Freddie Mercury

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Freddie Mercury

Mercury performing in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1978 with Queen
Background information
Birth name Farrokh Bulsara
Born (1946-09-05)5 September 1946
Stone Town, Zanzibar (now Tanzania)
Origin London, England, UK[1]
Died 24 November 1991(1991-11-24) (aged 45)
Kensington, London, England, UK
Genres Rock, hard rock, glam rock
Occupations Musician, singer-songwriter, record producer
Instruments Vocals, keyboards, guitar
Years active 1969–1991
Labels Columbia, Polydor, EMI, Parlophone, Hollywood Records
Associated acts

Queen, Ibex / Wreckage, Montserrat Caballé


Freddie Mercury's signature

Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; Gujarati: ફરોખ બલ્સારા‌, Pharōkh Balsārā‌; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991)[2][3] 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.[4][5][6] 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 that he had the disease.

Mercury was a Parsi born in Zanzibar and grew up there and in India until his mid-teens. Posthumously, in 1992 he was awarded the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, and the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert was held at Wembley Stadium, London. As a member of Queen, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003, the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2004, and the band received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2002. In 2002, Mercury was placed at number 58 in the BBC's poll of the 100 Greatest Britons. 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.[7] In 2008, Rolling Stone editors ranked him number 18 on their list of the 100 greatest singers of all time.[6] In 2009, a Classic Rock poll saw him voted the greatest rock singer of all time.[8] Allmusic has characterised Mercury as "one of rock's greatest all-time entertainers", who possessed "one of the greatest voices in all of music".[9]

Early life

Mercury was born on the British protectorate of Zanzibar, East Africa (now part of Tanzania). His parents, Bomi and Jer Bulsara,[a] were Parsis from the Gujarat region of the then province of Bombay Presidency in British India.[10][b] The family surname is derived from the town of Bulsar (also known as Valsad) in southern Gujarat. As Parsis, Mercury and his family practised the Zoroastrian religion.[11] The Bulsara family had moved to Zanzibar so that his father could continue his job as a cashier at the British Colonial Office. He had a younger sister, Kashmira.[12]

The house in Zanzibar where Mercury lived in his early years

Mercury spent the bulk of his childhood in India and began taking piano lessons at the age of seven.[13] In 1954, at the age of eight, Mercury was sent to study at St. Peter's School, a British-style boarding school for boys in Panchgani near Bombay (now Mumbai), India.[14] One of his formative musical influences at the time was Bollywood singer Lata Mangeshkar.[15] At the age of 12, he formed a school band, The Hectics, and covered rock and roll artists such as Cliff Richard and Little Richard.[16] A friend from the time recalls that he had "an uncanny ability to listen to the radio and replay what he heard on piano".[17] It was also at St. Peter's where he began to call himself "Freddie". Mercury remained in India, living with his grandmother and aunt until he completed his education at St. Mary's School, Bombay.[18]

At the age of 17, Mercury and his family fled from Zanzibar for safety reasons due to the 1964 Zanzibar Revolution,[19] in which thousands of Arabs and Indians were killed.[20] The family moved into a small house in Feltham, Middlesex, England. Mercury enrolled at Isleworth Polytechnic (now West Thames College) in West London where he studied art. He ultimately earned a Diploma in Art and Graphic Design at Ealing Art College (now the Ealing campus of University of West London) later using these skills to design the Queen crest. A British citizen at birth, Mercury remained so for the rest of his life.[14]

Following graduation, Mercury joined a series of bands and sold second-hand clothes in the Kensington Market in London with girlfriend Mary Austin. He also held a job at Heathrow Airport. Friends from the time remember him as a quiet and shy young man who showed a great deal of interest in music.[21] In 1969 he joined the Liverpool based band, Ibex, later renamed Wreckage. He lived briefly in a flat above the Liverpool pub, The Dovedale Towers.[22][23] When this band failed to take off, he joined a second band called Sour Milk Sea. However, by early 1970 this group had broken up as well.[24]

In April 1970, Mercury joined guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor who had previously been in a band called Smile. Despite reservations of the other members and Trident Studios, the band's initial management, Mercury chose the name "Queen" for the new band. He later said about the band's name, "I was certainly aware of the gay connotations, but that was just one facet of it".[1] At about the same time, he changed his surname, Bulsara, to Mercury.[25]

