2 July 1971, John Deacon performs with Queen for the very first time ever @ the College in Surrey, England

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐨𝐧’𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝟏𝟗 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝟏, 𝟏𝟗𝟕𝟏 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐳𝐳𝐥𝐞.

As a child, John had a keen interest in electronics, and spent much time fiddling with radios and reel to reel tape machines. That could have been his calling were it not for a certain musical explosion that hit him hard. As with countless teenagers across the globe, it was the Beatles that cemented his interest in playing rock and roll. He quickly learned his way around a guitar, and by age 14 had formed his first band, the Opposition.

They made some noise around his home turf of Leicester, England, but in 1966 when the Opposition’s bass player quit, Deacon decided to make the move to the rhythm section. With John on bass, the band carried on for a couple more years in various lineups and names. Eventually, Deacon left the band to study electronics at Chelsea College, University of London. For a moment, his first interest had won out, but that would soon change once again.

In October 1970, John caught a performance by a new band calling themselves Queen. His initial reaction, however, was less than enthused. “They were all dressed in black, and the lights were very dim too, so all I could see were four shadowy figures,” he stated in a band bio. “They didn’t make a lasting impression on me at the time.”

But John ran into two of its members, Brian May and Roger Taylor, a few months later, when they were on the hunt for yet another bassist. They invited him to an audition. It was not only his style on the bass, but his reserved stance and personality that endeared him to the other members and helped him secure the gig.

Roger Taylor recalls, “We thought he was great.” We were all so used to each other, and were so over the top. We thought that because he was quiet he would fit in with us without too much upheaval. He was a great bass player too – and the fact that he was a wizard with electronics was definitely a deciding factor.”

The new addition of John Deacon alongside Brian May, Roger Taylor, and Freddie Mercury, would be Queen’s classic lineup for the next 20 years one of which only death could fracture.

𝐁𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝘆, 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞. 𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗻 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗿𝘁𝘀, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗱𝗶𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝘁. 𝗛𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝐛𝐢𝐠 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝐣𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐭-𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠.