Freddie Murphy biography. Freddie Mercury: biography. Freddie Mercury is the star of all time. Last days.
* The name of the legendary British singer Freddie Mercury was assigned to one of the asteroids. It is noted that the asteroid 17473 was discovered in 1991 - the year the leader of Queen died. On September 5, Queen guitarist Brian May announced the assignment of the Mercury name to the asteroid. "I am pleased to announce that the Minor Planet Center has named asteroid 17473, discovered in 1991, the name Freddie, in honor of his 70th birthday," May said. Named 17473 Freddiemercury, the asteroid is located in the Main Asteroid Belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter From Earth, it can only be seen through a telescope.
Freddie Mercury had so many figures: gossip saw a strange and disheveled side, his lovers liked to show off their genius and sensibility without caring about their private excesses. And this is the second image that arose after his death, of a sweet and serene person, helped his last friend by his best friend in the company of his cat, almost the antithesis of this impressive image that he allowed in the stadiums in the stadiums.
He was loved and able to love, especially his audience, always delivering a memorable experience and, as he said, voted for shows and music until a few days before disappearing. What he left to our fans is that he hears "Radio Gaga", this "Scaramouche" song, a tear that comes every time we listen to "We take the places of champions".
wrote TEKTONIC @ Mon, 05 Sep 2016 13:25:56 +0300
* A group of scientists from Austria, Sweden and the Czech Republic conducted a large-scale study of the vocal data of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury.
He masterfully mastered the technique of throat singing, knew how to distort his voice, and his famous vibrato reached a frequency level of seven hertz.
Scientists analyzed 23 Queen albums, as well as Mercury's solo record "Freddie Mercury: The Solo Collection" and his various interviews. They also conducted an experiment with the participation of a vocalist who imitated the voice of Mercury.
And he followed "my friends", my friends, a symbol of how he could create unique relationships with millions of people. Like a friend you haven't heard from in years, but you know, he's always there. And when you go forever, it's hard for you to believe even after 24 years.
His art-hungry and musical soul ends up in England, where he moves with his family, a place where he develops artistically and, above all, opens up, developing his convulsive passion for Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, Elvis Presley and the Jacksons. Freddie takes piano and guitar lessons, but not vocals, it's a character that gives him a unique intensity and timbre very close to those of a tenor.
As a result, the researchers concluded that the Queen vocalist often performed his vocal exercises at the limit of human capabilities.
wrote TEKTONIC @ Fri, 22 Apr 2016 15:12:22 +0300
* At the dawn of his career, Freddie claimed that he dreamed of correcting his legendary malocclusion. But due to the fact that he was afraid to spoil his vocal abilities or due to lack of time, or maybe because of a banal fear, he subsequently refused this operation. Also, due to fear of losing vocal data, Freddie refused to remove polyps on the vocal cords. However, this did not stop him from being a heavy smoker.
His impressive artistic ability is particularly evident in creating a fusion between different genres, such as the duet "Barcelona" with the soprano Montserrat Caballe, in which rock and opera are combined in a very innovative way, resulting in a spirit always strained with the most complex experiments. From the personality of a chameleon, Freddie is captivated by the energy he demonstrates when performing on stage, but also captivates when he shows a shy and reserved nature in his personal life.
A bit like his phrasing, which knows how to be so natural, yet determined and strong at the same time. It is in the 80s that his life changes with a real break with the past, even with a huge change in his outlook. He cuts his hair and grows a mustache, and this is his most intimate area - sexuality, which is placed under the lights and reflectors of the stage, and with him Freddie himself, who, perhaps for the first time, really manifests himself in everything himself. His love affair with Mary Austin turns into a brotherly friendship and begins to live freely in his homosexuality, which until now has been hidden from his parents, becoming often deliberately provocative and ambiguous in this aspect of his life as you will never want to admit to your own choice, even without denying it, or maybe trying to get around those who look at all the costs of "labeling" it in some category.
