Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

  • Queen: As It Began

  • Authorized and Revised Edition
  • By: Jacky Smith, Jim Jenkins
  • Narrated by: Mike Cooper
  • Length: 11 hrs and 4 mins
  • 3.7 out of 5 stars (11 ratings)
Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Queen: As It Began cover art

Queen: As It Began

By: Jacky Smith, Jim Jenkins
Narrated by: Mike Cooper
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Buy Now for £22.00

Buy Now for £22.00

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

John Farnham cover art
Led Zeppelin cover art
My Effin' Life cover art
The Sound of Laughter cover art
Born to Run cover art
One Train Later cover art
Before We Was We cover art
Grebo! cover art
Odd Boy Out cover art
The Twelve Dels of Christmas cover art
People Funny Boy cover art
The Real Frank Zappa Book cover art
All My Yesterdays cover art
Please Please Tell Me Now cover art
Harry Styles cover art
The McCartney Legacy cover art

Summary

The original edition of this revered and authorized Queen biography explored every aspect of the legendary group’s career from inception to 1992. Newly revised and updated with cooperation and insight from Brian May and Roger Taylor—and drawing on exclusive interviews with the bandmembers—this book completes the story of the Mercury era and the immediate years after his death. With numerous extra photographs and a new Foreword from Brian May, Queen: As It Began: Revised and Authorized is an informative and authoritative portrait of Queen’s most fundamental period.

©2022 Original edition © 1992 by Jacky Gunn and Jim Jenkins. This edition © 2022 by Omnibus Press (P)2022 Blackstone Publishing

What listeners say about Queen: As It Began

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    4
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    4
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Quite Good

Narrator kept slipping in to an Australian accent that annoyed me. Of course it’s an interesting story but it was about record sales and awards rather than the emotional stories behind these incredible and legendary pop stars. I’d have preferred more geeky details
I did enjoy it however

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Hard work

I really thought I was a Queen fan but this book proves I’m not a mega fan at least. At times it’s just a list of facts read out in an Alan Partridge homage performance. Disappointed.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great review

I like that it wasn't just about Freddie, it's also a fairly good look back to society in the 60:s to the 90:s... overall A+

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Hagiography in nasal antipodean

Despite its length, this is a hurried passage through the history of a fascinating band. There is little of the insight or refreshing honesty of Mark Blake's excellent A-Z. Instead we skip across the timeline with little sense of who these four remarkable individuals are. What could have been a merely inconsequential listen becomes downright grating after about 20 minutes due to the delivery of the narrator. With his clanging vowels and hurried but hushed delivery, he sounds like should be the drivetime DJ on Neighbours FM. Irritating.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

5 star performance just like queen

Great listen to any fan of the great band 5 star performance well worth a listen.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Dry as dust

If you like endless dates and lists and next to no meat on the bones of what went on behind the scenes then this is the book for you! There’s little colour in this telling of the history of the band & the only reason I’ve given it two stars (rather than none) is a) the narrator does a solid job of trying to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear & b) someone obviously worked hard collecting & collating all the endless dates cited. But even if you are a diehard fan, I’m not sure you’d find anything here to get the pulse racing.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Great reference book but......

If you like the sound of someone reading lists this is an audio book for you.
I've been a fan of Queen since 1974. Was looking forward to hearing the whole story, if only to confirm what I already knew. I was hoping for some more insight or inside gossip even. No such luck. This is a comprehensive diary of the bands releases and concerts. As a listen it's simply boring.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!