He’d gone to Ealing Art College to study art and graphic design. The family had immigrated to England when he was a teenager. He was born in Zanzibar and educated in India. I could tell right away that the fourth member was going to be high maintenance. The bass player, John Deacon, was also quiet. Brian May was tall with a mane of curls and a little introverted but clearly very intelligent. Roger Taylor was a really good-looking kid, with long blond hair and charm. The four guys who came into my office a couple of weeks later were an intriguing mix of characters. Its cutting-edge facilities and happening vibe were attracting the greatest talents of the era, from The Beatles and Elton John to David Bowie and Marc Bolan. I’d opened Trident Studios in 1968 in Soho. It was raw but there was definitely something there. Staffell had been replaced by this little Indian-looking guy with a big, operatic voice and they had a new bass player. It turned out that they’d now reshaped the band. John Anthony, Trident’s A&R man, had discovered a band called Smile.Īt the start, the lead guitarist was an astrophysics student from Imperial College called Brian May, the bassist and singer was an art student called Tim Staffell, and the drummer was a biology student called Roger Taylor. ‘Norman, come down and have a listen to something,’ he said. I was sitting in my office one day in 1971 when I got a call from my brother Barry down in the studio.

Freddie Mercury used to say there was no question in his mind that Queen would be a success

Queen a night at the opera sweatshirt