* A large number of songs by Queen, whose soloist was Mercury recognized by the entire world community. So, the song "Bohemian Rhapsody", which was written by Freddie, was recognized as the "Best Song of the Millennium". In addition, the well-known song "We Are The Champions" and "We will, we will rock you" made the list of the most popular songs in the world, not to mention the fact that "We Are The Champions" became the unofficial anthem of the winners of major sports competitions.
Official motivations are different, and all of them are associated with a younger age, but, unfortunately, the reality is different. You see and hear in music and in your fans a miracle cure, so he moves to Switzerland, starting from this perhaps more sentimental stage, which brings him the only love for his audience, despite the difficulties associated with illness. One of his last performances is and remains unforgettable: in the video for the song "These are the Days of Our Lives", Freddie seems almost unrecognizable, unlikely, and his innate royal elegance seems almost lost in the dress. When his audience sees the video, Freddie is already dead and his the last words of the video "I still love you" sound like goodbye to everyone.
* Mercury did not consider himself a good pianist and was very worried when he had to sit down at the instrument on stage during the performance of "Bohemian Rhapsody". Freddie, with great relief, stopped playing keyboards, entrusting this to a guest musician, and focused on stage shows.
* Freddie had several cats that he was madly in love with and was dedicated to his solo album, called “Mr. Bad Guy' On the band's world tours, he often called home and could talk to his pets for hours on the phone.
The show went on when he sang, because he must go on, always and anyway, he couldn't be otherwise. Freddie was a man of his time. He decided to live freely in those years with some undeniable despondency, but above all with an inexhaustible amount of freedom. By mistake, we might add a hint that we could, but we would make a serious mistake to judge a human parable of such a person with social and cultural categories the day after.
How much has happened in the last twenty-five years? The world has changed, literally. And this has changed for the better, let's say, even if we do not miss the opportunity to complain and return to the memory of "good times." From that day on, legend, legend, Freddie has been an unforgettable music icon.
* At all Queen concerts, Freddie used a microphone with an unfinished stand attached to it. This distinctive sign, which became the singer's hallmark, was formed during the years of his first performances in England as part of the Wreckage group.
* The name of Freddie Mercury has become a kind of brand in music, synonymous with rock of the 80s. Many modern singers take Freddie's image, performance style as a model, but no one has yet managed to achieve the same success that Freddie Mercury and Queen have been able to achieve in 20 years of working together. Regarding the image of the singer, Freddie has always shocked the audience with his outfits: tight tights embroidered with sequins, black eyeliner, original bodysuits or T-shirts that expose the torso, and unchanged sneakers - from the very first day when Freddie Mercury took the stage, and until the end of his day he was a trendsetter.
The most sparkling star of world music publicly confessed that he was suffering from a terrible disease, which then remained without visible visibility, which was noticed, also due to some dirty "sensitization" campaigns, such as the plague, a plague that condemned a person not only to almost certain death, but also to complete exclusion. And it didn't matter if you called Mario Rossi or Freddie Mercury: you were, however, considered a petty, vicious, possible failure.
Nevertheless, the huge size of Freddie Mercury cannot and should not only be associated with her illness, her lifestyle. Sleek, no mustache, very tired to try to hide the signs of illness, this video has the whole human drama of a man who lived to a thousand in oras, who for almost two decades embodied the almost mythical figure of a rock star invincible, and now standing there in front of the camera , with a sad look and aloud to tell in music the last swindler of an unforgettable existence.
Freddie Mercury (eng. Freddie Mercury, real name Farrukh Bulsara (guj. ફારોખ બલ્સારા); September 5, 1946, Stone City, Zanzibar - November 24, 1991, London, United Kingdom) - British singer of Parsi origin, songwriter, vocalist of the rock band Queen .
He was the author of such group hits as "Seven Seas of Rhye", "Killer Queen", "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Somebody to Love", "We Are the Champions", "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and others. The musician also played solo creativity. Freddie died on November 24, 1991 from bronchial pneumonia that developed on the background of AIDS.
