A new wave of Queen fans has come onto the scene after the release of Bohemian Rhapsody, a movie based on the rise of the band, Queen. And with that, the question of how the generations feel about sharing their music has arisen. The new fans of the band are noticeably much younger than the other groups of fans that were around in the band’s original rise to fame in the 1980s. Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ released in 1975 remains number one on the list of greatest songs of all time even after being critiqued and receiving bad reviews. The song was released again in 1991 and stayed at the top for weeks after the death of the band’s frontman Freddie Mercury.
Bohemian Rhapsody isn’t the only movie that is or has come out recently to highlight classic rock bands and artists such as The Beatles, AC/DC, and Led Zeppelin. Rocketman, a movie about Elton John, a songwriter and pianist from the mid-’70s, is scheduled to come out in May of 2019.
Older fans of these artists have realized that the number of fans is growing, and the fans just keep getting younger. This is affecting the younger fans too; they’ve seen the comments on all forms of social media and even in public. They feel like they are being labeled as not being real fans because of their age. Younger fans, however, that just because they are young, it doesn’t make them any less of a fan.
New fans are feeling the pressure to know a lot about the band even though they are new to the bands and have years to catch up on. Fans have gone to all corners of the internet to express their frustrations and to learn more about the band.
Here are some comments that reveal that older fans feel they have more credibility as fans: “Younger fans think Queen is just Bohemian Rhapsody.”, “I find them a bit creepy how they do so much research to find out everything they can..” and “the music business hasn’t been about real fans since the ’80s.”. All these quotes came from an anonymous blog dedicated to fans from before the movie’s release. Even with all the sources online these types of comments still happen in real life with young fans being asked, “Do you even know who Queen is?” when they mention the band.
Though some people may be hesitant to let younger people in, some fans have remained welcoming to the new people. Alexis May, a 19-year-old fan who has her own fan blog dedicated to the comments that she’s got a mixed reaction from her family, friends, and people online. “A lot of my family members were Queen fans in the ’80s and they are really proud the younger generations have an appreciation for them, but I’ve definitely seen mean comments from people probably 40+.”
So why are the younger generations nervous to come out about their liking for older bands? Music today is much different than anything from the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s. It’s not just different for us, our parents are probably shocked when we turn on the radio and Drake comes on. We get embarrassed when they listen and sing along to our music, so should they think it’s the same when we sing along to old songs? One main reason no one talks about their fear is that it isn’t cool or popular anymore to like old bands and singers from the ’70s and ’80s. Not many people our age have the confidence to go to a party and play Queen on the speakers for everyone.
All the generations have to relax about whose music is for who. Just because a song may have come out in 1982 doesn’t mean someone born in 2001 can’t listen to it. The same goes for older people listening to music from 2019. Music is meant to be shared, not boxed into just a generation.
