Torleif Svensson on Freddie Mercury’s last Queen tour. Incredible Photos
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Swedish photographer Torleif Svensson captured Queen and Freddie Mercury during the historic 1986 Magic Tour—the band’s final tour with Freddie.
But Torleif’s extraordinary journey began two years earlier when a thief broke into his car and stole his camera equipment and approximately 50 exposed rolls of film. Among the lost photographs were the pictures he had taken at his first Queen concert.
Determined to photograph Freddie Mercury again, Torleif travelled to Montreux, met Brian May and was invited to join Queen on a boat trip across Lake Geneva. Later, after Queen manager Jim Beach saw Torleif’s experimental concert photography, he invited him onto the Magic Tour.
Torleif was given exceptional access. While other photographers were restricted to the opening three songs, he could move around the venues and continue photographing until the end of the concerts. That freedom allowed him to capture Freddie wearing his crown and royal mantle during God Save the Queen—including images from Queen’s final concert at Knebworth on 9 August 1986.
Many of the photographs then remained inside Torleif’s archive for more than 30 years. In this interview, he explains why he finally returned to them, how the film Bohemian Rhapsody prompted him to create the Queen: The Last Tour book and exhibition, and what he discovered while examining hundreds of forgotten images.
He also remembers meeting Freddie Mercury, his friendship with Brian May, the atmosphere surrounding Queen’s final tour and why—even after photographing Prince, Michael Jackson, Tina Turner, Bruce Springsteen and hundreds of other performers—he believes nobody compares to Freddie.
Queen: The Last Tour book and exhibition:
https://www.artvox.se/
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CHAPTERS
0:00 Photographing Queen’s final tour with Freddie Mercury
1:04 Exhibiting Freddie Mercury alongside musical history
2:42 The final photographs from Queen’s Knebworth concert
3:00 How Torleif first photographed Queen
3:45 Blagging his way into London concerts
5:44 The theft of 50 exposed rolls of film
7:26 Why losing everything made Torleif more determined
7:54 Photographing Queen in Montreux
8:52 Queen, Sun City and apartheid-era South Africa
10:10 Meeting Brian May for the first time
10:58 Invited onto Queen’s boat on Lake Geneva
11:25 The Magic Tour begins in Stockholm
12:32 Creating an enormous photograph of Queen
14:17 The unexpected call from Queen manager Jim Beach
15:19 Invited to join Queen on tour
16:13 The extraordinary photographic access Torleif received
17:21 Meeting Freddie Mercury
19:19 Did Freddie perform for Torleif’s camera?
20:06 The shirtless fan who caught Freddie’s attention
21:12 What makes a great concert photograph?
22:35 The excitement of developing analogue film
24:11 The atmosphere surrounding Queen’s final tour
26:05 Why the photographs remained unseen for decades
27:57 How Bohemian Rhapsody revived the project
29:10 Rediscovering hundreds of Queen photographs
30:50 The forgotten images found inside the archive
31:24 The story behind God Save the Queen
32:47 Discovering the book’s cover photograph
33:12 How photographs preserve our own memories
33:39 From a pastor’s son to the world of rock music
35:06 What younger Queen fans find in the exhibition
36:43 Freezing Freddie Mercury in time
37:45 An archive containing 600 different artists
38:10 Prince, Michael Jackson—and why Freddie was different
39:44 Freddie Mercury, Africa and Torleif’s AIDS awareness work
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IMPORTANT NOTE; Images are not permitted to be redistributed, licensed, or
published under any circumstance without prior clearance from Torleif Svensson / Art Vox AB. Torleif Svensson / Art Vox AB reserves the right to deny usage and will seek damages for unauthorised use and infringement of its copyright.
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