Career

Singer

Freddie Mercury in 1978
Freddie Mercury's vocal range

Although Mercury's speaking voice naturally fell in the baritone range, he delivered most songs in the tenor range.[26] His vocal range extended from bass low F (F2) to soprano high F (F6).[27] He could belt up to tenor high F (F5).[27] Biographer David Bret described his voice as "escalating within a few bars from a deep, throaty rock-growl to tender, vibrant tenor, then on to a high-pitched, perfect coloratura, pure and crystalline in the upper reaches".[28] Spanish soprano Montserrat Caballé, with whom Mercury recorded an album, expressed her opinion that "the difference between Freddie and almost all the other rock stars was that he was selling the voice".[29] She adds, "His technique was astonishing. No problem of tempo, he sung [sic?] with an incisive sense of rhythm, his vocal placement was very good and he was able to glide effortlessly from a register to another. He also had a great musicality. His phrasing was subtle, delicate and sweet or energetic and slamming. He was able to find the right colouring or expressive nuance for each word."[27] As Queen's career progressed, he would increasingly alter the highest notes of their songs when live, often harmonising with seconds, thirds or fifths instead. Mercury was said to have "the rawest vocal fold nodules" and claimed never to have had any formal vocal training.[30]

Songwriter

Mercury wrote 10 of the 17 songs on Queen's Greatest Hits album: "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Seven Seas of Rhye", "Killer Queen", "Somebody to Love", "Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy", "We Are the Champions", "Bicycle Race", "Don't Stop Me Now", "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and "Play the Game".[31]

The most notable aspect of his songwriting involved the wide range of genres that he used, which included, among other styles, rockabilly, progressive rock, heavy metal, gospel and disco. As he explained in a 1986 interview, "I hate doing the same thing again and again and again. I like to see what's happening now in music, film and theatre and incorporate all of those things."[32] Compared to many popular songwriters, Mercury also tended to write musically complex material. For example, "Bohemian Rhapsody" is acyclic in structure and comprises dozens of chords.[33][34] He also wrote six songs from Queen II which deal with multiple key changes and complex material. "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", on the other hand, contains only a few chords. Despite the fact that Mercury often wrote very intricate harmonies, he also claimed that he could barely read music.[35] He wrote most of his songs on the piano and used a wide variety of different key signatures.[33]

Live performer

Mercury, performing live in 1979, with his bottomless microphone stand
Mercury performing live in 1984

Mercury was noted for his live performances, which were often delivered to stadium audiences around the world. He displayed a highly theatrical style that often evoked a great deal of participation from the crowd. A writer for The Spectator described him as "a performer out to tease, shock and ultimately charm his audience with various extravagant versions of himself".[36] David Bowie, who performed at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert and recorded the song "Under Pressure" with Queen, praised Mercury's performance style, saying: "Of all the more theatrical rock performers, Freddie took it further than the rest... he took it over the edge. And of course, I always admired a man who wears tights. I only saw him in concert once and as they say, he was definitely a man who could hold an audience in the palm of his hand."[37] Queen guitarist Brian May wrote that Mercury could make "the last person at the back of the furthest stand in a stadium feel that he was connected."[38]

One of Mercury's most notable performances with Queen took place at Live Aid in 1985, during which the entire stadium audience of 72,000 people clapped, sang and swayed in unison. Queen's performance at the event has since been voted by a group of music executives as the greatest live performance in the history of rock music. The results were aired on a television program called "The World's Greatest Gigs".[39][40] In reviewing Live Aid in 2005, one critic wrote, "Those who compile lists of Great Rock Frontmen and award the top spots to Mick Jagger, Robert Plant, etc all are guilty of a terrible oversight. Freddie, as evidenced by his Dionysian Live Aid performance, was easily the most godlike of them all."[41]

Over the course of his career, Mercury performed an estimated 700 concerts in countries around the world with Queen. A notable aspect of Queen concerts was the large scale involved.[32] He once explained, "We're the Cecil B. DeMille of rock and roll, always wanting to do things bigger and better."[32] The band was the first ever to play in South American stadiums, breaking worldwide records for concert attendance in the Morumbi Stadium in São Paulo in 1981.[42] In 1986, Queen also played behind the Iron Curtain when they performed to a crowd of 80,000 in Budapest, in what was one of the biggest rock concerts ever held in Eastern Europe.[43] Mercury's final live performance with Queen took place on 9 August 1986 at Knebworth Park in England and drew an attendance estimated as high as 300,000.[44]

Instrumentalist

Freddie Mercury playing guitar during a live concert with Queen in Frankfurt, Germany, 1984.

