What do John Deacon's children do? John Deacon: a legend amid the success of Queen

John Deacon is a legendary personality. Despite the fact that his name is somewhat lost against the background of the band's frontmen Queen Freddie Mercury and Brian May, it was he who had the strongest influence on the work of this group, becoming one of the authors of the most sensational hits of his time. This bass guitarist, although he did not play anything particularly complex in terms of musical parts, nevertheless, today remains one of the most revered rock bassists, who is copied by all and sundry.

John Deacon - who is he?

Without exaggeration, this musician can be called one of the founders of rock. After the first wave of rock and roll and the second wave of British rock, which led to the emergence of heavy metal, the group Queen, whose founding dates back to 1964, did not change its style until the end of its existence, although there were quite a lot of experiments.

John Deacon, along with Roger Taylor, formed the very backbone of the group in the form of bass and drums, which became the basis for the phenomenal sound of Queen. Of course, both Mercury's vocals and May's guitar are worthy of attention. But John Deacon, one might say, became that “eminence grise,” whose name is not particularly advertised, although it was he who wrote many of the most popular compositions, with which the group itself is still associated today, causing a lot of noise in the world of rock. Each of the team members contributed to rock music, and they can rightfully be called founding fathers. Deacon John Moore (another musician), with whom the Queen bass player is often confused, although he is also revered in his homeland, has nothing to do with this musician. They only have similar names, nothing more.

How did it all begin?

The musician was born on August 19, 1951 in Leicester. In his youth, Deacon John had a passion for electronics, and he could often be found with a soldering iron in his hands.

But this did not stop him, at the age of 14, from organizing The group Opposition, which, although constantly changing its composition, nevertheless became quite popular in hometown(Lester).

Real professional career The musician began and is still associated with the group Queen. The most interesting thing is that Deacon was only 19 years old when he joined the main team. He became the youngest member of the team, but before that he managed to work as both a session rhythm guitarist and a keyboard player.

Queen

Since the appearance of this British group, which today is revered no less (if not more) than the Fab Four ( The Beatles), success was due not only to the vocal abilities of the “great Persian”, but also to the rest of the team members.

The group has become so mega-popular that its work is still admired by hundreds of millions of music lovers. Until some time among the authors popular hits John Deacon was not included in the group, although he made his own adjustments to the sound of some compositions. But the real breakthrough was the writing of the hit Stone Cold Crazy, which was released in the group’s third official album. And then came the compositions that today belong to the “golden” fund of rock music.

John Deacon: songs

Vocals and guitar take second place, but emphasize the overall direction of the track.

By the way, few listeners realize that John Deacon also wrote such famous compositions as You’re My Best Friend, One Year Of Love, Back Chat, Spread Your Wings and even I Want To Break Free. It was in these compositions that the musician revealed his talent completely, proving that he is not only a hard rocker, but also an excellent melodist who knows how to touch the soul even when writing an energetic-sounding rhythm.

After the death of Freddie Mercury, Deacon did not leave the band, although statements about his departure had been heard since 1992. But then, when he said that at a concert with the group he was playing for the last time at the presentation of the new composition No One But You (Only The Good Die Young - an analogy with Iron Maiden 1988), something irreparable happened. The final stage of the big stage was a concert The Show Must Go On, hosted by Elton John. After this, the legendary bassist left the world of rock music.

What is the musician doing now?

It even got to the point that in 2004, John Deacon refused to take part in the project of Brian May and Roger Taylor called Queen + Paul Rogers and did not even appear at the official ceremony for the group’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Unfortunately, practically nothing is known about the musician’s current life. One can only guess how John Deacon lives now and what he does. However, judging by statements that rarely make it to the press, he categorically condemned the recording of a remake of the hit We Are The Champions with Robbie Williams as vocalist, saying that he clearly does not live up to Mercury. In principle, this is how it is. This, of course, can be argued a lot, but Deacon’s opinion is obvious: Williams is not Mercury (even with all due respect to the singer).

