Stormtroopers in Stilettos: Queen, The Early Years

http://www.stormtroopersinstilettos.com/

Queens’ 40th anniversary kicks off in spectacular style with the opening of ‘Stormtroopers in Stilettos: Queen, The Early Years’, a major retrospective exhibition celebrating the formation and first five albums of one of the most exciting, glamorous and influential bands in global musical history.

‘Stormtroopers in Stilettos’ is the first ever major Queen exhibition and takes place in a huge warehouse space in the heart of London’s East End at Old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane, opening on February 25th, closing on March 12th.

The exhibition takes a comprehensive look at the early part of Queen’s career, from before the band’s formation in 1971 when various band members were dreaming of success while studying astrophysics or running stalls next to Biba in Kensington Market, right up to their spectacular free gig for over 250,000 fans in Hyde Park in 1976.

‘Stormtroopers in Stilettos’ promises to be one of the key events in London’s cultural calendar for 2011 and offer a rare insight into what it means to be in a successful rock band, taking visitors to the heart of Queen by combining unique interactive audio and visual environments with historic and never-before-seen memorabilia; themed rooms and music all created from the bands personal archive will come together to create an exciting, fun, entertaining and engaging insight into the foundation and rise of the global super group Queen became.

The themed rooms in the exhibition include one for each of the bands first five albums – “Queen”, “Queen II”, “Sheer Heart Attack”, “A Night At The Opera” and “A Day At The Races”. There will be a special studio area dedicated to the bands early John Peel sessions; a space looking at the bands fashion including original costumes by Zandra Rhodes; a replica of a 1970’s cinema that will show a range of filmed pieces on the band; an art and design room looking at the bands incredible artwork on releases from around the world as well as several other areas looking at the bands studio work, live work, and pre-Queen elements. The exhibition ends with the bands triumphant and iconic Hyde Park show.

‘Stormtroopers in Stilettos’ kicks of a year long celebration of the 40th Anniversary of Queens formation in 1971, subsequent to the exhibition there will be a major BBC TV Documentary featuring a rare interview with Roger Taylor and Brian May and many other surprises and releases to come through the rest of the year. 2011 will see filming begin of a major Hollywood movie about Queen, starring Sacha Baron Cohen as Freddie Mercury. Acclaimed script writer Peter Morgan (“The Queen”,” Frost/Nixon” ) is working on the project, which is being produced by GK Films, Robert de Niro’s Tribeca Productions and Queen Films.

Entry to ‘Stormtroopers in Stilettos’ at Old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane, London, E1, is free of charge and open from 11.00AM until 8.00PM daily

After four decades, the collective work of Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon continues to resonate around the globe, inspiring a host of diverse artists from Lady Gaga (who took her name from Queen’s “Radio Ga Ga”), Axl Rose and Katy Perry through to Dave Grohl. Twenty years after the death of their phenomenal and flamboyant singer, Freddie Mercury remains an icon beyond measure.

With over 170 million global album sales, 18 Number One Albums, 10 Number One DVD’s, 700 concerts performed in every corner of the world including their historic appearance at Live Aid, Seven Ivor Novello Awards, inductions into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall of Fame and a Guinness Book of Records award for the most successful UK album chart artist ever, the Queen story is one of the most remarkable in modern British culture.