|  A BBC poll found rock band Queen is considered the greatest British band ever. BBC radio polled British music lovers Monday to rank five beloved U.K. groups, chosen in a previous selection from some thousands. Votes were submitted by e-mail, text message and telephone.
Queen, led by frontman Freddie Mercury until his AIDS-related death in 1991, beat out the Fab Four by just 400 votes. Rock veterans Rolling Stones placed third, followed by bad-boy rockers Oasis and, finally, boy band Take That. The groups were reportedly judged on songwriting, lyrics, live performances, originality and showmanship.
Queen was formed by Brian May, Freddie Mercury, and Roger Taylor in London, England in 1970 from the remains of Smile, with John Deacon completing the lineup the following year. In 2001, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio and in 2003 Queen became the first and remain the only band to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
In 2004, the band was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame and in 2006 Queen was the first inductee into the VH1 Rock Honors. Queen have also been inducted into the Rock Walk of Fame (at Guitar Center on Hollywood's Sunset Boulevard) and the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Queen have released am astounding total of eighteen #1 albums, eighteen #1 singles, and eight #1 DVDs worldwide, making them one of the world's best-selling music artists.
As of 2005, according to The Guinness Book of World Records, Queen albums have spent a total of 1,422 weeks or 27 years on the UK album charts, more time than any other musical act including The Beatles and Elvis Presley.
In 2006 Queen's Greatest Hits album was found to be Ireland and United Kingdom's all-time best selling album, with sales upwards of 5,407,587 copies, over 604,295 more copies than its nearest competitor The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Also their Greatest Hits II album came in seventh with sales upwards of 3,631,321 copies.
The band's total sales figures estimates vary greatly. They are estimated anywhere from 100 to 300 million albums worldwide. According to Guinness World Records, the Official International Queen Fan Club, based in or near London, is the "Longest-Running Rock Group Fan Club" in the world.
Freddie Mercury (1946–1991) was perhaps best known as the lead vocalist and front-man of the group. However these roles effectively placed a shadow over his skills as an accomplished pianist. He had a very distinctive voice with a tenor vocal range and would sometimes play the rhythm guitar. He wrote the majority of Queen's well-known songs including "Seven Seas of Rhye", "Killer Queen", "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Somebody to Love", "We Are the Champions", "Bicycle Race", "Don't Stop Me Now", and "Crazy Little Thing Called Love." Mercury died in 1991 from complications of AIDS, greatly increasing public awareness of the disease.
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