SAS Band

SAS Band

SAS Band, short for “Spike’s All Stars,” is a UK rock celebrity supergroup led by Spike Edney, often described as the fifth member of Queen. Edney does not receive a credit on a Queen album, but he tours with the band and plays additional instruments, usually from the back of the stage. He is mainly a keyboard player, though he also appears on guitar during “Hammer to Fall” on Queen’s Live at Wembley DVD.

Background

The group forms in the 1990s as a charity band and remains active from 1994 onwards. Its lineup is fluid, with instrumentalists drawn from a range of reasonably well-known bands. The project is based in the United Kingdom.

Line-up and collaborators

SAS Band centres on Spike Edney, who also plays keyboards on many solo albums and tours by Brian May and Roger Taylor. He later tours with Queen + Paul Rodgers. Concerts typically feature several guest vocalists, including Chris Thompson, Fish, Leo Sayer, Roger Taylor, Tony Hadley, Mark Shaw, the late Paul Young of Sad Cafe and Mike and the Mechanics, and Paul Young from the other Paul Young. These singers usually perform one or two of their own songs or cover versions.

Recordings

The band releases two albums: a self-titled studio album in 2000 and The Show, a live album from 2001. The second album is generally regarded as the stronger release.