Freddie Mercury

Is Billy Idol just doing a bad Elvis pout, or was he born that way?

In the early days, we just wore black onstage. Very bold, my dear. Then we introduced white, for variety, and it simply grew and grew.

It destroys the soul to hear that you're all hype, that you have no talent, and that your whole career has been contrived.

I'm not into business at all.

I guess I've always lived the glamorous life of a star. It 's nothing new - I used to spend down to the last dime.

A concert is not a live rendition of our album. It's a theatrica! event.

We've gone overboard on every Queen album. But that's Queen.

And, we have no such thing as a budget anymore. Our manager freaks when we show him the bill. We're lavish to the bone, but all our money goes back into the product.

If we're weird onstage, I don't know what you'd call the Tubes.

The lavish presentation appeals to me, and I've got to convince the others.

One night Roger was in a foul mood and he threw his entire bloody drumset across the stage. The thing only just missed me - I might have been killed.

Years ago, I thought up the name Queen. It's just a name. But it's regal, obviously, and -sounds splendid.

We were disliked by the press in the early days because they couldn't put their finger on us, and that was the case with Zeppelin as well.

Back in the old days, we were often compared to Led Zeppelin. If we did something with harmony, it was the Beach Hoys. Something heavy was Led Zeppelin.

I got my diploma from Ealing College of Art, in graphics and illustration.

I think my melodies are superior to my lyrics.

I was never too keen on the British music press. They've called us a supermarket hype, and they used to suggest that we didn't write our own songs.

The others don't like my interviews. And frankly, I don't care much for theirs.

You know, I designed the Queen crest. I simply combined all the creatures that represent our star signs-and I don't even believe in astrology.

The reason we're successful, darling? My overall charisma, of course.

I dress to kill, but tastefully.

I won't be a rock star. I will be a legend.

I like to be surrounded by splendid things.

When the whole point of Queen was to be original.

I'm just a musical prostitute, my dear.