(Cover) - EN Showbiz - Roger Taylor used to play intense games of Scrabble with Freddie Mercury, as he was the late singers only match at the game.

Both were in the rock outfit Queen and were joined by bassist John Deacon and guitarist-and-writer Brian May.

This year Queen re-releases its back catalogue to mark 40 years since the band formed.

Roger, who was the groups drummer, has revealed that all four members tried to compete at the word making board game but only he could keep pace with their charismatic leader.

Fred and I used to love Scrabble. We all played, but it got a bit too serious so that the other two would drop out, Roger explained to Q magazine. Freddie was brilliant because he could score more with fewer tiles. I was pretty much his match, I think.

However, the 61-year-old admitted that another member of the group once managed to better him and Freddie. Brian got the most points I have Ive ever seen with one word, which was 168, he said. Can I remember what that word was? Yes, Lacquers. Q on the triple, all seven letters, triple word. Work it out.

Roger attempted to play down his extravagant lifestyle in Queen, who have sold more than 300 million records worldwide. He says that he and his colleagues took advantage of the record companys willingness to pay them large amounts of money. Yet he concedes that one rumoured party game is mere fiction.

It [our partying] was a very small part of what was going on. We just thought it was a laugh, Roger said. If we could screw that much money out of the record company to have an almighty blowout then why not? Its just become... the myth of the dwarf with the coke on his head and all that. It never happened. (C) Cover Media