Behind the scenes pictures of Queen on iconic I Want to Break Free music video gives extraordinary glimpse into closeness of the band
- The fascinating pictures show the band fooling around on the video shoot
Never-before-seen pictures of Queen making the trailblazing I Want To Break free music video shows the incredible bond between the band members.
Candid images – all shot by veteran photographer Simon Fowler – show the sheer joy and fun of the group during the now-legendary filming of the promo.
The video stunned music fans when it came out and had the rockers dressed up as housewives in a suburban home.
In one of the newly-revealed pictures the band are shown in hysterics, with one crewmember wiping away tears of laughter as Freddie Mercury fools around behind a bewigged John Deacon.
Freddie appears to be pretending to be a hairdresser as John chuckles in his seat, as Brian May beams by a back wall as they stare into the mirror at their new look.
Later Brian can be seen clutching his curlers as he gazes into the distance as he is captured on film.
Roger Taylor also looks to be having a ball in one of the archive pictures, pouting in his schoolgirl-style costume.
Photographer Simon, who took pictures of the group throughout their career, opened up his archives to allow MailOnline to publish some of the incredible shots.
The band are seen having a great laugh backstage as they get ready to shoot the video promo
Roger Taylor in costume pouts as his picture is taken on the set of I Want To Break Free in 1984
He said he had no idea the theme of the video before he had turned up at Limehouse Studios in London to take the pictures.
Simon recalled: ‘On Break Free I didn’t get any idea of what it was going to be. I turned up and saw them and thought “Whoa, what is going on?”.
‘It was obviously a pastiche of Coronation Street. I remember on the day everybody was just fooling around laughing.
‘It was so much fun that I was amazed that they actually got a video done.
‘They had no concerns about doing anything that was unusual – they would just do it.
‘They were just messing around in between the filming. I remember one funny moment when they were trying the stuff on and asking each other “what do you reckon of this wig?”.
‘That was the great thing about it, you have got Freddie with his big old ‘tache, giving it all. ‘It was without doubt the most fun shoot I have done.
‘Every time I think about it I smile, the day just went so fast because everyone was having such a good time – it just whizzed by.
Simon revealed that the band preferred to be photographed all together for their promo shots
Brian May looks like he has awoken from a deep sleep with the curlers in this of Simon’s shots
‘When you get there I didn’t know the story and the PR told me and I thought “that sounds great”.
‘I went backstage and the first thing I saw was them getting all their clobber done.’
Simon had photographed the band before after getting a phone call during the recording of their Hot Space album.
That record spawned the Under Pressure anthem and at first the photographer admits he had no idea who he would be going to shoot.
He recalled: ‘I got a call out of the blue to do a job and originally thought they had said Cream at the time, which I thought couldn’t have been right.
‘Back in those days you would get millions of calls. I only realised later it was Queen and I was told I would only get ten minutes with them and it turned into three hours. It was for the album Hot Space.
‘I think we just got on pretty well – I wasn’t expecting much time at all and it was brilliant.
‘Roger actually got me to do a bit of tapping when they were recording. I like to think I’m on Hot Space somewhere. It just went from there really.’
The band loved his work so he was invited back and ended up doing numerous shoots with them.
John Deacon – whose character in the video was miserable – laughs in a moment of down time
Freddie Mercury poses up on the set, leaning on a cabinet as he looks to the side of the room
But he counts his work on I Want to Break Free as one of the most exciting jobs of his career.
He admitted: ‘I knew when I got called in for it, that it was going to be interesting.
‘They wouldn’t scrimp on stuff with the videos, they were big productions. If CGI was around then I am sure that would be what they were doing.
‘When you were on set you would have to have eyes in the back of your head in some of the bigger productions, where there were cranes and stuff going round.
‘When we went for lunch Brian was on the catering bus talking to me. He was still in the outfit with the curlers.
‘I remember thinking “that’s Brian May opposite me”. It was so surreal. ‘At the end of the day we saw the cut and it just looked great.
‘I remember John taking a nap during the day, which he would have needed because the reality is they would have got there very early.
‘They were trailblazers with videos, they really were. Queen were so unique in whatever they did. Brian with the sound and the guitar. I loved every minute of it
Veteran music photographer Simon Fowler is selling prints in aid of the Mercury Phoenix Trust
‘Freddie was a trooper right up until the end. One of the things people don’t notice about pictures of Queen is that you could never often get them out of the line-up
‘They would not often move out of all four of them together for pictures.
‘I think that’s because they were a band but they were also incredible close friends too.
‘They all had each others backs, none of them thought of themselves as the star – they were all equals.’
The behind-the-scenes pictures were brought back into the spotlight as Simon as he compiled Fine Art Prints of Freddie, Brian, Roger and John from The Miracle shoot.
They are being sold to help the fight against HIV and AIDS, with 50 per cent of proceeds going to the Mercury Phoenix Trust.
Simon added: ‘I was thrilled to do this and just give something back and help a really great cause.
‘I was delighted by the response and hope it can keep helping people.’
Prints of Freddie, Brian, Roger and John from The Miracle shoot can be found here
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