A rock opera is a work of rock music that presents a storyline told over multiple parts, songs or sections in the manner of opera. A rock opera differs from a conventional rock album, which usually includes songs that are not unified by a common theme or narrative. More recent developments include metal opera and rap opera (sometimes also called hip-hopera). A rock opera tells a coherent story, and may involve songs performed as if sung by separate characters in a drama, as in classical opera.

A rock opera may or may not be presented in a staged performance. In recorded form it can be similar to a concept album (of which it is a subset), though the latter may simply set a mood or maintain a theme.

The July 4, 1966 edition of RPM Magazine (published in Toronto) notes that "Bruce Cockburn and Mr [William] Hawkins are working on a Rock Opera, operating on the premise that to write you need only 'something to say'." The Cockburn / Hawkins rock opera seems not to have been completed, though some songs from the project may be among the Cockburn and Hawkins compositions that appeared on 3's a Crowd's 1968 album, Christopher's Movie Matinee.

Eva Urbanová (born 20 April 1961) is a Czech operatic soprano who has had an active international career since 1987. She has been a principal artist at the National Theatre in Prague since 1990 and has appeared as a guest artist at many of the world's best opera houses, including La Scala in Milan and the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. She has made several recording on the Supraphon music label and was honored with a Thalia Award in 1993. In 2003 she was presented with the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the Government of France.

Born in Slaný, Urbanová studied singing with Ludmilla Kotnauerová in Plzeň. She made her professional opera debut on 18 April 1987 at the Divadlo Josefa Kajetána Tyla in Plzeň, remaining at that theatre for the next three years. Among the roles she portrayed at that house include Amelia in Giuseppe Verdi's Un ballo in maschera, Julie in Antonín Dvořák's The Jacobin, and Milada in Bedřich Smetana's Dalibor.

Urbanová made her debut at the National Theater in Prague on 16 March 1990 as Milada under the baton of conductor Zdeněk Košler. She became a member of that company the following September and the theatre continues to be he principal home to this day. Among the many roles she has sung in Prague are Amneris in Aida, Eboli in Don Carlos, Elisabeth in Tannhäuser, the Foreign Princess in Rusalka, Kostelnička Buryjovka in Jenůfa, Leonora in La forza del destino, Mařenka in The Bartered Bride, Minnie in La fanciulla del West, Ortrud in Lohengrin, The Princess in The Devil and Kate, Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana, and the title heroines in Adriana Lecouvreur, La Gioconda, Libuše, Zdeněk Fibich's Šárka, Janáček's Šárka, Suor Angelica, Tosca, and Turandot among others. In November 2009 she is scheduled to sing the title role in Richard Strauss's Salome under the baton of conductor Thomas Netopil.

Viktor Dyk (Czech pronunciation: [ˈvɪktor ˈdɪk]) (December 31, 1877, Pšovka u Mělníka, Austria-Hungary – May 14, 1931, near the island of Lopud, Yugoslavia) was a well-known Czech poet, prose writer, playwright, politician and political writer.

Viktor Dyk studied at a gymnasium in Prague (one of his teachers was Alois Jirásek) and then at the Faculty of Law of Charles University in Prague.

In 1911, he became involved in politics and joined the Státoprávně pokroková strana. During the First World War, he was imprisoned in Vienna for his resistance activities against Austria-Hungary. In 1918, he co-founded the Czechoslovak National Democratic Party (in Czech: Československá národní demokracie).

His political views were conservative and nationalist. In the times of the First Republic of Czechoslovakia, Viktor Dyk was one of the prominent intellectual opponents of the leftish president Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk.

Viktor Dyk died of a heart failure while swimming in the sea near the island of Lopud.

Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara (Gujarati: ફારોખ બલ્સારા‌), 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and lyricist of the rock band Queen. As a performer, he was known for his flamboyant stage persona and powerful vocals over a four-octave range. As a songwriter, Mercury composed many hits for Queen, including "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Killer Queen", "Somebody to Love", "Don't Stop Me Now", "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and "We Are the Champions". In addition to his work with Queen, he led a solo career, and also occasionally served as a producer and guest musician (piano or vocals) for other artists. He died of bronchopneumonia brought on by AIDS on 24 November 1991, only one day after publicly acknowledging he had the disease.

Mercury was a Parsi born in Zanzibar and grew up there and in India until his mid-teens. He has been referred to as "Britain's first Asian rock star". In 2002, Mercury was placed at number 58 in the BBC's poll of the 100 Greatest Britons, in 2006, Time Asia named him one of the most influential Asian heroes of the past 60 years, and he continues to be voted one of the greatest singers in the history of popular music. In 2005, a poll organised by Blender and MTV2 saw Mercury voted the greatest male singer of all time. In 2008, Rolling Stone editors ranked him number 18 on their list of the 100 greatest singers of all time. In 2009, a Classic Rock poll saw him voted the greatest rock singer of all time.Allmusic has characterised Mercury as "one of rock's greatest all-time entertainers", who possessed "one of the greatest voices in all of music".

Kristin Hanggi is an American theatre director who was nominated for the 2009 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for Rock of Ages, her Broadway debut.

Hanggi was raised by conservative teachers in Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley, California. She holds degrees in theatre from both UCLA and the University of Southern California.

Prior to Rock of Ages, Hanggi directed Bare: A Pop Opera, which won the Ovation Award and the LA Weekly Award for Best Musical; the Los Angeles productions of Corpus Christi by Terrence McNally and All Men are Whores by David Mamet; and the American Conservatory Theater production of Anything with Mark Ruffalo. She was involved in the development of the Pussycat Dolls and directed them in their show at the Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood with guest appearances by Christina Applegate, Carmen Electra, Gwen Stefani, Christina Aguilera, Brittany Murphy, Nikka Costa, and Charlize Theron.