Afterword

John Deacon, without a doubt, can be considered one of the most outstanding musicians of all time. Although he did not occupy a dominant position in the Queen group, his contribution to the development of rock music cannot be discounted in any way, especially since his immortal compositions still remain role models from which more than one generation of musicians learn. There are even specialized videos teaching the style of playing the bass guitar that belongs to this musician. And there is something to see there (especially if you take into account the finger, rather than pick, technique).

Perhaps he didn’t play anything special in terms of bass guitar parts, but the rhythm section sounded in such a way that even now you can easily determine from the initial sounds that it was Queen and not something else. Take, for example, the song Another One Bites The Dust. In terms of playing technique, Deacon, of course, is not an innovator, but in terms of his approach to writing compositions, he can be classified as one of those geniuses who, being invisible, contributed to history. And the rock scene knows many such examples. And this musician only emphasizes the validity of such a statement.

John Richard Deacon was born on August 19, 1951 in Leicester to Lillian Molly and Arthur Henry Deacon. John's father worked for the Norwich Union insurance company. When John was seven years old, his father gave him his first guitar. “It was a red plastic Tommy Steele guitar,” recalls Dix (as his friends called him).

From a very young age, Dix developed a love for electronics and could often be found with a soldering iron in his hands. The father encouraged his son’s love for electronics in every possible way, because it was also his hobby. John personally adapted his old reel-to-reel tape recorder to record radio. Dix admits that his decision to become a musician was influenced by the work of The Beatles.

At the age of 14, Deacon created his first group, which received title The Opposition. Despite the fact that the group often changed its composition, it had enough fans in its native Leicester. Initially, John was not the bassist in the group, but after Clive Castledean left the band, he had no choice but to fill the vacant position. The group changed its name first to The New Opposition and then to The Art. In August 1969, The Art played their last gig and Dix left for London to study electronics at Chelsea College.

John never parted with his guitar, although he no longer played in any band. Dix graduated with honors from his first year of college, but in his second year he got bored and decided to join a group. In local newspapers he looked for advertisements for recruitment into the group, and even came to audition several times. Until in 1971, his friend introduced him to Brian May and Roger Taylor at one of the discos. He found out that they needed a bass player for the team.

Two days later he came with his bass guitar to the lecture hall of Imperial College, where she was rehearsing at that time a new group. A few days later, Dix became the fourth and final member of Queen. Later, a legend appeared that he became the seventh and last bassist to be selected for Queen.

“We knew right away that he was the right guy, even though he was so quiet. John hardly spoke to us,” recalls Brian May. – From the first days we called him Deacon John. I don’t even know why we called him that at first.” And on the cover of Queen’s first album the name Deacon John was listed, but later Dix himself explained to the guys that his correct name was John Deacon. “Another stupid mistake,” May will say later.

Dix wrote less than everyone else in the group, but all his works became absolute hits. Deacon’s first song, “Stone Cold Crazy,” appeared only on Queen’s third album, “Sheer Heart Attack.”

His bandmates recognized the songs “You"re My Best Friend”, “Spread Your Wings”, “Another One Bites the Dust”, “I Want to Break Free” as one of the best in Queen history.

Quiet and calm, Deeks liked to relax. “It’s great to be drunk for several weeks in a row,” John unexpectedly said in an interview after a concert at Wembley.

After tragic death Freddie Mercury John decided to leave show business forever and devote himself to his family. “Queen doesn’t exist without Freddie,” Dix once said. And he never returned to a group that doesn't exist.

He condemned the recording of the We Are The Champions remake with Robbie Williams. "Robbie Williams is not Freddie Mercury," Deeks said. “Freddie cannot be replaced, and certainly not by Williams.” John Deacon also rejected the offer to participate in the Queen + Paul Rogers project.

Today practically nothing is known about him. No one really knows where he lives or what he does.

