40 Years of Queen by Harry Doherty

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This happens to be the best book ever created. And I say “created” instead of “written” because it’s more than just a written book. It’s got tons of extras inside, like reproductions of tickets, posters, letters by the band members — it’s freaking AWESOME! Any Queen fan would love it and even people who aren’t fans would probably come away impressed.

The book starts out with the origins of the band as youngsters, where they grew up, how they got into music, their first bands and the formation of Queen. It covers each album, offering insights I haven’t seen elsewhere, has lots of beautiful color photos and even covers major tours. Queen probably performed before more people than any band in history. 250,000 South Americans at two shows. 350,000 Ukranians at one show. Millions in Europe, America, Japan, Australia. One of the most successful bands of all time. Of course, the book covers Freddy’s death and the subsequent formation of his trust set up to combat AIDS. That was a tragedy, but it didn’t kill the band, as the release of their album Forever last month shows. Thank God Brian and Roger are carrying on the tradition.

This book is well written. My only complaint, and this is minor, is small font. But otherwise, it’s a great book and I strongly, strongly recommend it!

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