.
And it doesn't matter, young or old.
Young kids love this music still, and I love seeing that.
- Thanks for watching this episode of Elders React.
- If you like what you saw, rock that Subscribe button.
- Please let us know in your comments-- we do read them--
what music we should react to next.
- Thanks for watching. Bye, everyone.
- Hey, guys. It's Kyle, associate producer here at FBE.
Thank you so much for watching this look back
at Queen and Freddie Mercury.
What are your favorite memories of Queen?
Let us know in the comments.
♪ (ragtime music) ♪