Talon, I have more questions about Queen. (Just FYI... before Adam, the only Queen I heard of was Queen of England
and when I started following Adam he mentioned Queen and Freddie Mercury. I then started searching these group/individual he mentioned in his interview. I did hear BoRap, WWRY and WATC but was never aware of who wrote them or who were the original artists associated with them :D )
Excellent! I shall endeavor to answer as completely as I can!
The Red Special also known as The Fireplace and The Old Lady. Yes he still uses it 40+ years later. He is a rare guitarist in that he VERY rarely will use anything else. He made it with his father out of things around the house. The wood came from the mantel of a fireplace. Pickups and tuners were from buttons and the like in his mother's sewing kit. All in all he spent about 8 pounds to make the guitar. He recorded practically everything with it except the solo in Crazy Little Thing Called Love where he used one of Roger's telecasters because they were going for a very specific 50s rock and roll sound. Then on his solo album Back To The LIght, he used a guitar that Joe Satriani had bequeathed upon him. But generally it's all he uses. More recently he has had made a few copies and he does switch off in concert once in awhile (like in Under Pressure with Adam where he used the special doublenecked Red Special) and there is also a Green Special that was made as well. But mostly it's still the Old Lady
This I don't know. I am not a technical person at all - I would assume they were wireless amps. The only thing I know about Brian's setup is that he uses a STACK of Marshall amps and also uses a little mini amp that was built in the 70s by John Deacon (electronics whiz!)
In the later half of the 80s Brian had a tough time. His dad died right around the time Freddie died and his marriage with his first wife was breaking up. With all of that happening, it did lead Brian to be suicidal. But he checked into a clinic and worked through his issues and came out stronger. As for the Brian May Band. After Freddie died, there was a strong sense out of all three (Brian, Roger, and John) that without Freddie there was no Queen...(ironic considering some hardcore members still feel that way). He even went as far as to say that they might work together at some point but you'd never see them go out on tour as Queen again. (Time changes things I guess
) But it is true that he really wanted to put Queen behind him...completely. He forged a new identity with the Brian May Band and toured non stop. He did do a few Queen songs in his set as a concilliatory effort to fans but he rarely talked about Queen in his interviews or on stage (except for singing Love Of My Life for Freddie). He really couldn't deal with the whole Queen thing. It actually got to the point where Roger and John were a little miffed and started working on Freddie's final recordings without Brian. That was enough to get Brian back in the Queen frame of mind and thus Made In Heaven was born. After that Brian slowly accepted that Queen was forever and he began embracing it again.
I believe you are talking about the hiatus the band took in 1983 (although there was another one after the 1984 tour). Well let me take you back a little bit to inform you about the band's solo projects. Prior to Queen forming, Roger and Brian were in a semi-pro outfit called Smile who got signed and actually released a single in America (it is not clear why considering they were mostly a local London act). It flopped. Queen was formed from the ashes. During the making of the first album, a producer borrowed Freddie to recreate the famous producer Phil Spector's Wall of Sound on two tracks. Freddie brought Roger and Brian in for one of the tracks but only Freddie featured on the b-side. This was released as Larry Lurex.
BUT beyond that the first real solo project came when Roger Taylor released a single in 1977. It didn't do much.
He again went to the well and became the first band member to release a solo album, 1981's Fun In Space. At this point basically Queen had Freddie and Brian writing the majority of the material leaving Roger and John with 1 or 2 songs each. A solo album was Roger's way of releasing the tracks he was writing.
In 1983 the band went on hiatus and they all went towards solo efforts except John. John has never wanted to make a solo album - he claims it is because he can't sing. The only solo project John ever did was form a quick sideband, the Immortals to record one track for a movie in 1985. Not very good
Anyways Brian used his time off to jam with some friends like Eddie Van Halen. They recorded three songs and it was eventually released as an EP but was never meant to be a true solo album.
Freddie began work on his album but it is true Roger also went to record a second solo album, Strange Frontier.
All of Roger's solo albums have Roger performing EVERYTHING. He plays drums, keyboards, guitar, bass, and backing vocals. He had a producer by the name of David Richards who helped on keyboards but really it was a solo project in name and in actuality.
Freddie worked with Mack who had produced Queen's 80s albums. He got a group of musicians together - basically studio musicians. He wrote everything himself and was in a big 80s gay club scene mood at the time and it shows. It also shows that he didn't get Brian and Roger involved and the musicanship does suffer which is why his solo effort sounds dated although there are some gems. But no neither went back to a previous group.
Roger did form a new group after Freddie said he wasn't going to be touring anymore. Roger's group was named The Cross and he was frontman and guitarist. He wrote a lot of it and the group toured but it was never very successful and after 3 albums the band split.
Roger and Brian both did solo work after Freddie died but that is not what you asked so I'll stop there for now
After Live Aid, Queen recorded a single, One Vision. After it's release they were approached to do a movie soundtrack for The Highlander. The band agreed and most of the material formed Queen's new album, A Kind Of Magic. It was NOT the last album. They toured it and then took a long hiatus again but Queen would go on to record and release 2 studio albums more (The Miracle in 1989 and Innuendo in 1991). After Freddie's death, the band finished the little vocals Freddie left behind and added some new re-recording of old solo songs as Queen for 1995's Made In Heaven
^ Really intriguing and humorous look at the making of One Vision
Not sure what you mean? Paul didn't bring any actual band members on stage with him. Paul is a member of a few real rock bands. Free was his first and he was well known for his work with Bad Company but also worked in The Firm with Jimmy Page from Led Zeppelin and had his own solo band. But QPR it was just Paul Rodgers with Brian and Roger, Queen's fifth member Spike Edney (still touring with the boys), a second guitarist named Jamie Moses (who had toured with Brian) and a bassist named Danny Miranda.
I LOVE answering questions so please don't hold back if you have more
I'll also try to stir things up with some discussions as I have time as well
Features a great Somebody To Love and Save Me 
) But it is true that he really wanted to put Queen behind him...completely. He forged a new identity with the Brian May Band and toured non stop. He did do a few Queen songs in his set as a concilliatory effort to fans but he rarely talked about Queen in his interviews or on stage (except for singing Love Of My Life for Freddie). He really couldn't deal with the whole Queen thing. It actually got to the point where Roger and John were a little miffed and started working on Freddie's final recordings without Brian. That was enough to get Brian back in the Queen frame of mind and thus Made In Heaven was born. After that Brian slowly accepted that Queen was forever and he began embracing it again.