The moralistic approach to the life of Freddie Mercury does not work today, because at that time it did not work. And not because we are talking about the artist, a category that, according to some, should have some kind of immunity. An underage, moralistic approach won't work, simply because the Queen's frontman in those years perfectly embodied the mood of the era, rather than the corrupted and vicious stereotype of the singer. These were the 1980s, years of reflux, a return to the individual and individualistic dimension after the ideological repression of the previous decade.
In 2002, Freddie Mercury was ranked 58th in the BBC's 100 Greatest Britons poll.
In 2005, Blender magazine conducted a poll, according to which Freddie ranked second among vocalists (first among men). In 2008, Rolling Stone ranked him #18 on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Vocalists of All Time list. Allmusic described him as "one of the greatest rock singers and possessor of one of the greatest voices in the history of music."
These were the years of Reaganian hedonism that sought pleasure. Freddie Mercury, on the other hand, was a man of his time. He decided to live freely during those years with some undeniable discontent, but above all with an inexhaustible amount of freedom. By mistake, we might add a hint of what we could, but we would make a serious mistake in judging a human parable about such a person with social and cultural categories the next day. And if Freddie Mercury is still one of the most beloved characters in the history of music, precisely because he is a living monument to freedom, he is rejected in every possible dimension.
Freddie Mercury was born on September 5, 1946 in Stone Town - the oldest district of the city of Zanzibar on the island of the same name in the Parsi family of Bomi (1908 - 12/25/2003) and Jer (born 09/29/1922) Bulsara. At birth, the boy received the name Farrukh, which means “beautiful”, “happy”. His father worked as a cashier at the Supreme Court of England and Wales. In 1952, Farrukh had a sister, Kashmir.
Creative and artistic freedom, first of all, but also human and individual. Freedom made from mistakes and falls, to a dramatic final epilogue. But man is, after all, free to go wrong in the first place. Paying the consequences personally and in his own skin, as happened to Freddie Mercury, an icon of the way of understanding life and society that celebrated these glorious and terrible years at the same time, from fantasies, colors, freedom, but also sweating, vomiting and blood, bulimia a sexual, frantic and desperate search for individual gratification, small moments of happiness, in a world that has realized its ideological failure and tried in every possible way to forget.
In 1954, Farrukh's parents sent him to St. Peter's School in Panchgani, 500 kilometers from Bombay. At that time, Bollywood singer Lata Mangeshkar had a significant musical formative influence on him. In Panchgani, the boy began to live with his grandfather and aunt. The name Farrukh was inconvenient for classmates to pronounce (mostly English-speaking), so friends began to call him Freddie.
Freddie Mercury, the Queen's singer, died twenty-two years ago. To restore our figure, we decided to interview a well-trained journalist and essayist, the author of some large volumes on rock and history. Cats, Freddie Mercury can certainly be considered one of the great interpreters of rock history: what do you think? The queen's singer is one of those faces and those translators who cannot leave indifferent and who stimulate their head and heart and will continue to do so.
First of all because he was a singer of great quality and versatility because he was a great song production machine. One of the traits that strikes me the most about Mercury's character, in addition to her captivating voice, is definitely her taste for beauty and art. It is known that he always tried to make each concert of his work a work of art, a performance of dance, singing and acting. Mercury said: "Glam is part of us, and we want to be dandy."
All sports at St. Peter's were quintessentially British. Freddie did not like cricket and long distance running - he preferred hockey, sprinting and boxing. At the age of ten, he became the champion of the school in table tennis, at the age of twelve he received a cup for victory in the youth all-around, as well as a diploma "for success in all sciences and arts." Freddie studied well, showed interest in music and painting, and constantly made drawings for friends and relatives. He also sang in the school choir and participated in performances.
This love of glam in the 70s influences and distinguishes the artist's music and lyrics from his contemporaries? Because Bowie mentions that the latter was a product of the 1960s, he embraced much more and played with ambiguities in a more subtle mode and intellectual club. Mercury was obviously raw, preferring the stomach hit and courting the intellect. First, let's remember that the queen of the first album in 1973 is a hard rock band. Throughout this, Freddie is a vocalist, pianist and frontman and highlights his strengths as a writer: great sensitivity to life with intensity and a mad desire to be there, love and love.
