John Deacon
| John Deacon | |
|---|---|
Deacon performing with Queen at the RDS Arena, Dublin in 1979.
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | John Richard Deacon |
| Born |
19 August 1951 Leicester, England |
| Genres | Rock |
| Occupation(s) |
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| Instruments | Bass guitar |
| Years active | 1965–1997 |
| Associated acts |
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| Notable instruments | |
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Fender Precision Bass Music Man StingRay Rickenbacker 4001 |
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John Richard Deacon (born 19 August 1951) is an English retired musician, best known as the bass guitarist for the rock band Queen. He composed several singles for the group, including the top 10 hits "You're My Best Friend", "Another One Bites the Dust", "Back Chat" and "I Want to Break Free", and was involved in the band's financial management.
Deacon grew up in Oadby, Leicestershire, playing bass in a local band, The Opposition, before moving to study electronics in Chelsea College, London. He joined Queen in 1971 on the strength of his musical and electronic skills, particularly the home-made Deacy Amp which 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. As well as bass, Deacon played some guitar and keyboards on Queen's studio work, but was the only member never to sing on their records.
Following frontman Freddie Mercury's death in 1991, and the following year's Tribute Concert, Deacon only performed a few times 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 other two surviving members, May and Roger Taylor, have put together.
John Richard Deacon was born in Leicester on 19 August 1951, to Arthur Henry and Lilian Molly Deacon. His younger sister, Julie, was born five years later. His father worked at the Norwich Union insurance company and in 1960 the family moved to the dormitory town of Oadby. Deacon was known to friends and his bandmates as 'Deaks' or 'Deaky' and attended Linden Junior School in Leicester, Gartree High School and Beauchamp Grammar School in Oadby. He became interested in electronics, reading magazines on the subject and building small devices, including the modification of a reel to reel tape deck to record music directly off the radio. He studied well and achieved 8 GCE O level and 3 A level passes, all at grade A. He also enjoyed soul music in particular.
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