Queen Edney's association with Queen began in 1984 during
The Works tour, replacing
Fred Mandel. Edney's collaboration with Queen included mostly
keyboards (his main instrument), plus rhythm guitar and backing vocals. After the death of Queen's lead singer and main pianist
Freddie Mercury in 1991, Edney took over his role on piano during the
Queen + Paul Rodgers 2005, 2006, and 2008 tours, playing all piano parts on a
Korg Triton keyboard, in addition to all other keyboard parts. He returned as keyboardist for the
Queen + Adam Lambert tours in 2012, 2014, and the 2015–2020 tour schedule. He has also been the keyboardist for the London production of
We Will Rock You since it opened in 2002. Edney was also the musical director of the official Queen tribute band, the
Queen Extravaganza. Edney can be seen on Queen's
Live at Wembley Stadium and
Hungarian Rhapsody concert films, playing rhythm guitar on "
Hammer to Fall," and piano on both "
Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and "
Tutti Frutti." He can also be seen playing in the background during Queen's 1985 Live Aid performance at Wembley Stadium. He would later comment that once Queen got on stage, the "lazy afternoon feeling..." "...changed instantly into a proper gig".
Other work During the mid-1970s, Edney recorded and toured with
the Tymes and
Ben E. King. As well as keyboards he also plays bass, guitar, trombone and contributes backing vocals. In the late 1970s, he was musical director for
Edwin Starr and, during the early 1980s, worked with
Duran Duran,
the Boomtown Rats,
Dexys Midnight Runners,
Bucks Fizz,
Haircut One Hundred and
the Rolling Stones. He also appeared with
Peter Green on his comeback tour.
SAS Band and the SAS band in 2013 Edney formed
SAS Band ('''Spike's All Stars''') in 1994, playing their first gig at
The Gosport Festival (near Edney's hometown of
Portsmouth). The original band featured
Cozy Powell on drums,
Neil Murray on bass and
Jamie Moses on guitar. The band has constantly fluctuating personnel, including musicians from Queen,
Whitesnake,
Free,
Roxy Music,
Toto, and
Spandau Ballet, and solo artists including
Fish,
Roy Wood,
Leo Sayer,
Kiki Dee, and
Paul Young. Others that have appeared with the band include
Suggs,
Lionel Richie,
Bob Geldof and
Toyah Willcox. == Equipment ==