As a young boy in India, Mercury received formal piano training up to the age of nine. Later on, while living in London, he learned guitar. Much of the music he liked was guitar-oriented: his favourite artists at the time were The Who, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, and Led Zeppelin. He was often self-deprecating about his own skills on both instruments and from the early 1980s onward began extensively using guest keyboardists for both Queen and his solo career. Most notably, he enlisted Fred Mandel (a Canadian musician who also worked for Pink Floyd, Elton John and Supertramp) for his first solo project, and from 1985 onward collaborated with Mike Moran (in the studio) and Spike Edney (in concert), leaving most of the keyboard work exclusively to them.

Mercury played the piano in many of Queen's most popular songs, including "Killer Queen", "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy", "We Are the Champions", "Somebody To Love" and "Don't Stop Me Now". He used concert grand pianos and, occasionally, other keyboard instruments such as the harpsichord. From 1980 onward, he also made frequent use of synthesisers in the studio. Queen guitarist Brian May claims that Mercury was unimpressed with his own abilities at the piano and used the instrument less over time because he wanted to walk around onstage and entertain the audience.[45] Although he wrote many lines for the guitar, Mercury possessed only rudimentary skills on the instrument. Songs like "Ogre Battle" and "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" were composed on the guitar; the latter featured Mercury playing acoustic guitar both onstage and in the studio.[46]

Solo career

In addition to his work with Queen, Mercury put out two solo albums and several singles. Although his solo work was not as commercially successful as most Queen albums, the two off-Queen albums and several of the singles debuted in the top 10 of the UK Music Charts. His first solo effort involved his contribution to the Richard "Wolfie" Wolf mix of Love Kills on the 1984 album (the song also used as the end title theme for National Lampoon's "Loaded Weapon") and new soundtrack to the 1927 Fritz Lang film Metropolis. The song, produced by Giorgio Moroder, debuted at the number 10 position in the UK charts.[47]

Mercury's two full albums outside the band were Mr. Bad Guy (1985) and Barcelona (1988). Mr. Bad Guy debuted in the top ten of the UK Album Charts.[47] In 1993, a remix of "Living on My Own", a single from the album, reached the No.1 position on the UK Singles Charts.[48] The song also garnered Mercury a posthumous Ivor Novello Award. Allmusic critic Eduardo Rivadavia describes Mr. Bad Guy as "outstanding from start to finish" and expressed his view that Mercury "did a commendable job of stretching into uncharted territory".[49] In particular, the album is heavily synthesiser-driven in a way that is not characteristic of previous Queen albums.

His second album, Barcelona, recorded with Spanish soprano Montserrat Caballé, combines elements of popular music and opera. Many critics were uncertain what to make of the album; one referred to it as "the most bizarre CD of the year".[50] The album was a commercial success,[51] and the album's title track debuted at the No.8 position in the UK charts and was a hit in Spain.[52] The title track received massive air play as the official anthem of the 1992 Summer Olympics (held in Barcelona one year after Mercury's death). Caballé sang it live at the opening of the Olympics with Mercury's part played on a screen, and again prior to the start of the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final in Barcelona.[53]

In addition to the two solo albums, Mercury released several singles, including his own version of the hit The Great Pretender by The Platters, which debuted at number five in the UK in 1987.[47] In September 2006, a compilation album featuring Mercury's solo work was released in the UK in honour of what would have been his 60th birthday. The album debuted in the top 10 of the UK Album Charts.[54]

In 1981–1983, Mercury recorded several tracks with Michael Jackson, including a demo of "State of Shock", "Victory" and "There Must Be More to Life Than This".[55] None of these collaborations were officially released, although bootleg recordings exist. Jackson went on to record the single "State of Shock" with Mick Jagger for The Jacksons' album Victory.[56] Mercury included the solo version of "There Must Be More To Life Than This" on his Mr. Bad Guy album.[57] In November 2011, Brian May announced that a series of duets that Mercury recorded with Jackson were to be released in 2012.[58][59] He later updated the release date to fall, 2013.[60]

Personal life

Relationships

Mercury lived at 12 Stafford Terrace in Kensington, London, before moving into Garden Lodge

