ROCK group Queen have been crowned the greatest British band of all time by BBC Radio 2 listeners.
The group - fronted by the flamboyant Freddie Mercury - beat The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Mancunian bands Oasis and Take That.
Each band was judged on song-writing, lyrics, live performances, originality and showmanship.
More than 20,000 listeners voted, by email, text message and phone. The five finalists had been selected over the previous week by Radio 2 listeners.
DJ Mark Goodier hosted a three-hour live New Year's Day show in which a host of celebrity guests, including boy band McFly, which includes Bolton's Danny Jones, joined listeners in debating who should win the title. Queen beat the Beatles by just 400 votes.
Queen released a string of hits throughout the 70s, 80s and 90s - including Bohemian Rhapsody in 1975, widely regarded as one of the best UK singles of all time.
Mercury died in 1991 of an AIDS-related illness.
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