Queen Studio Experience (free), Montreux

Mountain Studios Montreux, where the band Queen came to record from 1978 to 1995, is inside Casino Barriere Montreux. It was with their seventh album that they began recording here. You can visit the recording studio for free! Inside, you see Freddie Mercury's concert clothing, albums, hand-written song lyrics, and more. You can read about the history of Queen, and Freddie Mercury's life and inspirations. In a side room, it is super fun to engineer two Queen songs yourself, moving the dials to turn the vocals, drums, guitar, or other instruments louder or softer! Kids with a penchant for music will love this!

Five years to the day after Freddie Mercury's death in 1991, a statue of him was donated by Queen and installed at the Montreux waterfront. The statue, created by Irene Sedlecka, is a very lifelike and poignant. It was unveiled by Freddie Mercury's parents, two band members Brian May and Roger Taylor, and his opera singing friend Montserrat Caballe. Walk a few minutes from the casino to the statue, and then enjoy a stroll along the waterfront path lined with flowers and tropical trees, with views of the majestic mountains.
Smoke on the Water, by Deep Purple, is a song about a fire that started in the casino during a Frank Zappa concert at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1971. The casino was rebuilt and when it opened five years later, it had this recording studio in it. Many musicians loved and chose to record at this studio, including ACDC, Nina Simone, Iggy Pop, David Bowie, The Rolling Stones, and Led Zeppelin. And it was used to record the music of the Montreux Jazz Festival.
Queen found that the recording studio and Montreux itself, offered respite from their fame and the attention of the media. They bought the recording studio in 1979, and went on to record seven albums there, including their last album.
You can arrive here by ferry on Lake Geneva.

Queen Studio Experience (free), Montreux

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