In the early 1970s Mercury had a long-term relationship with Mary Austin, whom he had met through guitarist Brian May. He lived with Austin for several years in West Kensington, London. By the mid-1970s, the singer had begun an affair with a male American record executive at Elektra Records, and in December 1976, Mercury told Austin of his sexuality, which ended their romantic relationship.[61][62] Mercury moved out of the flat they shared together and into 12 Stafford Terrace in Kensington, and bought Austin a place of her own nearby.[62] They remained close friends through the years, with Mercury often referring to her as his only true friend. In a 1985 interview, Mercury said of Austin, "All my lovers asked me why they couldn't replace Mary [Austin], but it's simply impossible. The only friend I've got is Mary and I don't want anybody else. To me, she was my common-law wife. To me, it was a marriage. We believe in each other, that's enough for me."[63] He also wrote several songs about Austin, the most notable of which is "Love of My Life". Mercury's final home, Garden Lodge, 1 Logan Place, a twenty-eight room Georgian mansion in Kensington set in a quarter-acre manicured garden surrounded by a high brick wall, had been picked out by Austin.[64] In his will, Mercury left his London home to Austin, rather than his then partner Jim Hutton, saying to her, "You would have been my wife and it would have been yours anyway".[65] Mercury was also the godfather of Mary's oldest son, Richard.[45]

During the early to mid '80s, he was romantically involved with Barbara Valentin, an Austrian actress,[66] who is featured in the video for "It's a Hard Life".[67] By 1985, he began another long-term relationship with hairdresser Jim Hutton (1949–2010).[68] Hutton, who was tested HIV-positive in 1990,[69] lived with Mercury for the last six years of his life, nursed him during his illness, and was present at his bedside when he died. Hutton claimed that Mercury died wearing a wedding band that Hutton had given him.[69]

Sexual orientation

While some commentators claimed Mercury hid his sexual orientation from the public,[19][29][70] others claimed he was "openly gay".[71][72] In December 1974, when asked directly, "So how about being bent?" by the New Musical Express, Mercury replied, "You're a crafty cow. Let's put it this way; there were times when I was young and green. It's a thing schoolboys go through. I've had my share of schoolboy pranks. I'm not going to elaborate further." Homosexual acts between adult males over the age of 21 were decriminalised in the United Kingdom in 1967, only seven years earlier. In the 1980s, he would often distance himself from his partner, Jim Hutton, during public events.[69] In October 1986, The Sun claimed Mercury had "confessed to a string of one-night gay sex affairs."[73]

During his career, Mercury's flamboyant stage performances sometimes led journalists to allude to his sexuality. Dave Dickson, reviewing Queen's performance at Wembley Arena in 1984 for Kerrang!, noted Mercury's "camp" addresses to the audience and even described him as a "posing, pouting, posturing tart".[74] In 1992, John Marshall of Gay Times expressed the following opinion: "[Mercury] was a 'scene-queen', not afraid to publicly express his gayness but unwilling to analyse or justify his 'lifestyle' ... It was as if Freddie Mercury was saying to the world, 'I am what I am. So what?' And that in itself for some was a statement."[75] In an article for AfterElton, Robert Urban stated: "Mercury did not ally himself to 'political outness', or to GLBT causes".[75]

Personality

Although he cultivated a flamboyant stage personality, Mercury was shy and retiring when not performing, particularly around people he did not know well,[17][29][76] and granted very few interviews. Mercury once said of himself: "When I'm performing I'm an extrovert, yet inside I'm a completely different man."[77] While on stage, Mercury basked in the love from his audience, Kurt Cobain's suicide note famously mentions how he both admired and envied Mercury's relish for the love and adoration he received from the crowd.[78]

In 1987, Mercury celebrated his 41st birthday at the Pikes Hotel, Ibiza, several months after discovering that he had contracted HIV.[79] Mercury sought much comfort at the retreat, and was a close friend of owner Anthony Pike who described Mercury as "the most beautiful person I've ever met in my life. So entertaining and generous."[80] According to biographer Lesley-Ann Jones, Mercury "felt very much at home there. He played some tennis, lounged by the pool, and ventured out to the odd gay club or bar at night."[81] The party, held on 5 September 1987, has been described as "the most incredible example of excess the Mediterranean island had ever seen", and was attended by some 700 people.[82] A cake in the shape of Gaudi's Sagrada Familia Cathedral was provided for the party, although the original cake collapsed and was replaced with a 2 metre-long sponge with the notes from Mercury's song "Barcelona".[80] The bill, which included 232 broken glasses, was presented to Queen's manager, Jim Beach.

