The bassist has disappeared from public view since 1997. But May still calls Deacon “part of the band”.
John Deacon joined Queen in 1971, contributing to albums and special live moments as the group’s bassist. But in 1997 he retired from the music industry and he also stopped taking part in new recordings after the death of Freddie Mercury. In a new interview, Brian May has shared his thoughts on Deacon’s departure from the music industry. For him, the bass player is definitely “still part of the band”.
The Queen guitarist also told The Guardian: “All I can say is that John was very prone to stress in general at the time”. Not only that, but Mercury’s demise in 1991 seemed to take its toll on Deacon. May said in an interview: “Losing Freddie was difficult for all of us, but I think that John especially struggled with it.”
Brian May: ‘We knew he needed a break but he never came back’
Deacon also collaborated on May’s tribute song to Mercury, “No One But You (Only The Good Die Young)”. And at the following concert in Paris in 1997 you could also see him on bass. Brian May said: “The [Show] should open the ballet season with a wonderful new work by Maurice Béjart, about Mozart and Queen. We played with John on bass and Elton John sang with us. At that moment, John looked at us and said, ‘I can’t do this any longer’. We knew he needed a break but he never came back.”
In order to protect Deacon’s privacy, the Queen member did not share any further details about the bassist’s current circumstances in the interview. However, he reiterated that John Deacon is still seen as a full member of the group: “He’s still part of the mechanism behind the band”. And further: “When there are big decisions to be made on the business side, John is always involved. That doesn’t mean he talks to us – he generally doesn’t – but in some way he communicates with us. He’s very much still part of the band.”