Bruce Gowers, renowned film director who worked on Queen‘s legendary video for “Bohemian Rhapsody” and many others, has died at 82.
Gowers originally started directing videos in his home country of England, but after Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” bolstered his career and notoriety, he relocated to the U.S. in the ’70s. He directed several more Queen videos, and also worked with The Rolling Stones, Genesis, Alice Cooper, Journey, Kansas, Styx, Rush, Michael Jackson, Prince, Santana, KISS, REO Speedwagon and many others.
But it was “Bohemian Rhapsody” that paved the way for music videos to become as massive as they did.
“It changed the way music was perceived; everyone was doing videos and bands were seeing their sales and chart positions rise if their videos were good,” Gowers told Daily Mail a few years ago, adding that he was only paid $590 for directing the video.
“It’s the first video that actually took any kind of effect into actually making sales. A lot of videos were probably made before, but they didn’t sell records. I think that’s the first that actually worked,” Freddie Mercury said of the video in an episode of Queen’s Making History series on YouTube.
From working on music videos, Gowers’ resume expanded to directing television specials and shows, awards shows, documentaries and beyond. American Idol was one of the more notable shows he worked on, which he directed from 2002 until 2011.
The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that Gowers died Sunday, Jan. 15 due to complications from an acute respiratory infection. We send our condolences to his loved ones. Rest in peace.
Bruce Gowers, Director of Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ Video Dies at 82
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