In another social online posted articles about this in a group dedicated to Deacon wonderful person in its own translation. I think this one will be interesting here too.

Translation English translation from German. Sorry for the clumsiness, I'm ready to accept comments.

Queen - nice madness wearing a crown
(Musikexpress & Sounds 1981)
Interviewer: Bernd Gockel

It is highly likely that the Queen tour will begin on Christmas Day. On the Queen tours of 1977, 78, 79, 80, the show itself didn't change much, and even Freddie's cool mustache couldn't change that, but Queen fans didn't expect any changes. It is enough for them to receive new wonderful songs. And Queen provides them with this. And Freddie's macho image doesn't bother fans or musicians, this is the show of the "King of Queen" who hasn't given an interview in years and fans don't hear much about him. Bernd Gockel really succeeded in getting an interview with John Deacon, and he had a lot to say. For the first time, he spoke about some unpleasant details in Queen's crown.
The last album and 2 singles you released were very successful in the USA. These are much simpler songs than pompous arrangements previous years. Why?
JOHN: Indeed, the songs are less complex than they were a few years ago. The reason is probably the way we recorded the album. We've been together for 10 years now and decided to record in phases, each time only 2 or 3 songs over a few weeks and then give ourselves a rest period. "Crazy little thing" was the first one, and even though we did completely different songs after that, it seems like that first track kind of gave a sign, a direction. Somehow, the whole album is more simple and clear. Why this is so, I have no idea.
Did you get to that point in the last few years where you said we can't keep writing fancy songs like "Mustapha" and "Bohemian Rhapsody"?
JOHN: Well, you can't say it in such an exaggerated way. When you're working on a new track in the studio, you wonder what ideas you're coming up with. Especially when the group has, like us, 4 people composing completely different songs. It is difficult to say what influences us, or in what specific direction we ourselves will move.
Different opinions and struggles in the group?
JOHN: Oh yeah, about musical direction groups, if we choose simple or complex songs. (In the German original, the interviewer says this, and John assents :-))
And who is on whose side?
JOHN: It's hard to say. Everyone in the group has different tastes. Brian, of course, is more interested in music for his guitar. Roger is mostly rock and roll, while I have a soft spot for “black music” where the bass is more important. And Freddie? It’s impossible to say so simply, he has an unusual taste, a little from everywhere, there is no style that could be said to be Freddie’s style.
Is the closeness between individual band members based on musical taste?
JOHN: Honestly, it has 4 components, and each has a very individual taste, completely different from the others. Of course, sometimes small groups are formed, but their composition changes each time. In groups where only one person has the right to speak, as we all know, there is a danger that all participants will be forced to work in the same direction. Fortunately, this is not the case with Queen.
But in the beginning it was almost like that?
JOHN: Yes, in the beginning Brian and Freddie were the most important parts. They still write most of the songs, but Roger and I, we're a lot more involved in the band now. Roger, meanwhile, had accumulated so much of his own material that he had to release solo album. He couldn't try harder to bring it all into the group.
But is he still the only one who started a solo career?
JOHN: Until now, yes. I don't write as many songs as he does, but it doesn't upset me that I can't record all my songs with Queen. Freddie could record his own album because it can be very productive if he wants to.
And why doesn't he do this? Is he too lazy?
JOHN: Sometimes, yes... I think so. While we're working on the album, he works, but in between he likes to do nothing.