FROM early years was fond of music. Singing took up almost all of his free time, sometimes to the detriment of his studies. On the musical ability Freddie was noticed by the headmaster of St. Peter's School. He wrote a letter to the boy's parents, in which he offered to organize piano lessons for Freddie for a small fee. Parents agreed, and Freddie began to study with enthusiasm. Upon graduation, he received a fourth degree in theory and practice (Piano Grade IV).
It's dirty and brave, it doesn't have the appealing ambiguity of Bowie and Marc Bolan, or the gripping sensuality of Robert Plant or Mick Jagger. It's a Greek mask that instantly transitions from comedy to tragedy of the video. In this sense, he is much closer to the irony of Frank Zappa's Rain Davis or Kinks than to Bowie's transformation. For a thousand reasons there are children, puppets. Business determines that government and business must remain an object that is easy to use. Freddie always said: No one imagines me so far from the scene, far from the money, far from the business.
In 1958, five friends from St. Peter's School - Freddy Bulsara, Derrick Branche, Bruce Murray, Farang Irani and Victor Rana - created their first rock band, which they called The Hectics(Russian Psychos). The band played at school parties, dances and anniversaries.
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In 1962, sixteen-year-old Freddie graduated from St. Peter's School in Panchgani and returned to Zanzibar. In early 1964, the British government transferred power over Zanzibar to the Arab Sultan, and a week after that, Zanzibar was proclaimed an independent state. Due to political unrest in the country, the Bulsara family, taking only two suitcases with clothes, flew to the UK.
No one imagines how we are each of us four, away from the machine we call the queen. The queen has been the symbol group of a certain planetary rock for so long that the word "rebellion" could not even constitute their program, if there was one. Perhaps they added a note of excess and a mask that at least allowed them to be and appear funny and enjoyable. They were powerful on stage, ironically bumpy, deliciously melodic, mildly aggressive: a nice mix for sound and a different image from the others.
Of course, anyway, they were in their role. Disappointments and disappointments followed. And each of them collects his stones: who retreats, who sneezes, who walks past the analyst. It's a birthright that casts a glance at death, a bit like a sergeant. It's a good disc, but maybe not as great, but it has a tension that only the facts of fate motivate. The tension anyone wants can also be found in a record such as "The Wind," the great American rocker Warren Zevon, recorded in even more dramatic settings.
Arriving in England, the Bulsara family first stayed with relatives who lived in Feltham, Middlesex, then they bought their own house. Freddie, who by that time was eighteen years old, entered Islesworth Polytechnic School, where he studied mainly painting, as he wanted to go to art college.
The family had problems with money, so Freddie had to earn extra money during the holidays. Initially, he worked in the supply department of Heathrow Airport in London, then as a loader in the Feltham warehouse. His colleagues drew attention to his "graceful" hands, not appropriate for this work. Freddie answered their questions that he is a musician and works as a loader only in his free time. Thanks to Freddie's charm, other loaders began to take on the lion's share of his work.
In May 1966, after graduating from Islesworth with a high score in painting, Freddie was interviewed at the Ealing College of Art in London, where he began to study at the department of graphic illustration in the autumn of that year.
Shortly thereafter, Freddie left his parental home and settled in a rented apartment in Kensington with his friend Chris Smith. Kensington in those years was the heart of London bohemia and art. Freddie drew a lot, a special place in his drawings was occupied by his idol - guitarist Jimi Hendrix. In Ealing, Freddie met and became friends with Tim Staffel, vocalist, bass player and leader of the band Smile. After some time, Tim began to invite Freddie to the band's rehearsals. Freddie appreciated the potential of Smile, especially the playing of guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor. Freddie also met other young aspiring musicians such as Tim and Nigel Foster. Chris Smith, his flatmate, was also into music. Freddie and Chris played together, trying to mix different styles, but did not go on stage.
