A band as expressive as Queen can only have come from an enormously varied musical gene pool, invoking as they do the howling riffs and tricks of Clapton and Hendrix, the plush warmth of Chic, and the choral precision of Gilbert & Sullivan. Contemporaries of David Bowie and Elton John, the band were inspired by the fearlessness of the former and the melodic sumptuousness of the latter.