What are the relationships between the participants in their personal lives? How in Pink Floyd, who lived for 9 months in four different places in the world and only met in the studio if necessary?
JOHN: No, no, we all live near London and see each other very often. I know some bands have a hard time living far away from each other. It is important to meet regularly and discuss pressing issues. We don't usually do something unless at least three of us agree on it. This is a democratic process.
So this "something" is done even if the 4th participant disagrees and has serious doubts?
JOHN: It depends on the weight of doubt. If he has really strong reasons and arguments against the decision to do something, then we don't do it... And sometimes this happens.
Don't you sometimes feel, after being together for 10 years, after a long tour, that you don't want to see the others for a few months?
JOHN: I'm sure we feel... It's necessary. Take The Who. They almost broke up 2-3 years ago due to Pete Townshend losing interest. But then, due to Keith Moon's death, they started again and everything went right again. I saw them in Los Angeles and they were absolutely amazing. And Pink Floyd, well, they're a strange band. We're still trying to make an LP and tour every year and get everywhere, but Floyd have done a few shows in Los Angeles, a few New York shows and a few in London and now Dortmund. And then, for a long time, nothing.
Or their new album, which, in essence, is no better than Roger's album....
JOHN: Right, and it's not easy for the band. Because the fans don't know about it. They think Pink Floyd is Pink Floyd. People from outside do not notice that there are problems in the group. And I can imagine that the atmosphere is not that good if the drummer, in in this case Nicky Mason feels like he's little more than a drummer with no voice.
At Queen this is thankfully different, even if we had a similar problem recently. We all started with the Flash Gordon record, but at the end of the work, Brian started telling us whether this or that song would be on the disc or not. This is very unusual thing for us, and this became a definite problem. Brian wanted a German producer who he worked closely with in Munich, while we would have preferred a Queen album. We agreed then, but we weren't very happy. However, for the world it was another album Queen. People outside the band have no idea how personal some of the songs are. For them it's Queen song, even if it is very personal for only one of the members.
Then what about "Another One Bites The Dust" for example, how personal is that song and how does it define you?
JOHN: This song was written because I always wanted to do something in the direction of black music, disco. I made sure that this song ended up on the album the way it was. It's not your typical Queen song and I don't know if we'll ever do anything like that again. We had disagreements about this song. Our company wanted to release this song as a single due to its great success on black radio stations. Roger tried to avoid it because, as he said, it was too "disco-style" and it wasn't good for Queen's reputation.
Is this happening more and more often?
JOHN: It happens, yes. Brian, for example, doesn't like Freddie's song, or vice versa. We don't say it to each other right away, but you can feel it. Another One Bites The Dust is the most recent example. Roger didn't agree because he thought it would be too poppy and because Queen shouldn't live off single hits. He wanted to maintain the position that we have as a live band, and we all agree with that.

Perhaps now a question about your shows. If you are still playing today, for example, " Bohemian Rhapsody", isn't it boring or old-fashioned?
JOHN: Most a big problem with the live shows, it's that we're trying to get rid of the old songs without people noticing too much. And of course Bohemian Rhapsody is an old song for us, it's Queen from 1975, but it's hard to throw it out if you know people are expecting to hear it.
So you make compromises?
JOHN: A little bit, we're trying to represent both the old and new material in as large a volume as possible.
What songs would you most like to throw out of your performances?
JOHN: We're trying to solve this problem by playing the old hits as a mix. Sometimes Brian thinks that he doesn't want to play his solo anymore at the next show. He's been saying this for a long time, but in a way, this is the feature of our show. We are running against the “gumwall” (I don’t know the word, gumtree – to get into trouble). Same with Bohemian Rhapsody. It's hard. But we need to see that new fans appear at our concerts every time. They are coming for the first time and they want to hear too old material. So it may happen that we how long existing group we'll have to revolve around old hits. But this happens to all old bands.

Additional Guitars:

1977-1979 Fender "51 Precision Bass (used for some songs and as a spare during concerts)

1977, 1980-1985 Music Man StingRay (in 1977 as a live backup, from 1980 to 1985 used for Another One Bites the Dust)

1980-1982 Kramer DMZ (spare at concerts, used in the Play video The Game)

1981-1985 Fender Special Precision Bass (used for some songs in the studio and Under Pressure live)

1983-1992 Fender Elite Precision Bass (used for some songs in the studio, for Radio Ga-Ga and as a spare in concert)

1986-1991 Giffin Natural Wood Finish Bass (studio used)

1986 Warwick Buzzard (used in Friends Will Be Friends video)

Amplifiers:

1971-1973 Orange AD-200B

1975-1995 Acoustic 371

Participation in the financial affairs of the group

The quietest member of the group, Deacon nevertheless was its “economic brains”, managing all its financial affairs.