In the summer of 1969, twenty-three-year-old Freddie graduated from Ealing with a diploma in graphic design. Freddie soon moved in with Roger Taylor, and they opened a shop in Kensington Market, selling both Freddie's paintings and other merchandise.
On August 13, Freddie met the Liverpool group Ibex. The group included guitarist Mike Berzin, bass player John Taylor, nicknamed Tapp, drummer Mick Smith, nicknamed Miffer (from the English miff - “angry”, “spoil the mood”) and another bass player Jeff Higgins, who replaced Tapp, when he played the flute. Their manager Ken Testi was with them. Ten days after the meeting, Freddie already knew the entire repertoire of the group, added a few of his songs and went with them to their first joint concert, in Bolton, Lancashire. Their concerts were held as part of the annual blues festival, so the events were covered by the press. Ibex concerts were held on August 23 at the Oktogon Theater and on August 25 at the Royal Park. Ibex performed cover versions of songs by Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin - Freddie's favorites.
In September-October 1969, at the suggestion of Freddie, the group was renamed Wreckage (“Wreckage”), and Freddie went to the trick to convince everyone to change the name of the group. After a short time, Miffer left the band and was replaced by Richard Thompson, ex-drummer of the 1984 band in which Brian May played before Smile. After the renaming, Wreckage played a few gigs, but soon, largely due to the fact that Mike Berzin returned to Liverpool to study, the group broke up.
Freddie decided to find himself a new band. Among the ads in Melody Maker, he found a vacancy for a vocalist in the group Sour Milk Sea (“Sour Milk Sea”). Freddie came to the audition and was accepted the same day, as the other members liked his voice and manner of movement. The band consisted of vocalist/guitarist Chris Chezney, bassist Paul Milne, rhythm guitarist Jeremy "Rubber" Gallop, and drummer Rob Tyrell. After a few rehearsals, the band played a couple of gigs in Oxford, Chris' hometown.
Freddie and Chris became friends, and soon Chris moved into the apartment where Freddie and the musicians from Smile lived. The rest of the members of Sour Milk Sea did not like their friendship, they argued this antipathy with concern for the future of the group. As a result, after two months, Jeremy took almost all the equipment (because it belonged to him), and this ended the existence of Sour Milk Sea.
In April 1970, Tim Staffel decided to leave Smile, and Freddie took the place of the vocalist in their group. On his initiative, the group was renamed Queen.
Until February 1971, the group did not have a permanent bassist - in less than a year, Queen was replaced by three people. Finally, at one of the musical parties, they met John Deacon, whose abilities best suited the group professionally. After that, Queen formed the final lineup.
After the line-up of the group became permanent, Freddie decided to draw her coat of arms. According to one version, the coat of arms of Great Britain was taken as the basis, with the Latin letter Q, around which the zodiac signs of Queen members are “woven”: two Lions - John Deacon and Roger Taylor, a crab crawling out of the fire - the sign of Cancer - Brian May. Two fairies with wings are good helpers for the heroes from the British epic (Freddie's zodiac sign is also Virgo).
In 1972, while recording Queen's debut album at Trident Studios, Freddie decided to change his surname Bulsara to the creative pseudonym "Mercury" (from the English Mercury - "Mercury" and "Mercury"). He used this name in his song "My Fairy King" (My Fairy King), which contains the lines: "Mother Mercury, look what they've done to me, I cannot run I cannot hide" (Mother Mercury, variant: mercury ), look what they did to me, I can't run, I can't hide). In parallel with the work on the first album - Queen - Freddie took part in the Trident Studios project under the pseudonym Larry Lurex, performing cover versions of the songs "I Can Hear Music" and "Going Back" (at the initiative of Freddie Mercury, Brian May was involved in this project and Roger Taylor).
Freddie wrote the first Queen song to hit the UK charts, "Seven Seas of Rhye" (1973). He also composed the band's first hit, "Killer Queen" (1974), as well as Queen's most successful song, "Bohemian Rhapsody". The song was predicted to fail due to its length being too long by the standards of that time for a single and for playing on commercial radio stations (5:55) and mixing several styles and genres of music. But Queen released the song as a single, shot a video clip for it, which became a revolution in music videos, some even call it "the first video clip", although clips for songs were filmed before. The song stayed at the top of the British charts for nine weeks.
