The 1975-1976 worldwide tours
In 1975 Queen launched a worldwide tour, playing in the United States and Canada for the first time as a headline act, after which they played seven shows in Japan. The tour featured a massive light show with pyrotechnics and other special effects. The tour was only moderately successful, and led to disputes with their management and record label. Following the tour the band ended their contract with Trident and searched for a new management and record contract.
Peter Grant, manager of Led Zeppelin, tried to sign Queen to Led Zeppelin’s record label, Swan Song. Both Brian May and Mercury found the offered contract to be inadequate and instead signed with John Reid, who also managed Elton John at the time, with whom Mercury was friends. After the management upheaval the band recorded the album A Night at the Opera, taking its name from the Marx Brothers movie.
It was A Night at the Opera which contained what eventually became Queen’s signature song, Bohemian Rhapsody. The song was wildly received in Great Britain, held the number one chart position for nine consecutive weeks, and eventually became the third-best selling single in in UK history. In the United States it could only manage to reach number nine, though when it was re-released in 1992 after it was popularized in Wayne’s World it reached number two.
In November 1975 the band embarked on another tour to support the album, and performed in the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan, and Australia. The tour ran into the early spring of 1976. The band was playing in larger venues in the United States but had not yet reached the large arenas of the day. For example, their New York performances were in the Beacon Theater, a venue with just under 3,000 seats.
Following the tour, which encompassed 78 performances, the band prepared to record another album, though they did perform four shows in the UK including a free concert in London’s Hyde Park which was attended by an estimated 150,000 fans. The shows took place in September, as the band was recording their next album, due to be released at Christmas. Freddie Mercury was an international superstar, though America still held him somewhat at arm’s length.