Who Was Freddie Mercury?

On Thursday September 5th 1946 a boy was born to a Persian couple, Bomi and Jer Bulsara on the island Zanzibar. The boy was given the name Farrokh Bulsara. Farrokh had one sister, Kashmira she was born in 1952. When Farrokh was eight years old he was sent to St. Peter’s English boarding school in Panchgani (close to Bombay). There his friends began calling him Freddie, later he was known to the whole world as Freddie Mercury. Freddie Mercury was the lead singer of the rock/pop band Queen. Freddie wrote many hits for the band but he also had a solo career. He is known as one of the greatest singers and stage performers in the history of popular music.

School Years

Freddie began to learn the piano at St. Peter’s Boarding School For Boys when the headmaster noticed his musical talent. He was also a member of the school choir.

 

In 1958 he and his friends from school formed a rock ‘n’ roll cover band called The Hectics where Freddie played the piano. A friend from that time tells that Freddie had the ability to listen to a song on the radio and then replay it on the piano.

Freddie left school in 1962 and with that he quit the band and moved back to Zanzibar. In 1964 Freddie moved to England with his family due to the Zanzibar revolution where thousands of Arabs and Indians were killed.

He wanted to go to art school but he needed an A level to get in. He enrolled at Isleworth Polytechnic to earn his A level in arts. His talent and good grades got him easily into Ealing College of Art.

At Ealing Freddie met Tim Staffell and they became good friends. Tim took him to band rehearsals with his band Smile where Brian May played guitar and Roger Taylor played the drums. Freddie got along with the band and was inspired by them and Brian’s great guitar skill so he started experimenting with music again.

He initially began to practice with Tim and two other students, Nigel Foster and Chris Smith. Chris Smith says the first time he heard Freddie sing he had been amazed. He also said that Freddie had a unique approach to the Piano. Freddie and Chris started writing songs together. Chris says that Freddie had a natural sense of melody.

Freddie left Ealing College in 1969 with a degree in graphic art and design. Later he used his art skill to design the Queen crest.

 

Early Career

After leaving Ealing College, Freddie joined a series of bands and opened a market stall in the Kensington Market with Roger. He also got himself a job at Heathrow airport. People who knew him then remember him as a quiet and a shy young man who had a great interest in music.

In the summer of 1969, the 13th of August to be exact, Freddie was introduced to a band from Liverpool called Ibex. Ibex had come to London to make a name for themselves. Mike Bersin played the guitar, John ‘Tupp’ taylor played the bass and Mick ‘Miffer’ Smith on the drums. The band’s roadie, Ken Test came with them to London. Only ten days after he first met the band he had gotten so excited that he had already learned the band’s set, come up with a few new songs and had traveled to Bolton, Lancashire to play at his first public gig. Freddie is known for his stage performance and really knew how to entertain people. Ken Test said that everything he did on stage with Queen he did at his first gig with Ibex. Ibex did however not ‘make it’.

 

After Freddie quit Ibex he joined another band called Sour Milk Sea where he got job as lead singer, Chris Chesney was on vocals and guitar, Paul Milan the bass player, Jeremy ‘ Rubber’ Gallop on rhythm guitar and Rob Tyrell on drums. They did a few gigs and rehearsals in Oxford. Freddie became close friends with Chris Chesney and they moved in together into the house Freddie shared with his friends from the band, Smile. The other band members didn’t like the ‘a little too close’ relationship between Chris and Freddie so Jeremy who owned almost all of the band’s equipment, derided to take it back and break up the band.

Queen And Solo Career

In April 1970, Tim Staffel decided to leave Smile. Freddie joined Brian May and Roger Taylor as the band’s lead singer. Freddie changed the band’s name to Queen. At the same time he changed his surname from Bulsara to Mercury.

In 1970 Freddie met Mary Austin, they had a relationship for 7 years. Their relationship ended because Freddie started having an affair with an American male. After they broke up they still remained great friends.

In 1971 John Deacon, bass player, joined Queen.

As I said earlier Freddie designed the band’s logo. It consisted of the band members zodiacs; Two fairies for Freddie (Virgo), two lions for Roger and John (Leo) and a crab for Brian (Cancer).

Freddie wrote the first song that got Queen into the British Charts, Seven Seas Of Rhye and their first hit, Killer Queen and he wrote their most famous song that stayed on top of the charts for 9 weeks, Bohemian Rhapsody. In 2002 it was also voted the UK’s favourite hit of all time. Freddie was considered the front man of Queen.

 

In 1973 Queen released their eponymous debut album, their music was influenced by heavy metal and progressive rock of the day. They released 15 albums in total.

In 1975 Queen toured Japan. Freddie fell in love with the country and became a collector of Japanese art and antiquities.

In 1982 Queen decided they wanted to take a break from each other. They announced they wouldn’t be touring in 1983. Freddie then decided to make a solo album. He booked a studio in Munich and began work early in 1983. There he was introduced to Georgio Moroder who was working on a re-release of a Fritz Lang silent science fiction film. Geogrio wanted Freddie to help him make a song for the film. They wrote together Love Kills.

On September 10th 1984 his first solo single was released, Love Kills. The first single from his forthcoming solo album was released on April 9th 1985, it was called I Was Born To Love You. 3 weeks later his album Mr. Bad Guy was released.

 

In July, 1985 Queen performed at Live Aid at Wembley Stadium in front of 72.000 people. It was also broadcasted on television to a billion people all over the world. They weren’t the only band playing but they stole the show.

In March 1987 Freddie went to Barcelona to meet the Spanish opera singer Montserrat Caballé, she liked his music and they started working on an album together. They appeared at the La Nit festival in Barcelona on October 8th 1988, that was the last time Freddie performed on stage. 2 days later their album, Barcelona came out.

Queen are still among the most popular bands in the world. In 2006 the Greatest Hits album was the all-time best-selling album in UK chart history with over 5 million copies sold.

Freddie’s Last Years

In 1985 Freddie met Jim Hutton a hairdresser. They began another long term relationship. He lived with Freddie for the last six years of his life. He says that Freddie was diagnosed with AIDS shortly after Easter in 1987.

The British Press had their clues and started rumours but Freddie denied having AIDS. Photographers and journalists claiming he was very ill stalked Freddie. His closest group of friends supported him and continued denying the stories.

Near the end of his life he had started losing his sight. His deteriorations was so overpowering he couldn’t get out of bed. Because his condition was only getting worse he stopped taking his medication and only took painkillers.

On 22nd November Freddie asked Queen’s manager Jim Beach to give out a public statement. The next day he made this announcement to the international press

"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."

Around 24 hours after giving out that statement Freddie died in his home at the age of 45. The official cause of death was bronchial pneumonia resulting from the AIDS. Freddie was cremated at Kensal Green Cemetery, West London.

Interview 

My step-father Siggi got me interested in Queen so I interviewed him. He has got every album Queen and Freddie Mercury have released.

I asked him how old he was when he started listening to Queen, he said that he was 12 or 13 years old when he first listened to them. His favourite band member is Brian May, Siggi said "If there was ever a master of rock guitar it would be him." When I asked him what his favourite Queen song was he said it was very difficult to choose. He picked one of their less well known songs, '39 and it was written by Freddie. I asked him what it was he loved so much about Queen and he answered, "It must be the melody in their songs. Queen is one of few rock bands that mix classical, folk and rock music in just the right portions to make it really easy on the ear."

 

Conclusion

Freddie Mercury was among the greatest singers of our times, he was known for his flamboyant stage persona although on the inside he was shy and calm. His voice that spanned a vocal range from a low bass F to a high sopran F was also something people noticed about him.He was a very good songwriter and wrote many of the all time greatest hits. He had self-respect and wasn’t afraid to be different. It is very sad he had to die so young.

Vocabulary 

revolution - an overthrow or repudiation and the thorough replacement of an established government or political system by the people governed.

initially – occurring at the beginning

unique – existing as the only one

melody - Musical quality

crest - To decorate or furnish with a crest.

gig - A job, especially a booking for musicians.

deride - mockery

rhapsody - Exalted or excessively enthusiastic expression of feeling in speech or writing.

affair – A romantic and sexual relationship, sometimes one of brief duration, between two people who are not married to each other.statement - The act of stating or declaring.

flamboyant - Elaborate or extravagant; florid; showy

persona - The role that one assumes or displays in public or society; one's public image or personality, as distinguished from the inner self.

bronchial pneumonia - inflammation of the lungs, originating in the bronchioles

claim - A statement of something as a fact

cremate – to burn up a corpse and reduce to ash

conjecture - guesswork

policy - A written contract or certificate of insurance

eponymous - named after it's character or creator 

deterioration - To grow worse

overpowering - To affect so strongly as to make helpless or ineffective

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddie_Mercury

http://www.freddie.ru/e/bio/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_(band)