John Richard Deacon
(Born August 19th, 1951)
is an English
retired musician
who was the
bass guitarist
for the rock band
He wrote several songs
for the group,
including Top 10 hits
"You're My Best Friend",
"Another One Bites the Dust"
and
"I Want to Break Free";
and co-wrote
"Under Pressure",
"Friends Will Be Friends"
and
"One Vision".
Deacon grew up in
Oadby, Leicestershire,
playing bass guitar
in a local band,
The Opposition,
before moving to London
to study electronics at
Chelsea College.
He joined Queen
in 1971
on the strength of his
musical and electronic skills,
particularly the homemade
Deacy Amp
that guitarist
Brian May used to
create guitar orchestras
throughout
Queen's career.
From the third album,
Sheer Heart Attack,
onwards,
he wrote at least one song
per album,
several of which became hits.
In addition to
bass guitar,
Deacon played guitar,
keyboards,
and piano
on Queen's s
tudio work.
After the death
of lead singer
Freddie Mercury
in 1991
and the following year's
Tribute Concert,
Deacon performed
only sporadically with
the remaining members
of Queen
before retiring
from the music industry
in 1997
after recording
"No-One but You (Only the Good Die Young)".
He has not performed
on any of the other projects
that the two
remaining members,
Brian May and Roger Taylor,
have put together.
He remains involved
in the financial aspects
of the band.
Deacon was inducted into
the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame
as a member of
Queen in 2001
and into the
Songwriters
Hall of Fame
in 2003.
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