Griller Queen! Freddie Mercury (in shorts) is pictured at a BBQ

Griller Queen! Freddie Mercury (in shorts) is pictured at a BBQ in behind the scenes snaps of band released by guitarist Brian May

• An exclusive collection has been shared for the band’s 50th anniversary
• Includes image of Freddie Mercury at the barbecue thrown in 1978
• Brian May, 73, took many of the photographs with a stereoscopic camera 

Tucking into a barbecue, the shy-looking man in red gives nothing away of his public persona – as famously flamboyant Freddie Mercury.

The photograph of Mercury loading up his plate with his Queen bandmate, drummer Roger Taylor, is one of hundreds in an exclusive collection shared here for the band’s 50th anniversary.

And, as Mercury himself might say, it’s guaranteed to blow your mind.

It charts the band’s story from the birth of its classic line-up of Mercury, Taylor, bass player John Deacon and guitarist Brian May – and includes the touching image of singer Freddie at the barbecue thrown by music producer Roy Baker in 1978

Brian with Stereo Realist (3-D) camera in hand, 1978. He said: ‘The fascination for stereo that I’d picked up as a kid never went away. I bought my first 35 mm film stereo camera in 1974, on our first Queen tour of the United States’

It charts the band’s story from the birth of its classic line-up of Mercury, Taylor, bass player John Deacon and guitarist Brian May – and includes the touching image of singer Freddie at the barbecue thrown by music producer Roy Baker in 1978.

May, 73, took many of the photos with a stereoscopic camera, which uses two lenses to simultaneously take a pair of images that, when seen through a special viewer, create what appears to be a three-dimensional photograph.

Brian said: ‘These pictures are of the Jazz tour of the USA in 1978. Note the News Of The World robot face on Roger’s bass drum, never used in Europe. For Freddie, long gone are the flowing locks and the Zandra Rhodes glam. He now proudly sports the classic gay icon image. The girls loved him even more! Reminds me of someone we know very well on stage these days’

Roger and Freddie backstage somewhere in 1975. The new pictures appear in the latest edition of his book Queen In 3-D. The guitarist also designed the Owl – the viewer that comes with the book to allow readers to see the images in three dimensions

May, 73, took many of the photos with a stereoscopic camera, which uses two lenses to simultaneously take a pair of images that, when seen through a special viewer, create what appears to be a three-dimensional photograph. Pictured, Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. Brian said: ‘Roger and Freddie. And there is somebody else we can’t quite see, but I think he was a big guy called Dave, who, while acting as our personal assistant made a grab for management of the band. He, like many others, didn’t last long with us’

Queen In 3-D, by Brian May, costs £30 from The London Stereoscopic Company, www.shop.londonstereo.com

Pictured with his Stereo Realist camera in 1978, May said the images capture the band in the 1970s and 1980s, adding: ‘Each unlocks a story.

‘I’ve always felt that 3D pictures were a thousand times more powerful than flat snaps, but some of these 3D moments are so extraordinarily evocative that I was actually shocked myself what recollections they brought out of my head.’

The new pictures appear in the latest edition of his book Queen In 3-D. The guitarist also designed the Owl – the viewer that comes with the book to allow readers to see the images in three dimensions.

Freddie and Roger backstage at the Budokan, Tokyo, 1975. Brian said: ‘Here we’re backstage, at the Budokan. We’re looking at all sorts of toys and books and presents that the Japanese fans had given us – just an avalanche of lovely things. It had all been delivered to our dressing room’

Freddie is pictured in a dressing room getting ready for the It’s A Hard Life shoot in 1984. Brian said: ‘Freddie is, of course, wearing the famous ‘Mediterranean Prawn’ costume, as Roger so colourfully christened it, with his fabulous wig’

Freddie and Mary Austin in 1975. Brian said: ‘Nice picture of Freddie and Mary. I wouldn’t even have registered in those days that they seem to be wearing fox furs. They would have been ancient ones, recycled, of course – probably from Roger and Freddie’s stall in Kensington Market. But nevertheless, now I would look at it with horror’

Columbus, Ohio, in February 1975. Brian said: ‘Here’s me in winter gear and comfort-inducing hat in Columbus, Ohio, February 1975. I’d opted for a woolly canvas coat rather than the usual sheepskin. Even in those days I was not happy wearing the skin of an animal, although that consciousness hadn’t spread to footwear’

Right: Freddie backstage at the Budokan, Tokyo, 1975. Brian said: ‘A gift from the Japanese – lovingly crafted dolls of the four of us’. Left: Brian in the It’s A Hard Life shoot in 1984

USA Jazz Tour. Brian said: ‘Roger in full flight in his timpani solo during ‘Brighton Rock’.’ The book comes with a stereoscopic viewer designed by Brian May that will bring Queen’s journey to life in 3-D

To see more of Brian’s collection of photographs capturing the band’s 50 year journey and hear the full story in his words, Queen in 3-D by Brian May, is available for Mail readers at the special price of £20 (rrp £30) from The London Stereoscopic Company. 

On checkout please enter reader offer code – mo50q3d – in the space provided.

The book comes with a stereoscopic viewer designed by Brian May that will bring Queen’s journey to life in 3-D.

 www.shop.londonstereo.com.

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