Queen reunion? John Deacon has rare collaboration with Brain May and Roger Taylor for charity

1 August 2025, 11:45

By Mayer Nissim

John Deacon usually stays out of the Queen limelight.

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After the tragic death of Freddie Mercury, John Deacon stayed with Queen not just for The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert and to finish up the posthumous Made in Heaven album, but also for 'No-One but You (Only the Good Die Young)'.

That 1997 single was Queen's sole release as a three-piece, featuring original member Deacon alongside Brian May and Roger Taylor.

But while Queen continued, first fronted by Paul Rodgers and then by Adam Lambert, John Deacon stepped away from all active participation in the group.

John is still involved in business decisions relating to the band, but he rarely speaks to the group directly and hasn't performed with them in decades.

Now, Deacon has joined forces with May and Taylor for a rare collaboration.

Queen - No One But You (Only The Good Die Young) (Official Video)

All three surviving members of Queen have newly signed a copy of Queen's A Night At The Opera, the chart-topping 1975 album that featured 'Bohemian Rhapsody' and 'You're My Best Friend'.

The signed copy of the album will be up for a silent auction at the Freddie Mercury Birthday Party fundraiser in Montreux, which will take place at the Casino Barrière Montreux on September 6, 2025.

The Mercury Phoenix Trust has confirmed not just that the signatures are "100% authentic" but also that they were made in "the last two weeks".

A couple of years ago, May revealed the extent of Deacon's involvement in Queen's affairs. "If we have any major decision, business-wise, it's always run past John," May told The Guardian.

"It doesn't mean he talks to us – generally, he doesn't – but he will communicate in some way. He’s still very much part of Queen."

May had previously admitted that they don't have "significant contact" with Deacon, and added: "That’s the way he wants it, he wanted to cut that tie and to be a private person and we have to respect that.

Queen: Behind The Hits - John Deacon (Episode 16)

"I don't think that it would be easy for John to slip back into the arena that we inhabit. In fact, a couple of times we have asked him, but he always says 'that’s not what I do now'. And we have to respect that John doesn’t want to do it."

And in 2013, Taylor said: "I haven't heard a squeak from John. Not a single guttural grunt."

As well as his bass being a key part of Queen's live and recorded sound, Deacon was a crucial songwriter for the band, writing 'I Want to Break Free', 'You're My Best Friend', 'Another One Bites the Dust' and earning co-writing credits on 'Under Pressure', 'Friends Will Be Friends' and 'One Vision'.