Queen started in the 70s but they were huge in the 80s and their terrible tragedy in the early 90s still haunts many of us, certainly me.

As I noted in another thread, I came to the Highlander film first and foremost as a Queen fan. I also came to the Flash Gordon film for the same reason.

Here's the Wikipedia article on this colossus of a band:
Queen

I've heard it said that in Great Britain, three bands are mentioned in the same breath: the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and Queen. That's how big they were over there. Only the Rolling Stones continue. Perhaps Keith Richards has some sort of occult life force talisman that keeps him and those around him alive and kicking. (Kidding.) Sadly, Beatles fans lost John far too early, and Queen fans were witness to the grim but grandly defiant decline and demise of Freddy Mercury at the peak of his career and the prime of his life. It was said that as Freddy's body wasted away, his voice became even stronger and purer than it had been before. His performances on The Show Must Go On rank high on the list of greatest acts of heroic scorn toward illness and death. The French existentialist philosopher Albert Camus would have celebrated that album and the videos made from its songs. In the face of the Absurd: Scorn!

What are your memories and thoughts of this archetypal musical powerhouse?