There are few musicians
that have made a more significant or lasting impression that Freddie
Mercury with his incredible
range unconventionally operatic vocal style and refusal to subscribe to norms
of masculinity.
Freddie Mercury was a man
who defied convention at every turn
When you face an audience
of 300,000 people like I saw you in Rio to get intimidated by the size of the
crowd no the bigger the better in everything
and alongside his bandmates
in queen he left an enduring musical legacy that continues to resonate with
listeners today
freddie mercury died far
too young but even before his fatal diagnosis
the bohemian rhapsody
singer had already faced more than his fair share of challenges
mercury struggled in ways that
few can imagine everybody was taking drugs so the combination of all those
things and the massive success where you know you start to think and do
anything then lead any kind of life without any consequences
for all his exuberance wild
partying and apparent show of eve
mercury also had demons and
inner struggles that he contended with his entire life
Mercury Was born on
September 5th 1946 in the British protectorate of Zanzibar
his parents Bomi and gerbil
Sarah named him Farouk a popular parsIs name in keeping with their ethno-religious
background which means happy and fortunate.
that they selected for him
as Farrell that was his birth name that was the name at that time very
fashionable in in the past and I just wanted to name him
at age 7 he began taking
piano lessons which would prove important in his musical development
videos to come running
after reckless then that India was on and then the music was finished you
entered this tool again and played that I am just getting some musically since
he's got in here for music
mercury was sent to
boarding school in India when he was eight and though it might be hard to
believe he was incredibly shy at the time making matters worse was his
substantial overbite which made him the target of much mockery among his peers
and earned him the nickname Bucky
when size is space my mouth
means more range i'll consider your offer
though this would have caused many children to
retreat inwards young for opel sarah flourished in the boarding school setting
by the age of 12 he had already started his first band with shoolmates.
Already started his first
bandwidth school mates and practising a lot and I really like every minute of
it but I have to tell you about something else Rosemary had the idea to form a
band and asked me if I wanted to be in it we will call ourselves the hectic
it was also around this
time that he began going by Freddie and distinguished himself as a performer peers
described him as being at once shy and ashow off depending on the situation
this is a duality that would follow him throughout his life. outwardly
exuberant but inwardly insecure
fed even recording people darling we were sort of terribly
shocked to notice something was not done and not spoken about in public and we
were all terribly shocked. I mean a boy sings darling to other boy you didn’t say to a girl in public in those days damn
it so mercury's childhood
was a mostly happy one his life was upended in 1964 when his family was forced
to flee Zanzibar out of fear for their safety when a violent revolution broke
out
it was very frightening it
was really frightening and everybody was rushing around and didn't know what to
do exactly it and because we had young children went to decide to leave the
country
it would ultimately go on
to claimed lives of many Indian and Arab
people with some estimates placing the death toll as high as 20,000 thankfully
the bull sera family got out in time and relocated to the town of Feltham in
Middlesex England
if freddy had the choice he would have been born at the age
of about 21 in felton.
although tragedy brought the bulsara family to
England the move did provide Freddie with opportunities he would have been
unlikely to receive back home here he was able to study art in West london's
Isleworth Polytechnic followed by graphic design at ealing art college
all the while he continued
to develop his music both during his studies and after graduation
leaving in the spring of 66
with an A grade a level under his belt
mercury was involved in a
number of projects but it was when he joined the band smile which would later
evolve into queen that his life would change forever
well then you'll need
someone new I know it is . what about me.
No those teeth mate.
the story of queen success has been well
documented elsewhere so we're going to focus more specifically on freddie's
personal life as the band rose from up and comers to living rock gods Freddie became
an icon his onstage flamboyance was generally accepted despite gender norms of
the time but did lead to much speculation about his sexuality and by extension
homophobia
it’s vision has got to be a
visual theatrics will always be used all the greatest abused it decades
after his passing people are still trying to put mercury's
sexuality in a box was he gay was he bisexual the reality is the public
confusion over sexual identity is a reflection of the singer's own lack of
clarity
I think I'm bisexual ready
okay
mercury never gave the
press a straight answer when asked about his sexuality letting his actions
speak for him nonetheless freddie's behaviour did result in backlash from fans
as his style increasingly reflected the fashion of the 80s gay culture American
listeners began to turn against the band
what do you think gay not
this darling the house
some fans went as far as to
throw razors onstage encouraging him to shave his gay moustache because he
never identified himself as explicitly gay it was as if a portion of the fans
sought to sanitise his image
the whole publicity from
him growing a moustache then he would
have done if he committed suicide I thing
but given the rampant homophobia of the time
it's little wonder that while indulging in all manner of sexual activity and
being an overtly sexual being- mercury never really explicitly came out as a
gay man
in your song life ir real what do you mean by the line love is a
roulette wheel are you implying that the more partners you have the more
chances you have of contracting something
what
over the course of his life
mercury had a number of notable relationships his earliest and perhaps most enduring
love was Mary Austin they lived together for many years and even got engaged
but is mercury's interest in men became more apparent their relationship
evolved into a platonic one
I don't know many people
turn to and the only one who we talking about
it is marry who was a you know long you know she's been a girlfriend of mine from a long
time and even though we're not together right now . in legitimate machine i sort of refer to a lot
Freddie took many lovers
over the years but few of them are more than a footnote in his story by 1975 homeever he met radio
DJ paul printer at a bar and the latter became a big part of freddie’s life
involving himself with the rock star personally and as his manager
I saw him as a very
subversive influence in the worst possible sense -----I don’t see queens her in when they in the 60s I won’t be
with them if they are I hope that I was sleeping
what paul brento was his partner in crime
they were lovers and for years seem to have
behaved as life parthers . printers professional influence over Freddie however
seemingly drove a wedge between the singer and the band
do you want pissing off .
