| Born on September 5, 1946, Freddie Mercury was the British-Asian front man of the popular rock band ‘Queen’. Though he resided in England, he was born on the African island of Zanzibar and schooled in St. Peters High School in Bombay, India where his family moved during the 1964 revolution in Zanzibar. Freddie’s original name was ‘Farokh Bulsara’, a traditional ‘Parsi’ name; but whilst in boarding school his friends nick named him Freddie, a name that stuck with him. The ‘Mercury’ was added to his name after he wrote the song ‘My Fairy King’, a song that contains reference to ‘Mother Mercury’. Another reason for the addition of ‘Mercury’ to his name was to distance himself from his cultural and ethnic background; thus the name ‘Freddie Mercury’ emerged. Freddie was and is still considered one of the most talented and versatile singers in history. He was ranked #10 on the List of Greatest Singers compiled by BBC and #2 on MTV’s list of 22 greatest singers of the past 25 years. His performance at the ‘Live Aid’ concert was voted as the greatest live performance of all time; the votes were of various artists, music industry executives and journalists. His compositions are considered timeless by most critics and are still popular among rock music lovers. His most highly acclaimed compositions include ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, ‘Killer Queen’, ‘We Are the Champions’, ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ and ‘Somebody to Love’. Freddie’s music influences range from ‘The Jackson 5’, ‘Jimi Hendrix’ and ‘Led Zepplin’ and his favorite vocalists were George Michael and Robert Plant. But it was the song ‘A Day in the Life’ by The Beatles that inspired Freddie to write the song ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’; a song that is considered as his greatest accomplishment. Freddie Mercury was famous for showering his friends with extravagant gifts, including cars and jewelry. Though he was known to be an outgoing person, he was also famous for being occasionally shy and highly private. Often open about his homosexuality, Freddie was once quoted saying “I am as gay as a daffodil, my dear!” Despite which he had a serious straight relationship with girlfriend Mary Austin, which eventually ended. His boyfriend Jim Hutton, stayed by him through the final six years of his life, and while he was on his death bed. Freddie Mercury was diagnosed with AIDS in the spring of 1987 and dies on November 24, 1991 at the age of 45. |