Criticism and controversy

Mercury did not disclose his HIV status to the public for several years, and it has been suggested that he could have made a contribution to AIDS awareness by speaking earlier about his situation and his fight against the disease.[83][84]

Queen were widely criticised when they broke a United Nations cultural boycott in 1984 by performing a series of shows at Sun City, an entertainment complex in Bophuthatswana, a bantustan. As a result of these shows, Queen were placed on a UN list of artists (which also included Rod Stewart and Status Quo) who broke the boycott, and were widely criticised in magazines such as the NME. Responding to the criticism, Brian May said "...The band is not political – we play to anybody who wants to come and listen." The band donated some of its royalties to a school for the deaf and blind.[41]

In 2006 an organisation calling itself Islamic Mobilization and Propagation petitioned the Zanzibar government's culture ministry, demanding that a large-scale celebration of what would have been Mercury's sixtieth birthday be cancelled. The organisation issued several complaints about the planned celebrations, asserting that Mercury was not a true Zanzibari and that being gay was not in accordance with their interpretation of sharia. The organisation claimed that "associating Mercury with Zanzibar degrades our island as a place of Islam".[72] The planned celebration was cancelled.

Illness and death

In October 1986, the British press was already reporting that Mercury had had his blood tested for HIV/AIDS at a Harley Street clinic. A reporter for The Sun, Hugh Whittow, questioned Mercury about the story at Heathrow Airport as he was returning from a trip to Japan. Mercury denied he had a sexually transmitted disease.[73] According to his partner Jim Hutton, Mercury was diagnosed with AIDS shortly after Easter of 1987.[85] Around that time, Mercury claimed in an interview to have tested negative for HIV.[29] Despite the denials, the British press pursued the rampant rumours over the next few years, fuelled by Mercury's increasingly gaunt appearance, Queen's absence from touring, and reports from former lovers to various tabloid journals – by 1990 the rumours about Mercury's health were rife.[86] At the 1990 Brit Awards held at the Dominion Theatre, London on 18 February, a visibly frail Mercury made his final public appearance on stage when he joined the rest of Queen to collect the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music.[87][88] Towards the end of his life, he was routinely stalked by photographers, while the daily tabloid newspaper The Sun featured a series of articles claiming that he was seriously ill; notably in an article from November 1990 which featured an image of a haggard looking Mercury on the front page accompanied by the headline "It's official – Freddie is seriously ill".[89]

However, Mercury and his inner circle of colleagues and friends, whom he felt he could trust, continually denied the stories, even after one front page article published on 29 April 1991, which showed Mercury appearing very haggard in what was by then a rare public appearance.[90] Brian May confirmed in a 1993 interview that Mercury had informed the band of his illness much earlier.[91] Filmed in May 1991, the music video for "These Are the Days of Our Lives" features a very thin Mercury, which are his final scenes in front of the camera.[92]

After the conclusion of his work with Queen in June 1991, Mercury retired to his home in Kensington. His former partner, Mary Austin, had been a particular comfort in his final years, and in the last few weeks of his life made regular visits to his home to look after him.[93] Near the end of his life, Mercury was starting to lose his sight, and his deterioration was so overpowering he could not get out of bed.[93] Due to his worsening condition, Mercury decided to hasten his death by refusing to take his medication, and just continued taking pain killers.[93]

On 22 November 1991, Mercury called Queen's manager Jim Beach over to his Kensington home, to discuss a public statement. The next day, the following announcement was made to the international press on behalf of Mercury:[94]

“ Following the enormous conjecture in the press over the last two weeks, I wish to confirm that I have been tested HIV positive and have AIDS. I felt it correct to keep this information private to date to protect the privacy of those around me. However, the time has come now for my friends and fans around the world to know the truth and I hope that everyone will join with me, my doctors, and all those worldwide in the fight against this terrible disease. My privacy has always been very special to me and I am famous for my lack of interviews. Please understand this policy will continue. ”

On the evening of 24 November 1991, a little over 24 hours after issuing that statement, Mercury died at the age of 45 at his home in Kensington.[95] The official cause of death was bronchial pneumonia resulting from AIDS.[96] A close friend of Mercury's, Dave Clark of the The Dave Clark Five, had taken over the bedside vigil when he died, and Austin phoned Mercury's parents and sister to break the news of his passing.[97] The news of his death reached newspaper and television crews by the early hours of 25 November.[98]

