The English musician Don Deacon was the bassist of the Queen band from the foundation until the death of Freddie Mercury. The guitarist combined financial literacy, technical abilities and outstanding talent of the performer.
As a child, John Richard Deacon, on his own, transformed an old reel tape recorder into a modern recording device. Thanks to the musician, the most commercially successful composition Queen, Another One Bites the Dust, later appeared.
Vocation Search
The biography of the future celebrity began in 1951. The boy was born in the English town of Leicester on August 19 in the family of an employee of an insurance company. He ceased to be the only child five years after the birth of his sister Julia.
Since childhood, the baby was attracted to electronics. The young inventor enthusiastically invented and embodied fantastic devices in reality, read many magazines. Music did not interest him too much.
After John’s nine years old, the family moved to Odby. The boy went to the local high school Gartry. He continued his education at Bitcham College. The humanitarian direction was pleasant to the kid. Studying went without much effort, and the student quickly became the best in the class.
The teenager was truly delighted after exploring the work of the famous quartet The Beatles. Four from English Liverpool have changed priorities for John. From now on, all the compositions of the guys became favorite for their fan. The Deacon dreamed of learning to play as well as his idols. The path to the dream was not easy.
The path to the musical Olympus
In 1965, a high school student organized the group The Opposition. After just a year, the name of the team transformed into The New Opposition. He played in the Deacon band on a rhythm guitar. The young performer became the bass guitarist after the departure of the musician of this role from the collective.
The choice was right: John never cheated on him in his life. The concert ended on August 29, 1969. After it, the path of the founder and the participants radically diverged. Under the name The Art, some continued to work, and the other chose a new direction.
John was offered to study at Chelsea Technical College, part of the London Imperial College. Leaving the guitar, the amplifier, and the old life at home, the young man went to the capital. However, six months passed, and John realized that he could not do without music anymore.
The first acquaintance with the newly formed group "Queen" took place during his studies. No impression was made on John. He himself dreamed of creating a team and speaking with her. The realization of the intention was the Deacon team. True, the new group lasted only until the first concert. The reason for the collapse was the transition of the founder and guitarist to Queen, whose participants just attended the performance.
The talent of the future colleagues Mercury, May and Taylor appreciated immediately. The guys were very impressed with the guy’s knowledge of electronics and a balanced character. The nineteen-year-old guitarist was the youngest in the band. However, in the group he quickly took root. The debut performance was July 2, 1971 in Kensington.
Dream group
The first studio album appeared in 1973. The name of the group was chosen for him. Heavy metal and hard rock prevailed in the collection. The lyrics for his songs were written by almost all members of the collective, with the exception of John. True, the materials were already ready for recording in 1972, only not a single record company dared to tackle it.
The musicians very soon started preparing a new collection. He appeared a year later. Following the example of his colleagues, Deacon tried to write songs. His first experience, Misfire, entered the 3rd Sheer Heart Attack album.
The hit was the new single You're My Best Friend from the band's next album. John created the composition for his wife. He dedicated to Veronica a song written in the year of their marriage. During the performance, an electric piano solo was played, which was performed by the author. The video for the song was filmed plain. However, it was he who turned into one of the best in the glam rock period Queen.
The new compilation A Night at the Opera turned into four platinum, was named among the 500 greatest albums of all time by Rolling Stone magazine. Bohemian Rhapsody turned into a cult song. She was distinguished by an unusual duration for those times: 2 times longer than the usual 3 minutes.
The song connected opera, pop music and rock genres. The success was deafening. After the triumph, pictures of musicians and articles about them began to be published in magazines. The Deacon was noticeably different from his colleagues in that he wrote few songs. But all his creations became favorite music lovers and very popular in the world. Examples of John's work are Spread Your Wings.
