Brian May and Roger Taylor have kept Queen alive following the tragic death of frontman Freddie Mercury due to AIDS. As they prepare to release a sparkling reissue of the band’s self-titled debut album this Friday, bassist John Deacon continues to stay out of the spotlight.
Deacon hasn’t performed with the band since a brief appearance alongside Elton John at the Ballet for Life on January 17, 1997, in Paris. “It’s his choice. He doesn’t contact us. John was quite delicate all along,” May shared with the Daily Mail in 2018. Taylor added, “I haven’t heard a squeak from John. Not a single guttural grunt.”
Deacon has remained silent during significant events, such as the buzz surrounding the Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody and Queen’s recent financial success after selling their catalog. He also hasn’t publicly commented on May and Taylor’s recent tours with singer Adam Lambert.
However, in a new interview with Mojo, May confirmed that Deacon still retains a say in the band’s decisions. “John still has a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ say,” May stated. “We get messages that he’s happy with what we’re doing, but he doesn’t want the stress of being involved creatively – and we respect that. Sadly, we can’t talk to Freddie.”
Deacon’s last song with the band was ironically “The Show Must Go On.” He left abruptly after the Paris show, expressing to May and Taylor that he could “never do this again.”
Taylor recalled in 2022, “That was John’s last-ever performance – and I could tell he wasn’t happy because he was chain-smoking and very, very nervous.” He had been “severely traumatized by losing Freddie.”
The Ballet for Life performance was one of just three public appearances Deacon made after Mercury’s death in 1991, alongside the star-studded tribute concert in 1992 and a fundraiser for King Edward VII Hospital in 1993.
Despite Deacon’s absence, May and Taylor have developed a keen sense for making decisions in his absence. “The four of us worked as a team for so long that Roger and I have a pretty good idea of what our fellow Queen members would be saying,” May shared with Mojo. “This thing is longer than anybody’s marriage.”