On 27 November, Mercury's funeral service was conducted by a Zoroastrian priest. An intensely private man, Mercury's service was for 35 of his close friends and family, with the remaining members of Queen and Elton John among those in attendance.[99][100] Mercury was cremated at Kensal Green Cemetery, West London. In accordance with Mercury's wishes, Mary Austin took possession of his ashes and buried them in an undisclosed location. The whereabouts of his ashes are believed to be known only to Mary Austin, who has stated that she will never reveal where she buried them.[101][102]

In his will, Mercury left the vast majority of his wealth, including his home and recording royalties, to Mary Austin, and the remainder to his parents and sister. He further left £500,000 to his chef Joe Fanelli, £500,000 to his personal assistant Peter Freestone, £100,000 to his driver Terry Giddings, and £500,000 to Jim Hutton.[103] Mary Austin continues to live at Mercury's home, Garden Lodge, Kensington, with her family.[103] The outer walls of Garden Lodge became a shrine to Mercury since his passing, and fans still visit to pay their respects and mourn.[104] Hutton was involved in a 2000 biography of Mercury, Freddie Mercury, the Untold Story, and also gave an interview for The Times for what would have been Mercury's 60th birthday.[85]

Legacy

Continued popularity

The extent to which Mercury's death may have enhanced Queen's popularity is not clear. In the United States, where Queen's popularity had lagged in the 1980s, sales of Queen albums went up dramatically in 1992, the year following his death.[105] In 1992 one American critic noted, "What cynics call the 'dead star' factor had come into play—Queen is in the middle of a major resurgence".[106] The movie Wayne's World, which featured "Bohemian Rhapsody", also came out in 1992. According to the Recording Industry Association of America, Queen have sold 34.5 million albums in the United States, about half of which have been sold since Mercury's death in 1991.[107]

Estimates of Queen's total worldwide record sales to date have been set as high as 300 million.[108] In the UK, Queen have now spent more collective weeks on the UK Album Charts than any other musical act (including The Beatles),[109] and Queen's Greatest Hits is the highest selling album of all time in the UK.[110] Two of Mercury's songs, "We Are the Champions" and "Bohemian Rhapsody", have also each been voted as the greatest song of all time in major polls by Sony Ericsson[111] and Guinness World Records,[112] respectively. The former poll was an attempt to determine the world's favourite song, while the Guinness poll took place in the UK. Both songs have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame; "Bohemian Rhapsody" in 2004, and "We Are the Champions" in 2009.[113] In October 2007, the video for "Bohemian Rhapsody" was voted the greatest of all time by readers of Q magazine.[114] Consistently rated as one of the greatest singers in the history of popular music, Mercury was voted second to Mariah Carey in MTV's 22 Greatest Voices in Music.[71] Additionally, in January 2009, Mercury was voted second to Robert Plant in a poll of the greatest voices in rock, on the digital radio station Planet Rock.[115] In May 2009, a Classic Rock magazine poll saw Mercury voted the greatest singer in rock.[8] In 2011, NME magazine readers voted Mercury second to Michael Jackson in the Greatest Singers Ever poll.[116] In 2011, a Rolling Stone readers' pick placed Mercury in second place of the magazine's "Best Lead Singers of All Time".[78] In 2013, Gigwise readers named Mercury the best frontman ever.[117]

Posthumous Queen album

In November 1995, Queen released Made in Heaven, an album featuring Freddie Mercury's previously unreleased final recordings from 1991—as well as outtakes from previous years and reworked versions of solo works by the surviving members.[118] The album cover features the Freddie Mercury statue that overlooks Lake Geneva in Montreux, Switzerland, where he had written and recorded his last songs at Mountain Studios.[118] The sleeve of the album contains the words; "Dedicated to the immortal spirit of Freddie Mercury".[118]

Tributes

Statue of Freddie Mercury overlooking Lake Geneva in Montreux, Switzerland.

