Freddie Mercury

Freddie Mercury (September 5 1946 – November 24 1991) was a pianist, songwriter, arranger, singer, and lead vocalist of the British rock band Queen.

Life and career

Mercury was born Farrokh Bulsara in Stone Town, Zanzibar to Zoroastrian Indian (also known as Parsi) parents. His parents Bomi and Jer Bulsara had immigrated to Zanzibar so his father could continue his job at the British Colonial Office. He also had a sister, Kashmira.

Related Topics:
Stone Town - Zanzibar - Zoroastrian - Indian - Parsi - British Colonial Office - Kashmira

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Mercury was educated at St. Peter's boarding school in Panchgani near Mumbai, India, where he had his first musical training (Grade IV piano). His first onstage performance was also at St. Peters, with his five-member school band, the Hectics. It was at St. Peter's where he picked up the name 'Freddie' ; soon even his parents addressed him by that name.

Related Topics:
Boarding school - Panchgani - Mumbai

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After spending his formative years in India, Mercury and his family fled Zanzibar because of the revolution of 1964. He was 18 when he arrived in England. There, he pursued a Diploma in Art and Graphic Design at Ealing Art College, following in the footsteps of Pete Townshend. This knowledge was to come in useful when he designed Queen's famous crest.

Related Topics:
1964 - Ealing Art College - Pete Townshend - Crest

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In 1972, Mercury recorded a one-off single under the stage name Larry Lurex, a cover of the 1969 Beach Boys minor hit I Can Hear Music. Despite an incredibly dense Spector-esque Wall of Sound production and instrumental backing by Queen members Roger Taylor and Brian May, the song failed to chart in the UK, though it did manage a #115 showing on the US charts in the autumn of 1973, when it was released on the tiny Anthem label, just ahead of Queen's first album. Widely bootlegged. the original record is now a valuable collectable, fetching up to £400.

Related Topics:
1972, - Stage name - 1969 - Beach Boys - Spector-esque - Wall of Sound - Roger Taylor - Brian May - 1973 - Anthem label, - First album. - Bootleg

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With a wide vocal range and a somewhat operatic technique, he was one of the most versatile and technically accomplished singers to work in the pop idiom. He was the composer of many of Queen's hits, including "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Somebody to Love", and "We Are the Champions".

Related Topics:
Opera - Bohemian Rhapsody - Somebody to Love - We Are the Champions

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His songwriting was unique, demonstrating influence from a variety of sources, but with a strong individual sense of melody, harmony, and complex orchestration. In several of his most well-crafted and popular tunes he provided all of the vocal tracks, resulting in a smooth controlled sound that was at the time unprecedented.

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One of Freddie's trademarks throughout the years was using a microphone (and stand) minus the bottom section. In his early years of singing he made the decision to pick up his microphone, still attached to the stand; the bottom fell off by accident, and he decided to use a bottomless microphone stand from then on. When asked why, he replied "Everyone has to have a gimmick, dear."

Related Topics:
Microphone - Gimmick

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Queen started using studio overdubs a great deal with their second album, Queen II, which features Freddie's music on the entire second side of the LP (or, in CD parlance, tracks 6–11). Many listeners identify "Bohemian Rhapsody" as the pinnacle of his musical achievement, but it is possible to find the seeds of this mini-opera in his earlier works.

Related Topics:
Queen II - Bohemian Rhapsody

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When the band decided to release "Bohemian Rhapsody" in 1975, everyone told them it was far too long and just would not be a hit at 5 minutes and 55 seconds. But Freddie gave a copy of the single to friend and London DJ, Kenny Everett, informing him that it was for him personally, and that he must not play it on air. Everett ended up playing it on the air—fourteen times in one day. From then on, every major radio station played the song in full, not edited versions as would be expected. It was a colossal hit and established Queen as a leading band of the era. The video for the single, directed by Bruce Gowers using ideas from the band themselves, was considered to be the one that began the whole music video craze. The single stayed at number one for nine weeks.

Related Topics:
1975 - London - Kenny Everett - Bruce Gowers - Music video

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The album was, at the time, one of the most expensive ever recorded, but when "A Night at the Opera" was released in November 1975, it was a massive hit, and gave Queen their first platinum album.

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Freddie had designed a Queen logo for the "Queen" album, which was re-worked and used as the cover for A Night At The Opera. The now-famous "crest" features the band's star signs—two fairies for Virgo (Freddie, September 5), a crab for Cancer (Brian, July 19), and two lions for the two Leos (Roger, July 26 and John, August 19). The launch party for the album was held in the exclusive Opera Bar at the London Coliseum Theatre. The Guinness World Records 2001, recognizes The Official Queen Fan- Club as the longest running Fan- Club for a group. It was set up by EMI in 1973, after the release of the band's first album.

Related Topics:
Logo - September 5 - July 19 - July 26 - August 19 - Coliseum Theatre - The Guinness World Records - Fan- Club - EMI

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He released two solo albums: Mr. Bad Guy (1985) and Barcelona (1988), the latter with Spanish soprano Montserrat Caballé. The collaboration came as surprise to critics, being the first of its kind, but was nonetheless widely acclaimed, if not commercially successful. One of his hits as a solo artist was a cover of the song "The Great Pretender" (1987), but after his death gained his first solo number 1 hit "Living On My Own", remixed by No More Brothers, which was his biggest UK hit.

Related Topics:
Mr. Bad Guy - Barcelona - Montserrat Caballé - The Great Pretender - Living On My Own

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He was bisexual, but never came out publicly. Mercury had a girlfriend Mary Austin, whom he was in a relationship with for six years until he told her about his sexuality. After the relationship was over they still remained close friends. Mary Austin often fronted as his girlfriend to the press. Though previously promiscuous, his last boyfriend, Jim Hutton, lived with him for the last eight years of his life, cared for him when he was ill and was with him at his bedside when he died. Mercury was a fan of Liza Minnelli and Michael Jackson, the latter of whom he collaborated with on some tracks which were never published, including "State Of Shock" (which was performed by the Jacksons and Mick Jagger for the official release).

Related Topics:
Bisexual - Liza Minnelli - Michael Jackson - The Jacksons - Mick Jagger

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He was well known for his extravagance and hedonism, but also for his kindness and generosity. He adored cats and kept several, even writing a song about his favourite ("Delilah", on the Innuendo album, 1991). He was a heavy smoker, which contributed to a roughening of his voice in the 80s.

Related Topics:
Hedonism - Innuendo - 80s

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On November 23, 1991, Freddie announced that he had AIDS. The next day he died peacefully at his home in London surrounded by friends and family. Freddie had kept his illness very private, and only those closest to him had been aware of just how close to the end he was.

Related Topics:
November 23 - 1991 - AIDS - London

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He was cremated at Kensal Green Cemetery. The wherabouts of his ashes are unknown. The remaining members of Queen founded The Mercury Phoenix Trust and organized The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert.

Related Topics:
Kensal Green Cemetery - The Mercury Phoenix Trust - The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert

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Mercury appears at 58 in the 2002 List of "100 Greatest Britons" (sponsored by the BBC and voted for by the public).

Related Topics:
2002 - 100 Greatest Britons - BBC

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A species of East African isopod, Cirolana mercuryi N. Bruce, 2004 was named for Freddie Mercury, as, quoting the type, "arguably Zanzibar's most famous popular musician and singer."

Related Topics:
Isopod - 2004

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His famous overbite was caused by the presence of four extra teeth which pushed his incisors out. He commented early in his career that he wished to have work done on his teeth, but regretted that he did not have time to do it. He also expressed fears that such an operation might damage his voice. During Queen's formative years he could be seen putting his hand over his mouth in an attempt to hide the overbite.

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Freddie possessed a very slight tenor voice, he was able to produce very sharp sounds, but also quite grave sounds. He had an enviable voice range, with the superb extension of three and a half octaves.

Related Topics:
Tenor - Octave

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Freddie was known to enjoy drinking wine, tea, and champagne from time to time, and occasionally smoked marijuana. Before Queen was formed, he was sharing an apartment with more frequent cannabis users, who would often hide their stash in tea leaves. At one point Freddie, unaware, drank this in his tea.

Related Topics:
Wine - Tea - Champagne - Marijuana - Tea leaves

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Mercury briefly stopped drinking red wine in 1975 when doctors informed him he had calluses in his throat. He refused to let anyone operate, and eventually his throat healed.

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At his own parties he was known for being charming and outgoing, while at parties thrown by other people he was known to be something of a wallflower.

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Mercury left £100,000 to his chef, and left his £18-million house to his close-friend and ex-lover, Mary Austin.

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