Source: Queen in Rio to perform at the Rock in Rio festival, Brazil, January 11 and 18, 1985. From left to right, John Deacon, Roger Taylor, Freddie Mercury and Brian May. (Dave Hogan/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Queen‘s knack for making music history continues as the band sold the rights to their entire music catalog to Sony Music Entertainment for a record-breaking $1.27 billion, according to HitsDailyDouble. The deal also includes the rights to the name and likeness of the group.
Despite the sale, Sony Music does not have any rights to revenue generated by the band through performances, as surviving original members Brian May and Roger Taylor still hit the road for shows with Adam Lambert on lead vocals, filling in for Freddie Mercury, who died in 1991. Former bassist John Deacon hasn’t performed with the band since 1997.
Source: Adam Lambert performs with Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen at Chase Center on Nov. 8, 2023 in San Francisco, California. (Miikka Skaffari/Getty Images)
Disney still owns the recording rights to Queen in North America, but will now pay royalties out to Sony Music until the deal expires later in the decade. Disney purchased the rights in 1990 for $10 million.
Queen formed in 1970 after Tim Staffell left Smile, which led to May and Taylor bringing Mercury in on vocals and piano. They brought on Deacon in 1971 to play bass, and released their debut album, Queen, in 1973. The band sold over 300 million records, making them one of the most commercially-successful bands of all time.
During the classic lineup era, Queen released 14 studio albums from 1973 to 1991, with Innuendo being the last during Mercury’s lifetime, dying in November of that year. They released Made in Heaven in 1995, featuring vocals recorded before Mercury’s death.
