Freddie Mercury tribute ‘One Night of Queen’ to play MGM Springfield

SPRINGFIELD — Gary Mullen wants one thing for the audience when he brings his Queen tribute “One Night of Queen performed by Gary Mullen and The Works” to MGM Springfield on Sunday.

He wants them to have fun.

“We are trying to create a time that you’ll never see again which is, you know, Queen with Freddie Mercury. It’s all about the costumes and the music and the lights and the energy, because Queen live was always an exciting concert experience,” Mullen said in an interview with The Republican.

“We are trying to give that to the audience and make them part of the show. You can sing, you can dance, just get into the show,” he added.

Queen was formed in 1971 and in 1973, signed a recording contract with EMI to release their first self-titled album. One of the world’s best-selling musical acts, Queen released some 18 albums spawning an equal amount of hit singles, including “We Are the Champions,””We Will Rock You,” “Another One Bites the Dust,” and many others. The band originally consisted of Freddie Mercury on lead vocals backed by band members Brian May, John Deacon and Roger Taylor.

Considered by critics as one of rock’s most versatile performers, Mercury is often remembered for his flamboyant style as the band’s frontman and for his mock operatic masterpiece, “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

On Nov. 23, 1991, Mercury announced to the world in a prepared statement that he had AIDS. He died at home the next day surrounded by family and friends.

Journey to becoming Freddie Mercury

Mullen’s journey to becoming his idol began in 2000 when his wife and mother secretly entered him into the Granada TV show “Stars in Their Eyes.”

“The difference between ‘Stars in Their Eyes’ and other shows like ‘American Idol’ or ‘X Factor’ was that you would go on this show to impersonate someone like Elvis or Madonna, or in my case, Freddie Mercury. You would go on and they would dress you up, and there was a band and then people would vote for the singer they thought sounded most like the person that they were impersonating,” Mullen said.

He won the overall Live Grand Final, polling 864,838 votes, more than double the runner up. He also set the record for most votes on the show.

“The other difference with the show is that for the winner there was no money or recording contract, just the glory of winning and saying ‘Hey, that was great.’ Then you went back to your sort of life,” Mullen said.

But Mullen didn’t go back to his “sort of life.”

Eventually, there would be a “Stars in Their Eyes Tour,” but by that time Mullen had formed his own show with The Works in 2001.

In 2002, he hit the road with his band, embracing frontman Freddie Mercury.

“We never anticipated the response our show would get, but we’ve been touring ever since. It’s just been wonderful, and we never thought it was going to do this well. We thought, well, maybe a couple of year, but it has just been growing,” Mullen said.

While Mullen noted it was “always Queen” for him, growing up he listened to “all sorts of music.”

“There was always a record playing in the house. It was an important part of life for my family. I heard a lot of things, an eclectic mix, anything from country to Motown to rock and roll. Elvis would be on one minute, then it would be Stevie Wonder up next,” he said.

But none topped Mercury.

“Freddie’s voice, for me, it was incredible. How could someone sing like that? And the music, it was big and clever. They took risks and the music was so differing going from something so operatic to rock and roll,” he said.

Showtime for “One Night of Queen performed by Gary Mullen and The Works” is 7 p.m.

Tickets, ranging in price from $39 to $68, are available online at mgmspringfield.com.