Queen’s Jubilee

Abstract

Queen’s final album before Mercury’s death was widely viewed as a return to Queen’s distinct style, and also includes a number of reflective lyrics that were likely written with knowledge of the singer’s ill health. It is demonstrated how the title track embodies the idiolect principles of Queen’s 1970s output in terms of exploring new stylistic ground, while staying rooted in the familiar textural and arrangement patterns. Drawing on Said and Straus, Innuendo can be viewed as reflecting a ‘late style’ for Queen, but one that is defined by a retreat to a past musical style of their own, in contrast to other conceptions of this aesthetic defined in relation to classical composers.