WE WILL ROCK YOU
The show is still going on for Queen legend Brian May since he joined forces with the first lady of the West End. MARION McMULLEN chats to the duo
ROCK guitarist Brian May was behind some of Queen’s greatest hits, but says it is unlikely he would still be writing today if not for performer Kerry Ellis.
“I wrote for Freddie (Mercury) all those years, but I don’t really think of myself as a songwriter,” he says. “I love writing stuff for Kerry though. I’m not sure I would still be writing if not for her.”
The duo brought out the Anthems album five years ago, have performed in the UK and widely toured Italy and Eastern Europe.
Along the way they have also appeared at the Montreux Jazz Festival, the San Remo Festival and a packed opera crossover extravaganza in Italy’s Arena di Verona.
They have just brought out new studio album Golden Days, which features a mix of original compositions and new rock arrangements of some of their favourite songs.
It marks a musical partnership that dates back 13 years and Brian still remembers the first time he heard Kerry sing, when she understudied Martine McCutcheon as Eliza Doolittle in the London production of My Fair Lady.
He says: “I will never forget when Kerry later came along to the audition for our musical We Will Rock You.
“We auditioned more than a thousand people. I had already seen Kerry doing My Fair Lady and when she started singing we were just openmouthed. We went on to audition other people, but there was no doubt we had to hire her.”
Kerry went on to star as Meat in We Will Rock You and also vividly remembers the audition.
She laughs: “My memory is very different. I was quite young and I remember coming in and there being a lot of people. There was Brian, Roger Taylor, Ben Elton, Arlene Phillips, video cameras filming. I remember it being quite an event.
“I think I was young enough to not have the expectations that I have now of going into an audition. I saw it as a challenge and exciting as opposed to being daunted by it.”
Kerry has gone on to appear in musicals like Miss Saigon, Les Miserables, Wicked, Oliver! Chess and is currently touring the UK playing Alice in new musical Wonderland, based on writer Lewis Carroll’s famous story. She also has two young children, aged three and 18 months, and says fitting in studio time to record new album Golden Days has been challenging. “I get up pretty early these days,” chuckles the 37-year-old, “and I drink a lot of coffee. It is a struggle with our schedules. I am doing shows and concerts and Brian is busy with all the things he does, so when we are in the recording studio it is precious time and we are very focussed.” The new album includes two songs dedicated to their work on behalf of animals, a radical rearrangement of the classic Born Free, a new version of Amazing Grace, Story Of A Heart by Abba’s Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson and Parisienne Walkways, a tribute to guitar virtuoso Gary Moore who died in 2011.
“This album is a true collaboration between Kerry and myself,” says Brian. “Five years ago Anthems was the result of me producing an exciting new artist – Kerry Ellis. This record has both our names on it and breaks new ground. We produced ourselves together as a team. I feel confident it’s the best thing we’ve done and a testament to 13 years of belief. It also happens to feature Britain’s most beautiful voice!”
Brian will also be appearing at the Hay Festival later this year to speak about a new book and is planning for a Queen tour.
“It takes a year in advance to plan a tour,” says Brian, who turns 70 later this year. “We have to plan a long way ahead for the rigs, light and videos. “No matter what else I do Queen is always there in the background and I am grateful it’s there. I am long past those days when I thought people would no longer be interested in Queen anymore.”
Golden Days by Brian May and Kerry Ellis is out now on Sony Music.