Montreux is a resort town in the Canton of Vaud, Switzerland, on Lake Geneva with a population of about 20'000.
Montreux holds several noteworthy festivals:
It is home to American opera soprano, Barbara Hendricks, like nearby town of La Tour-de-Peilz is home of Canadian singing star Shania Twain, in the castillo of Sully.
Montreux is mentioned by Ian Gillan of the band Deep Purple in the seminal classic rock song "Smoke on the Water", which in part tells the story of the fire that destroyed the Montreux casino in 1971.
- "We all came out to Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline
- To make records with a mobile - We didn't have much time
-
Frank Zappa & the Mothers were at the best place around
- But some stupid with a flare gun burned the place to the ground
- Smoke on the water - A fire in the sky
- Smoke on the water" and so forth.
Montreux is also the town of Mountain Studios, the famous recording studio used by several artists. In 1978 the band Queen bought the studio, which now is still owned by Queen producer David Richards. Queen also appeared in 1984 and in 1986 at the Golden Rose Festival and Queen guitarist Brian May appeared in 2001 at the Jazz Festival. The main square of the town, Place du Marché, also hosts a statue of Queen singer Freddie Mercury facing Lake Geneva. The same statue and the same lake also appear on the cover of Queen album entitled Made In Heaven.
