John Deacon

Who is John Deacon?

John Richard Deacon is a retired English musician, best known as the bassist for the rock band Queen. Of the four members of the band, he was the last to join and also the youngest, being only 19 years old when he was recruited by the other members of the band. Deacon wrote a number of Queen's hit singles, including "You're My Best Friend", "Spread Your Wings", "Back Chat", "I Want to Break Free", and the band's biggest selling single in the United States, "Another One Bites the Dust", as well as a number of album tracks. He also played electric and acoustic guitars on several albums and, to a lesser extent, keyboards, synthesizers, programming and drums. He occasionally provided backing vocals during live shows.

Following The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in 1992, Deacon performed just twice with the remaining members of Queen, in a charity concert in 1993 and a one-off rendition of "The Show Must Go On" in 1997 with Mercury's friend Elton John at the opening of the Bejart ballet in Paris. He played bass on the final Queen song, "No-One but You" – released that year on the Queen Rocks compilation – after which he retired from the music industry. He did not participate in the Queen + Paul Rodgers collaboration, in Queen's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, or in Queen's performance during the closing ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics.