In this week's edition of Sunday Special we look back and celebrate the life of arguably the greatest musical and rock performer of all time who laid down his mark on music industry and left everyone mesmerized. We are talking about the one and only, Freddie Mercury.
Farrokh Bulsara (birth name) was born on 5th September,1946 in Stone Town, Sultanate of Zanzibar to Parsi-Indian parents. Having studied in India from the age of 8, he returned to Zanzibar after secondary school. In 1964, he and his family fled the Zanzibar Revolution and moved to Middlesex, England where he studied and wrote music.
In April 1970, Mercury's life would change forever. After following the band, Smile for a long time, he would team up with guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor to lead Smile after their lead singer step downed. In 1971, they would recruit bassist John Deacon and would officially make a new band by the name of "Queen". He would soon legally change his surname from "Bulsara" to "Mercury".
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| Roger Taylor (left), John Deacon (Centre Behind), Brian May (Centre Forward) and Freddie Mercury (right) |
Mercury was not only a great singer but a great songwriter as well. He wrote 10 of Queen's 17 hits which offcourse included his masterpiece "Bohemian Rhapsody" a 6 minute quasa operatic in 1975. Apart from it, he wrote "Killer Queen", "Seven Seas of Rhye", "Somebody to Love", "We are the Champions", "Don't Stop Me Now", "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" etc.
Bohemian Rhapsody:
Someone as talented as Mercury was indeed a very shy person in personal life. He had a relationship with Mary Austin (1970-1976) and was engaged with her, but as he questioned his sexuality, the engagement ended. They both remained close friends however.
In 1984, Queen Bassist John Deacon wrote the song "I Want to Break Free". To light up the crowd, drummer Roger Taylor suggested them to dress up in rag and record. When the song was released in the United States, MTV decided to ban the song as it spooked controversy across the nation.
I Want to Break Free:
Mercury announced that he wanted to pursue a single's career and that he had sign a deal with CBS Record for $1 Million Dollars, officially leaving the band.
At the same time, Mercury was having health issues. In 1982 he contracted HIV but kept it a secret and continued to get treated secretly.
LIVE AID 1985:
After much request to his fellow bandmates and Queen manager, Jim Beach, the band decided to perform during the Live Aid Concert in 1985. It was such an amazing show that people can cherish throughout their lifetime.
Here is the 1985 Live Aid Performance of Queen:
Queen would continue their work despite Mercury's declining health. He had started a relationship with Jim Hutton in 1985 after he met him during a party many years ago. They stayed together till Mercury's death in 1991.
In 1988, Mercury took to the stage with Montserrat Caballe to perform "Barcelona" in Opera as a part of their collective album Barcelona. It also featured in the 1992 Summer Olympics held in Barcelona and Catalonia, Spain.
At the 1990 Brit Awards held in London, Mercury made his final appearance on stage when he joined the rest of his band to collect the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music.
- In 1991, Queen recorded the album, Innuendo which turned out to be Freddie's last contribution with the band. The song "The Show Must Go On" signified how life will still go on as he accepted that the end is near.
Having stopped taking medications to fasten his death. On November 23rd,1991 he released a public statement through a press conference after consulting with Queen Manager, Jim Beach a day before and confirmed his illness.
- Less than 24 hours later, Mercury left the world for his heavenly abode on 24th November,1991 at the age of 45 at his home in Kensington, England. His death was due to bronchial pneumonia resulting from AIDS.
Following his death, the remaining members of the Queen along with Jim Beach Inaugurated The Mercury Phoenix Trust, a charity organization that fights HIV/AIDS worldwide.
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| Freddie Mercury (left) and Rami Malek (right) |
In 2018, Actor Rami Malek portrayed the role of Freddie Mercury in Queen's biopic named "Bohemian Rhapsody". Malek's outstanding performance as Freddie resulted in him winning the Academy Awards for the Best Actor.
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