Queen receive special award after surpassing a billion streams
Legendary British rock band Queen has been presented with a Brit Billion Award by the BPI, the industry body for UK record labels and music companies that also helms the BRIT Awards.
The Brit Billion Award honours the band crossing 1 billion career streams in the UK, as calculated by the Official Charts Company. Through the efforts of major hits like ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, ‘We Will Rock You’, and ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’, Queen has remained one of the most popular bands in the world.
“Thank you for presenting Queen with a Brit Billion Award,” guitarist Brian May shared in a statement. “We’re grateful to all our fans that support us and continue to enjoy our music. Rock on BPI.”
“I’m thrilled to accept the Brit Billion Award on behalf of Queen, celebrating being streamed over a billion times in the UK, which is incredible,” drummer Roger Taylor also said. “I would like to say thanks to everyone who has extracted a morsel of enjoyment from our music. We are still around and we hope to entertain you a little.”
May and Taylor accepted the award on behalf of the band, having been presented with a personalized trophy created by Gaudio Awards in the shape of the BRIT “B” and incorporating a BRIT statuette. The award also goes to original members Freddie Mercury and John Deacon, with the presentation coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the band’s self-titled debut album, released the same year the BPI began overseeing chart data.
“There can be few artists who have done more to popularize and promote British music around the world than Queen,” BPI chief executive Jo Twist said. “The term iconic barely does justice to their monumental achievements as recording artists – with their ‘Greatest Hits’ the most successful album ever in the UK and their body of classic songs now celebrated for having being streamed more than a billion times in the UK.”
Meanwhile, earlier this week at an event at Abbey Road studios, May praised Queen vocalist Adam Lambert and called the singer “a gift from God”
Listen to Queen’s most streamed song ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ below.
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