Roger Taylor, Queen's drummer, has recalled how his mother organised the band's first ever concert to raise funds for the British Red Cross. The show in Truro in June 1970 featured Taylor on drums, Brian May on guitar and vocals by Freddie Mercury, then known as Fred Bulsara.
Taylor also revealed how the group perfected their trademark harmonies by singing in a cave on a Cornish beach because they loved the "big sound". The musician was speaking ahead of the release of his latest solo album, Violence Insane in a Beautiful World.
The Truro gig was Mercury's first live performance with Taylor and May and he used the occasion to announce their new name, Queen. The set consisted of songs they had written themselves, including Stone Cold Crazy and Son and Daughter, as well as rock 'n' roll covers.
Queen went on to become one of the most successful rock bands in history, selling more than 300 million records worldwide. They also gained a reputation as a formidable live act, filling stadiums around the world.
Taylor was born in King's Lynn, Norfolk, and was drawn to drumming from an early age. "I got all my mother's saucepans and turned them upside down. She had some big wooden knitting needles, which I used to use to sort of play them. And I would pretend I was playing the drums, but I was playing the saucepans."
Taylor moved to Cornwall with his family when he was seven. He sang in the Truro Cathedral Choir for about a year and played drums with various local bands as a teenager. "We lived by the sea at first, but just a few months. Then we moved to Truro which, of course, is in the middle [of Cornwall] and is kind of the capital really. It was a nice place to grow up. Cornwall's beautiful, you know."
At the age of 18, Roger Taylor headed to London to study dentistry, later switching to biology. But his heart was set on music. He answered an advert on a college notice
Queen Practised Harmonies in Cornish Cave, Drummer Says