A statue in Montreux, Switzerland (by sculptor Irena Sedlecka) was erected as a tribute to Mercury.[119] It stands almost 10 feet (3 metres) high overlooking Lake Geneva and was unveiled on 25 November 1996 by Freddie's father and Montserrat Caballé, with bandmates Brian May and Roger Taylor also in attendance.[120] Beginning in 2003, fans from around the world gather in Switzerland annually to pay tribute to the singer as part of the "Freddie Mercury Montreux Memorial Day" on the first weekend of September and the Bearpark And Esh Colliery Band played at the Freddie Mercury statue on 1 June 2010.[121] In 1999, a Royal Mail stamp with the image of Mercury on stage was issued in his honour as part of the Millennium Stamp series.[122][123]

Freddie Mercury statue above the West End's Dominion Theatre.

In 2009, a plaque was unveiled in Feltham where Mercury and his family moved upon arriving in England in 1964. The star in memory of Mercury's achievements was unveiled in Feltham High Street by his mother Jer Bulsara and Queen bandmate Brian May.[124] A tribute to Queen has been on display at the Fremont Street Experience in downtown Las Vegas throughout 2009 on its video canopy.[125] In December 2009 a large model of Mercury wearing tartan was put on display in the centre of Edinburgh as publicity for the run of We Will Rock You at the Playhouse Theatre.[126]

A statue of Mercury stands over the entrance to the Dominion Theatre in London's West End since May 2002, where the main show has been Queen and Ben Elton's musical We Will Rock You.[127][128]

For Mercury's 65th birthday, Google dedicated their Google Doodle to him.[129] It included an animation set to the Mercury penned song, "Don't Stop Me Now".[130]

Referring to "the late, great Freddie Mercury" in their 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction speech, Guns N' Roses quoted Mercury's lyrics from his song "We Are the Champions"; "I’ve taken my bows, my curtain calls, you’ve brought me fame and fortune and everything that goes with it, and I thank you all."[131][132]

Tribute was paid to Queen and Mercury at the closing ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. The band's performance of "We Will Rock You" with solo artist Jessie J was opened with a remastered video of Mercury's "call and response" routine from 1986's Wembley Stadium performance, with the 2012 crowd at the Olympic Stadium responding appropriately.[133][134]

Importance in AIDS history

As the first major rock star to die of AIDS, Mercury's death represented a very important event in the disease's history.[135] In April 1992, the remaining members of Queen founded The Mercury Phoenix Trust and organised The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness to celebrate the life and legacy of Mercury and raise money for AIDS research, which took place on 20 April 1992.[136] The Mercury Phoenix Trust has since raised millions of pounds for various AIDS charities. The tribute concert, which took place at London's Wembley Stadium for an audience of 72,000, featured a wide variety of guests including; Robert Plant (of Led Zeppelin), Roger Daltrey (of The Who), Extreme, Elton John, Metallica, David Bowie, Annie Lennox, Tony Iommi (of Black Sabbath), Guns N' Roses, Elizabeth Taylor, George Michael, Def Leppard, Seal, Liza Minnelli (and also U2 via Satellite). Elizabeth Taylor spoke of Mercury as "an extraordinary rock star who rushed across our cultural landscape like a comet shooting across the sky".[137] The concert was broadcast live to 76 countries and had an estimated viewing audience of 1 billion people.[138]

Appearances in lists of influential individuals

Several popularity polls conducted over the past decade indicate that Freddie Mercury's reputation may in fact have been enhanced since his death. For instance, in a 2002 vote to determine whom the UK public considers the greatest British people in history, Mercury was ranked number 58 in the list of the "100 Greatest Britons", broadcast by the BBC.[139] He was further listed at the 52nd spot in a 2007 Japanese national survey of the 100 most "influential heroes".[140] Despite the fact that he had been criticised by gay activists for hiding his HIV status, author Paul Russell included Mercury in his book "The Gay 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Gay Men and Lesbians, Past and Present."[141] Other entertainers on Russell's list included Liberace and Rock Hudson. In 2008, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Mercury No.18 in its list of the "Top 100 Singers Of All Time".[6]

Portrayal on stage

On 24 November 1997, a monodrama about Freddie Mercury's life titled Mercury: The Afterlife and Times of a Rock God opened in New York City.[142] It presented Freddie Mercury in the hereafter; examining his life, seeking redemption and searching for his true self[143] The play was written and directed by Charles Messina and the part of Mercury was played by Khalid Gonçalves (né Paul Gonçalves) and then later, Amir Darvish.[144] Billy Squier opened one of the shows with an acoustic performance of a song he had written about Mercury titled "I Have Watched You Fly".[145]

