The tragic death of Freddie Mercury heralded the end of one of the most important and influential rock bands of all time. Queen were undisputed rock royalty, the group that sprang from the glam rock era of the early 1970s to outlast all their glittering contemporaries. In the process they rewrote all the rules in the music business, from the six-minute mini-opera Bohemian Rhapsody to playing stadiums across South America. This book, based on exclusive interviews with band members, their families and friends, is the chronicle of Queen's history. Frank and fearless, it is packed with personal and revelatory details and is illustrated with photographs never before published. It covers everything from the humble beginnings when Brian May made his own guitar, to the heady days of international fame and the final sad months when Freddie Mercury knew he was fighting a battle against AIDS that he could not win.