Memorials & tributes
Queen Tribute Wall
- Type
- Tribute wall
- Address
- Casino Barrière, Montreux
This tribute wall gathers the messages, dedications and drawings of Freddie Mercury and Queen fans from all over the world. It runs around the original entrance door of the Mountain Studios, at the back of the Montreux Casino, right next to the free Queen: The Studio Experience exhibition, and extends the band’s Montreux pilgrimage: the lakeside statue, the Les Tourelles flat, the studio turned museum. Declarations of love to Freddie can be read there in every language, endlessly covered over by new ones as the wall fills up: a living, moving place, constantly being rewritten. Among the messages left for Freddie Mercury are also words addressed to Michael Jackson, written by visitors following in his footsteps: the studio, and the wall, belong to both legends.
The wall of messages
The original Mountain Studios door
The wall is at the back of the Montreux Casino, where people once entered the Mountain Studios. The entrance door of the time, framed by the original wall, is now covered with fan messages, this is where Queen, David Bowie or Iggy Pop went in to reach the studio.
Nothing there is organised: the inscriptions pile up on one another, in every language, and have done for years. When there is no room left, people write over the top. The wall is not a visit in the strict sense: it is simply there, outside, open at any hour and free.
Right next door: Queen: The Studio Experience
The wall borders the entrance to Queen: The Studio Experience, the exhibition set up in the former Mountain Studios. Opened on 2 December 2013 by Brian May, with Roger Taylor and sound engineer David Richards present, it is run by the Mercury Phoenix Trust, the AIDS foundation created in 1992 by Queen’s surviving members and their manager Jim Beach.
Admission is free. On show are the original recording console, stage costumes, handwritten lyrics and a documentary. Many visitors naturally follow the visit with a message on the wall.
In pictures
Related artists :QueenFreddie MercuryMichael Jackson