Keith Moore, Queen's accountant:

John was an internal controller, an administrator, and an accountant... I am very pleased that he took on these roles. Sometimes I had meetings with him that lasted five hours, and after we finished discussing all the issues, he would leave and tell the others what we talked about. Then they made a joint decision. John was returning to tell me.

Freddie Mercury about John:

John Deacon closely monitored all paperwork. He knew everything that should and should not happen. If God had abandoned us, the rest of the group would not have done anything without John's approval.

Leaving Queen and controversy surrounding the group

In the 80s, John repeatedly stated in interviews that he did not intend to be only Queen's bassist all his life and wanted to participate in projects outside the group. However, after the tragic death of Freddie Mercury, John Deacon unexpectedly announced his departure from musical world. Last performance John as part of the Queen group took place on April 20, 1992 at the London charity concert in memory of Freddie Mercury (Wembley Stadium outdoor area).

Then, in 1997, he took part in a memorial concert, which resulted in the recording of the only song the group wrote without the participation of Freddie Mercury, “No-One but You (Only the Good Die Young).”

In 2001, John officially and rather harshly spoke out about collaboration Brian May and Roger Taylor with musician Robbie Williams on a remake of the song We Are The Champions for box office film The story of a knight. In an interview newspaper The Sun Deacon stated:

This is one of greatest songs, ever written by mankind, and I think they ruined it. I don't want to be sarcastic, but let's just admit that Robbie Williams is not Freddie Mercury. Freddie cannot be replaced, and certainly not by Williams.

In 2004, he turned down a collaboration with Brian May and Roger Taylor as part of the Queen + Paul Rodgers project. However, according to Brian May, Deacon gave the project his “tacit consent.”

John did not attend the official ceremony for the induction of Queen members into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (Cleveland, USA).

Personal life

John Deacon currently lives in Putney in southwest London with his only wife, Veronica Tetzlaff.

They married on January 18, 1975, by which time Veronica was pregnant with their first child. They have six children:

• son Robert Deacon (born July 18, 1975)
• son Michael Deacon (born February 3, 1978)
• daughter Laura Deacon (born June 25, 1979)
• son Joshua Deacon (born December 13, 1983)
• son Luke Deacon (born December 5, 1992)
• son Cameron Deacon (born November 7, 1993)

According to information The Sun day Times Rich List for the period 2015, Deacon's fortune was estimated at £85 million.

Musician's discography

Queen songs written by John Deacon and released as separate singles:

• "You're My Best Friend" from "A Night at the Opera"
• "Spread Your Wings" from "News of the World"
• "Another One Bites the Dust" and "Need Your Loving Tonight" from "The Game"
• "Cool Cat" (co-written with Freddie Mercury) from Hot Space
• "Back Chat" from "Hot Space"
• "I Want to Break Free" from "The Works"
• "Friends Will Be Friends", "Pain Is So Close to Pleasure" (both co-written with Freddie Mercury) and "One Year of Love" from A Kind of Magic

Selected Queen compositions:

• "Misfire"
• "You're My Best Friend"
• "You And I"
• "Spread Your Wings"
• "Who Needs You"
• "If You Can't Beat Them"
• "In Only Seven Days"
• "Another One Bites the Dust"
• "Need Your Loving Tonight"
• "Back Chat"
• "Cool Cat" (composer)
• "I Want to Break Free"
• "One Year of Love"
• "Pain Is So Close to Pleasure" (composer)
• "Friends Will Be Friends" (composer)
• "The Miracle" (composer)
• "My Baby Does Me" (composer)
• "Don't Try So Hard" (composer)
• "My Life Has Been Saved"