Portrayals in film and television

Brian May announced in a September 2010 BBC interview[146] that Sacha Baron Cohen, previously best known for his comedic characters Borat, Ali G and Brüno, had been chosen to play Mercury in a film about his life. TIME commented with approval on his singing ability and resemblance to Mercury.[147] The motion picture is being written by Peter Morgan, who had been nominated for Oscars for his screenplays The Queen and Frost/Nixon. The film, which is being co-produced by Robert De Niro's TriBeCa Productions, will focus on Queen's formative years and the period leading up to the celebrated performance at the 1985 Live Aid concert. Filming was planned to begin sometime in 2011.[148]

In April 2011, Brian May confirmed that a lot of work was still being done in preparation for the film. He said that after holding back for a long time due to mixed feelings, the band had approved a team to start filming later in 2011, and Baron Cohen's eagerness had been the key to progress.[149] The film is currently in development and is tentatively scheduled for a release sometime in 2014.[150] However, in July 2013, it was reported that Baron Cohen dropped out of the role due to "creative differences" between him and the surviving band members.[151] Later, Queen guitarist Brian May said they split on good terms and gave the reason for the split that they felt Cohen's presence would be "distracting."[152]

In December 2013 it was announced that Ben Whishaw, best known for playing Q in the James Bond film Skyfall, had been chosen to replace Cohen in the role of Mercury.[153]

Mercury appeared as a supporting character in the BBC television drama Best Possible Taste: The Kenny Everett Story, first broadcast in October 2012. He was portrayed by actor James Floyd.[154]

Frog genus

A novel genus of frogs Mercurana, discovered in 2013 from Kerala, India, was named as a tribute because Mercury's "vibrant music inspires the authors". In addition, the site of discovery is very near to where Mercury spent most of his childhood.[155]

Discography

Main article: Freddie Mercury discography
See also: Queen discography

Notes

a.^ On Mercury's birth certificate,[10] his parents defined themselves with "Nationality: British Indian" and "Race: Parsi". The Parsis are an originally Persian ethnic group of the Indian subcontinent who follow Zoroastrianism.
b.^ The Bulsara family gets its name from Bulsar, a city and district that is now in the Indian state of Gujarat and is today officially known as Valsad. In the 17th century, Bulsar was one of the five centres of the Zoroastrian religion (the other four were also in what is today Gujarat) and consequently "Bulsara" is a relatively common name amongst Zoroastrians.

References

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  2. ↑ Birth certificate mr-mercury.co.uk
  3. ↑ "Freddie Mercury (real name Farrokh Bulsara) Biography". Inout Star. Retrieved 11 July 2010. 
  4. ↑ Independent 2006
  5. ↑ Dance: Deux the fandango via Internet Archive.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 RollingStone.com – 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.
  7. ↑ list of Blender and MTV2's "22 Greatest Voices" (archived at www.amiannoying.com).
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  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Linda B" 2000.
  11. ↑ Sky 1992, pp. 8–9
  12. ↑ Das 2000.
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  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Jones 1998.
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  16. ↑ Hodkinson 2004, pp. 2,61.
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  140. ↑ "James" 2007
  141. ↑ Russell 2002
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  143. ↑ Marone, Mark (13 December 1997). "On Stage". Billboard. p. 46. 
  144. ↑ Simonson, Robert (11 January 2004). "Bohemian Rhapsody: Freddy Mercury Play Begins Performances Off Broadway, Jan. 11". Playbill. 
  145. ↑ Barron, James; Martin, Douglas (18 February 1998). "PUBLIC LIVES; Theater Records". The New York Times. 
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  147. ↑ "Sacha Baron Cohen to Play Freddie Mercury", Time, 17 September 2010
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  149. ↑ "Sacha Baron Cohen is perfect to play Freddie Mercury but we can't mess up his legacy, says Brian May", Scottish Daily Record, 27 April 2011
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  153. ↑ "Ben Whishaw joins Freddie Mercury biopic". BBC News. 10 December 2013. Retrieved 10 December 2013. 
  154. ↑ "Best Possible Taste: The Kenny Everett Story". BBC. 7 October 2012. Retrieved 21 October 2012. 
  155. ↑ Robin Kurian Abraham, R. Alexander Pyron, Ansil B. R., Arun Zachariah, Anil Zachariah (2013). "Two novel genera and one new species of treefrog (Anura: Rhacophoridae) highlight cryptic diversity in the Western Ghats of India". Zootaxa 3640 (2): 177–189. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3640.2.3. 

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