this is a band discussion
printer and mercury’s
relationship while largely obscured in mystery was by alla accounts of volatile
and seemingly toxic and before passing of sida related illness himself printers
sold a story outing Freddie to the tabloids
care about you. Paul doesn’t
care about you. You don’t belong here pretty , humble mood.
Around the same time that
printer and mercury parted ways . freddy began a relationship with Jimmy Hutton
with whom he lived for the remaining years of his life though he had lovers and friends mercury's
life was one characterise first and foremost by an intense and pervasive sense
of loneliness in a handful of candid interviews the singer revealed that he
almost always felt alone surely
Comes a time when you want
to share your life with someone yes but nobody wants to share his life with me
by his own admission he was
prone to falling in love and falling hard and because he so often got his
heartbroken he learned to close himself off holding back when he felt drawn to
someone new
before he leaves boarding
school the 14 year old Freddie jumps in a friend's autograph book modern
paintings are like women you can't enjoy them if you try to understand them
all the lovers he took in messy relationships
he had including the complex one with Mary Austin were attempts to satisfy his
greatest unrealised desire to be in a beautiful relationship with someone
the more I opened up the more I get hurt so I
mean you know it's so basically what happens is I'm just riddled with scars and
I just don't want anymore
by his own admission
however his self destructiveness made him difficult to love and so for much of
his life Freddie suffered greatly desperately seeking love while burdened with
the knowledge that he drove it away because of his iconic status is a party
animal and his flamboyant nature people often tend to gloss over his substance
abuse but according to Peter freestone who worked for mercury for over a decade
getting the star his cocaine was a regular part of his job though freestone doesn't frame it as an addiction cocaine
seemed to be a staple and freddie's life part of his falling out with Michael
Jackson allegedly stemmed from the queen singer using the drug in Jackson's
home you generally can't party for days as mercury did without it damaging your
behaviour
I've been hideous I know
that I deserve your fury I've been conceited selfish
We’re not performing or
otherwise entertaining he was known to be quite shy and drugs were likely an
essential tool in helping him come shell the final chapter in Freddie mercury's
life is the darkest and most well known
About it what sida
according to partner Jimmy
Hutton mercury was diagnosed with HIV in 1987 but the singer didn't publicly
acknowledge it until 1991 just 24 hours before his death up until the very end
however even as his health deteriorated mercury continued to pursue his great
passion music speaking with queen guitarist Brian May towards the end of his
life he told his bandmate quote write me more right me stuff I want to just
sing this and do it and when I'm gone you can finish it off
worst of all if you bore me with your sympathy that’s just seconds wasted seconds that could be used
making music which is all I want to do at the time I have left
the great showman
eventually became bedridden lost most of his foot and began to lose his
eyesight with various friends visiting him around the clock in the last few
weeks of his life Freddie Mercury chose to embrace his fate by foregoing any
further treatment he died on November
24th 1991
you think you are going to get to heaven no I don't want to hell is much better look at the interest
interesting people that you’re gonna
meet down there you are gonna be there
too you know.
Freddy left large sums of
money to everyone from Jimmy Hutton to a chef and personal driver all the
people who made his life a little less lonely the majority of his fortune
however he left to Mary Austin the love of his life an longest lasting friend
his life had been nice work
I think his joy had been that and I think without it he would have wouldn't have
been strong enough to face
to the rest of us mercury
left an enduring legacy of not only powerful and timeless music but also his
fashion sense bold personality and the
high bar he said for all performers to follow
freddie was a one of a king
and while his life was difficult anda
tragically short he
continues to inspire countless fans around the world
I don't regret any other
things I did I'm just me just me
