The best gift for Queen fans I know of is the one I designed myself: a Queen discography map art print that plots all 15 studio albums, Flash Gordon soundtrack included, as stations on a tube map, with Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon running as four unbroken lines from Queen in 1973 to Made in Heaven in 1995. Every credited musician gets a named line, guests branch off as short spurs, and the whole thing is printed as a Giclée on 230gsm archival paper in A2 or A1, from £42. It is the present for the fan who owns every record and thinks there is nothing left to give them.
Why does a discography map make the best gift for Queen fans?
Most Queen presents repeat the same three images: the moustache, the yellow jacket, the Live Aid silhouette. When I researched what people actually buy, it was figurines, mugs and t-shirts, all of which say Freddie and none of which say the records. A discography map is different because it is built from the credits, the part of the sleeve only real fans read.
I research every map by hand from session archives and sleeve notes, album by album, before I draw a single line. For Queen that research produced something I did not expect: one of the most closed rooms in rock. That story is what the person unwrapping this print gets to read on their own wall.
A decade where the only outsiders were the production team
From the 1973 debut to the end of the 1970s, no guest star appears on a Queen studio album. The only names beyond the four members are the people behind the desk, sneaking onto a track at a time. John Anthony, who co-produced the debut, is credited with backing vocals on one song, and engineer Mike Stone adds backing vocals to a track on A Day at the Races.
My favourite of these is Roy Thomas Baker, who produced the early records and earns his place on the map with castanets on The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke, plus a stylophone credit, on Queen II. That matters because of a rule I apply to every map I make: a producer only gets a line if they are also credited playing something. Baker qualifies on castanets, which might be the most Queen sentence I have ever written.
When Queen finally let a guest in, it was David Bowie
The first synthesiser credit on a Queen album goes to producer Reinhold Mack on The Game in 1980, the record where the famous no-synthesisers era ended. But the first true outside star arrives in 1982, when David Bowie is credited with vocals and synthesiser on Hot Space, on a track you may have heard of called Under Pressure.
On the map, Bowie is a short spur branching into one station, which is exactly how his visit to the Queen story worked. If the fan you are buying for is as much a Bowie person as a Queen person, my David Bowie discography map, held in the V&A David Bowie Centre collection, maps his side of that meeting.
All 15 studio albums and every credited musician, 1973 to 1995, as a tube map Giclée in A2 or A1.
Which famous names branch off the Queen line?
Once the door opened, some remarkable spurs appear. Fred Mandel joins on The Works in 1984 with piano and synthesisers, including a credit for what the sleeve calls candy-floss instruments, which I reproduced with a straight face. Joan Armatrading turns up on A Kind of Magic with incidental vocals, and Spike Edney, Queen's longtime live keyboard player, gets his studio credit on the same record.
| Album (year) | Guest | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| Queen II (1974) | Roy Thomas Baker | Castanets and stylophone, alongside producing |
| A Day at the Races (1976) | Mike Stone | Additional backing vocals, from the engineer's chair |
| The Game (1980) | Reinhold Mack | Synthesiser, the first on any Queen album |
| Hot Space (1982) | David Bowie | Vocals and synthesiser on Under Pressure |
| The Works (1984) | Fred Mandel | Piano, synthesisers and candy-floss instruments |
| A Kind of Magic (1986) | Joan Armatrading | Incidental vocals |
| Innuendo (1991) | Steve Howe | Spanish guitar on the title track |
That Steve Howe credit still surprises people: the Yes guitarist playing flamenco flourishes on the title track of Innuendo, the last album released in Freddie Mercury's lifetime. Mike Moran, Mercury's collaborator from the Barcelona years, adds keyboards to the same record.
The last two stations tell the hardest story
Made in Heaven, released in 1995, was completed after Mercury's death in 1991, built on vocal recordings he made in his final years. On the map his line runs all the way into that final station, four years after he was gone, which is the kind of detail that stops people in front of the print.
It is John Deacon's terminus too. He retired from music after Made in Heaven and stepped away from every Queen project since, so two of the four lines end at the same station while May and Taylor carry on beyond the frame. The final album also opens the room wider than the debut ever did, with guest backing singers including Catherine Porter, Gary Martin and Rebecca Leigh-White in the credits.
What sizes and prices does the Queen map come in?
Each print is a Giclée on 230gsm textured matte fine art paper, acid-free and archival, so the colours hold for decades. It comes unframed or in a black wood frame, ready to hang. The Queen map is landscape format.
| Size | UK | US / CAN / AUS | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| A2 | 594 x 420 mm | 24 x 18 in | From £42 |
| A1 | 841 x 594 mm | 36 x 24 in | Unframed or framed, up to £175 |
A2 suits a hallway or study where someone will stand close and read the credits. A1 is the statement version for a music room or above the record shelves, and the framed option arrives ready to hang, which matters if the gift needs to work straight out of the wrapping paper.
"Great idea for this and very unusual. Love the history created by the map."
Related music maps
If the Queen fan in your life also leans towards ambitious 1970s rock, the Pink Floyd Discography Map and the ELO Discography Map are natural companions, both built the same way from verified credits. The full range lives in my Music Wall Art Prints collection.
Frequently asked questions
Is every Queen studio album on the map?
Yes. All 15 studio albums run in release order, from the 1973 debut Queen to Made in Heaven in 1995, including the Flash Gordon soundtrack from 1980.
Was Made in Heaven really finished after Freddie Mercury died?
Yes. It was completed and released in 1995 using vocal recordings Mercury made in his final years, and it is the last station on his line.
Did David Bowie appear on a Queen album?
He did. Bowie is credited with vocals and synthesiser on Hot Space in 1982, on Under Pressure, and he appears on the map as a guest spur.
What sizes and framing options are there?
A2 (594 x 420 mm, 24 x 18 in US) and A1 (841 x 594 mm, 36 x 24 in US), unframed or in a black wood frame, from £42.
What if I am not sure which size to give?
An art print gift card lets them choose the map, size and framing themselves.
Give them the whole Queen story on one wall
Four unbroken lines, 15 stations, and every guest from Roy Thomas Baker's castanets to David Bowie. Hand-researched and designed by me in East Sussex.
Order the Queen Discography Map →Not sure? An art print gift card lets them pick.
