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As you all know, Queen stopped touring in 1986 due to Freddie Mercury being diagnosed with AIDS in 1987. What would happen if he never was infected with HIV and as a result never got AIDS?

Obviously, Queen would have toured after 1986. However, there is one thing that could have been VERY different about them.

There was a very good chance John Deacon (the bassist) would have left the band.

At Queen's last show with Freddie in Knebworth, John smashed his bass guitar after the concert and sped off in a limo in a huff. There were/are rumors that John wanted to leave the band as early as 1980, and that John only stayed because Freddie got AIDS in 1987.

One explanation could be his contract with Queen and his family. IIRC, he was only contractually required to produce albums with Queen until The Game (1980). He stayed on for whatever reason up until he retired from music in 1997.

Now, let's assume this was an isolated incident, and he stayed with Queen in a non-AIDS-infected-Freddie timeline. Maybe the Magic Tour would have been extended to South America or Japan as The Works Tour had been in 1984-1985. I imagine the band's next album would still be delayed due to Brian May's marital problems, but not as much as it was in OTL.

Another question is this: Would Queen still become popular again in North America as it did after Freddie died and Wayne's World was released in OTL? They had lost popularity in the US and Canada after the Hot Space album (1982) and after the video for I Want To Break Free showed the band in drag, parodying the British show Coronation Street. They hadn't toured there since 1982. Would Wayne's World still include Bohemian Rhapsody, sparking Queen's popularity in the US again?
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