Brian May Says John Deacon Still Has a Say in Queen Business
John Deacon hasn’t appeared with Queen since a one-off performance with Elton John in 1997 in Paris in Ballet for Life where they performed “The Show Must Go On.” Despite stepping away from the band, the bassist is still involved with their business.
Brian May revealed this in a new interview with Mojo. Regarding decisions related to Queen’s legacy and its ongoing business, May said the Deacon still has a “‘yes’ or ‘no’ say” in things. May noted, “We get messages that he’s happy with what we’re doing, but he doesn’t want the stress of being involved creatively, and we respect that.”
The guitarist added, “Freddie [Mercury] we can’t talk to, sadly. But the four of us worked as a team for so long that Roger and I have a pretty good idea what our fellow Queen members would be saying. This thing is longer than anybody’s marriage.”
With that in mind, it’s safe to assume that Deacon has some sort of say in the recent sale of Queen’s catalog. In June, news broke that Queen sold their catalog to Sony Music for $1.27 billion. That deal, though omits revenue rights for live performances, which will be retained by May and drummer Roger Taylor.
In May 2023, reports surfaced via CNN that Universal Music Group was in discussion to acquire the Queen catalog from Disney Music Group for over $1 billion. At the time, Disney Music Group denied the news of the sale and told CNN they have “no plans to sell the catalog.”
CNN noted, “That sum remains arguably the highest amount a music catalog has sold for, but if the Queen sale goes through, a new record will be set.”
In May 2024, Billboard reported a catalog sale was “finally getting close” to the tune of $1.2 billion. The outlet also reported that the deal included “publishing and ancillary income streams,” which included the revenue from the 2018 hit biopic Bohemian Rhapsody.
So far, in 2024, there have been few major catalog sales in the rock world. In April, KISS sold its catalog, name, logo and makeup rights to Pophouse for a reported $300 million. Pophouse, a Swedish entertainment and music investment firm, already had a relationship with the band and is the creative force behind the creation of the KISS Avatars.
In February, Rod Stewart sold his catalog to Irving Azoff’s Iconic Artists Group for $100 million. In June 2023, Billboardreported Stewart was close to a catalog deal with Hipgnosis. Sale talks went on for two years, only for Stewart to back out.
