Queen the Greatest episode 4 has landed on the band’s official YouTube channel charting highlights from the last 50 years. And this week’s mini-documentary has taken a look back at Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon’s time in Finland back in November 1974. During their European tour, the band were interviewed by a 12-year-old Finnish boy who is now all grown up and has shared his story.
In 1974, Queen had established themselves as a headlining act in the UK with three studio albums and success in the singles charts.
Now they were firmly setting their sights on performing abroad, thanks to the success of Sheer Heart Attack single Killer Queen.
That November, the band arrived in Finland during their first proper European tour, where they held a press conference ahead of their debut Helsinki show.
Juha Kakkuri was that 12-year-old boy who had attended the event alongside the usual journalists and presenters of TV and Radio.
READ MORE: Freddie Mercury’s Killer Queen: Brian May says he had ‘reservations’
Juha had heard Brighton Rock the day before and decided to get Queen’s autographs.
The 12-year-old boy called up the band’s record company and was invited to the press conference, so he took along a small tape recorder thinking that was the right thing to do.
In the new Queen the Greatest video, Juha shares his memories and you can even hear his interview recordings with the band.
The Finnish man remembered: “The interesting thing is that the first band member I interviewed was Freddie.”
Juha hadn’t heard of Queen until the day before, so despite being asked about what he thought of their albums he remembered the band being very polite to him.
While speaking with Roger, the drummer said: “I play drums and do a lot of singing as well.
Asked if he has to be strong to play the instrument, he replied: “Yes, you have to be very fit.”
The 12-year-old boy even asked Brian what his favourite candy was, to which the Queen guitarist replied, “Well yeah I like most of it really. What do I like best? I like black magic chocolates and chocolate penguins.”
While speaking with John, Juha asked what he liked about Finland so far with the bassist saying how he’d bought a new pair of shoes.
He said: “[They’re] mainly for when I get back to England when it’s very cold in the winter, these will keep me warm. They wear these don’t they, a lot of the kids?
Sadly Queen never performed in Finland with Freddie again, however, the fan base continued to grow in size and enthusiasm.
And that’s exactly what Brian and Roger experienced when they returned to Helsinki with Adam Lambert in 2016.
Published at Fri, 09 Apr 2021 11:00:00 +0000
Freddie Mercury: Man who was only 12 when he interviewed Queen star shares memories WATCH
