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| Background information | |
| Birth name | John Richard Deacon |
| Born | (1951-08-19) 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:
Fender Precision Bass There is also a Giffin natural wood finish bass, custom-built for him by Roger Giffin. Essentially a 2-pickup Precision clone, it features a ghost inlay on the 12th fret |
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John Richard Deacon (born 19 August 1951) is an English retired musician, best known for being the bass guitarist for the rock band Queen. He composed several singles for the group—including Top 10 hits “You’re My Best Friend”, “Another One Bites the Dust”, “Back Chat”, and “I Want to Break Free”.
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.
Rolling Stone Magazine wrote in 1973 that the combination of Taylor and Deacon “is explosive, a colossal sonic volcano whose eruption makes the earth tremble.” Deacon played guitar in addition to bass, taking over rhythm parts in many albums, as well as several acoustic performances. Some of the guitar work on Hot Space (the clean Fender Telecaster single-coil sound) is Deacon’s. He would occasionally play synthesizers on his own compositions and often composed at the piano, playing a Wurlitzer electric piano on “You’re My Best Friend”. He can also be seen playing the grand piano in the music video to “Spread Your Wings”, although on the actual recording the piano was played by Mercury. Unlike the other three members of Queen, Deacon did not sing on the group’s records.
Deacon’s first bass, used in the Opposition was an Eko, later switching to a Rickenbacker 4001. For most of Queen’s career, he used a Fender Precision Bass, which underwent a number of cosmetic changes. Towards the end of the group’s career, he used a custom bass designed by Roger Giffin. He also used an Ernie Ball MusicMan Stingray live on occasion. As a trained electronics engineer, he was able to build equipment for the band. His most famous creation is the “Deacy Amp”, built in 1972 from pieces of electronic equipment found in a skip, and used by himself and May throughout Queen’s recording career. Many of the so-called “guitar orchestras” on Queen albums use this amplifier.
Deacon usually played the bass with his fingers, instead of using a plectrum. He counted his influences as Chic, Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder. His favourite bass players were Chris Squire of the progressive rock band Yes and The Who’s John Entwistle. A trademark of Deacon’s playing are his bass runs. A 1975 review of Sheer Heart Attack said “Only at the end would a new initiate to Queen recognise John Deacon’s unmistakable trademark … the least well known musician in Queen is one of his rock generation’s most able.”
Bass Stuff 