Rock group Queen have been presented with a Brit Billion Award by the BPI, the industry body for U.K. record labels and music companies, which is also home to the Brit Awards.
The Brit Billion Award celebrates the band’s achievement in surpassing the landmark of 1 billion career streams in the U.K., as calculated by the Official Charts Company.
Queen’s most-streamed hits include classics “Another One Bites the Dust,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” “Radio Ga Ga,” “Under Pressure,” “We Are the Champions” and “We Will Rock You.”
Receiving the award for Queen are Brian May and Roger Taylor, who have been presented with the personalized trophy created by Gaudio Awards in the shape of the Brits “B” and incorporating a Brits statuette. The award made to Queen, whose classic lineup also comprised Freddie Mercury and John Deacon, coincides with the 50th anniversary of the band’s self-titled debut album, which was released in July 1973 – the same year the BPI itself came into being in its present role.
“Thank you for presenting Queen with a Brit Billion Award,” May said. “We’re grateful to all our fans that support us and continue to enjoy our music. Rock on BPI.”
Taylor added, “I’m thrilled to accept the Brit Billion Award on behalf of Queen, celebrating being streamed over a billion times in the U.K., which is incredible. I would like to say thanks to everyone who has extracted a morsel of enjoyment from our music. We are still around and we hope to entertain you a little.”
Queen were among the first artists to appear at the inaugural Brit Awards in 1977, co-winning the award for best British single with “Bohemian Rhapsody.” The band’s “Queen’s Greatest Hits” has gone on to be Brit-certified 24-times platinum by the BPI as the most successful album of all time in the U.K.
“There can be few artists who have done more to popularize and promote British music around the world than Queen,” BPI chief executive Jo Twist said. “The term iconic barely does justice to their monumental achievements as recording artists – with their ‘Greatest Hits’ the most successful album ever in the U.K. and their body of classic songs now celebrated for having being streamed more than a billion times in the U.K.”
Launched in 2023, the first wave of artists to receive the Brit Billion award include ABBA, Coldplay, Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston.
