Rufus Taylor music news

Queen have once again opened the vaults, with Brian May confirming that an unreleased track titled Not For Sale (Polar Bear) will finally receive an official release as part of a major 2026 reissue of Queen II. The song, shared publicly for the first time in a rough, work-in-progress form late last year, predates the formation of Queen itself and reaches back to the band's earliest creative roots.

Queen's A Night At The Opera marks its 50th anniversary with the same impact it carried on release in November 1975. The album arrived during a crisis for the band, who were close to collapse due to a punishing contract and limited funds. They had earned hits with Sheer Heart Attack yet lived on tight weekly payments. Brian May lived in a bedsit. Freddie Mercury lived in a damp flat in Kensington. John Deacon was denied a modest loan to buy a house. The frustration led to the band parting ways with Trident and moving to EMI, a decision that would change their future.

The Royal Mint has unveiled a new collectible coin that celebrates the life and legacy of Freddie Mercury, the legendary Queen frontman whose voice and theatrical presence reshaped rock music. The announcement arrives at a significant moment for fans, marking forty years since Queen delivered their historic Live Aid performance in July 1985, a concert still regarded as one of the most powerful moments in music history. The coin also honours the fortieth anniversary of Mercury's first solo studio album, Mr. Bad Guy, which showed the world another side of his creativity and marked a bold step outside the Queen catalogue.

The Struts have dusted off their breakout 2013 single, “Could Have Been Me,” and injected a re-recording with a riff-powered shot of Sir Brian May on lead guitar.

For fans of Queen, John Deacon has long been the enigma of the band, a brilliant musician, masterful songwriter, and humble presence behind the scenes. Since the early 1990s, Deacon has shunned the spotlight, retiring quietly after Freddie Mercury’s death in 1991. But now, years later, he has quietly resurfaced, lending his signature alongside bandmates Roger Taylor and Brian May on a charity auction item, signalling, perhaps, that even the most private of souls can still make their mark in unexpected ways.

Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen have been awarded the 2025 Polar Music Prize by Sweden's King Carl Gustaf.

In 1970 in the very early days of Queen, Queen used to play a Cliff Richard and the Shadows song ‘Please Don’t Tease’. The Shadows co-founder and guitarist Hank Marvin tells Noise11 that he wasn’t aware of that fun fact but he has recorded with Sir Brian May over the years.