In 1975, Queen toured Japan. Freddie fell in love with Japan and became a fanatical collector of Japanese art.
On October 7, 1979, Freddie's old dream came true - he performed with the Royal Ballet. He chose the songs "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" for his performance.
In 1980, Freddie changed his image - he cut his hair short and grew a mustache.
At the end of 1982, the Queen group announced that there would be no tour next year, the group was going on vacation. Freddie Mercury has been thinking about the idea of releasing a solo album for a long time, and now the opportunity has arisen for this. In early 1983 he began recording at the Musicland Studios in Munich. During this time, he met the composer Giorgio Moroder, who was involved in a restoration project for Fritz Lang's 1926 silent science fiction film Metropolis. Moroder was brought in as a composer to set the film's soundtrack to contemporary music. He invited Mercury to take part in this project. The result of the collaboration between Mercury and Moroder was the song "Love Kills", released on September 10, 1984.
At the end of May 1983, Freddie Mercury visited Verdi's opera Un ballo in maschera. Here he first saw and heard the outstanding Spanish opera singer Montserrat Caballe. The extraordinary beauty and power of her voice made a great impression on him.
The first single from Mercury's forthcoming solo album Mr. Bad Guy became the song "I Was Born to Love You", released on April 9, 1985. The album was released three weeks later by CBS Records. Subsequently, two songs from this album "Made in Heaven" and "I Was Born to Love You" were included on the album "Made in Heaven", released by Queen in 1995.
July 13, 1985 was a special day for Queen and Freddie. On this day, the Live Aid concert took place - a grand show at Wembley Stadium, where 75 thousand spectators were present and many famous performers, such as Sting, U2 and many others (in parallel with the show at Wembley there was a concert in Philadelphia). The concert was broadcast on TV all over the world. With their performance, Queen secured their place in history, and reviewers, journalists, fans and critics said that the group became the highlight of the program.
A year later, on July 12, 1986, Queen played again at Wembley as part of the Magic Tour in support of A Kind of Magic. This concert was attended by over 120,000 people and was later published as Queen at Wembley. The final show of the tour at Knebworth on 9 August was Queen's last performance with the Mercury.
On February 23, 1987, Freddie Mercury released the single "The Great Pretender" (a cover version of a song by The Platters recorded at Townhouse Studios). He also recorded two songs for the 1986 musical Time, the self-titled "Time" and "In My Defense".
In March 1987, Freddie Mercury met with Montserrat Caballe in Barcelona. and gave her a cassette with several of his new songs. These songs made a strong impression on Caballe, and she even performed one of them, to the surprise of Freddie Mercury, at a concert in London, Covent Garden.
In early April 1987, Mercury and Caballe began work on a joint album. At the end of May, a music festival was held at the famous Ku-Club on the island of Ibiza, where Mercury and Caballe were guests of honor. They performed the song "Barcelona" at the festival, which Freddie Mercury dedicated to Caballe's hometown. October 8, 1988 at the La Nit festival in Barcelona, the second joint performance of Mercury and Caballe took place - they performed three songs: "Golden Boy", "How Can I Go On" and "Barcelona". The co-writer of these songs, Mike Moran, performed the piano parts for these songs. This performance was the last appearance of Freddie Mercury before the public. By this time, the musician was already seriously ill with AIDS.
Album Barcelona released October 10, 1988. The title track of the album, "Barcelona" became one of the two anthems of the Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona in 1992 (the second was the song "Amigos Para Siempre" by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Don Black performed by Sarah Brightman and José Carreras).
In 1986, rumors began to appear that Freddie Mercury had AIDS. Initially, information was leaked to the press that he was taking an HIV test. Since 1989, serious changes in Mercury's appearance began to appear - he lost a lot of weight. However, until the last days of his life, the musician denied all rumors about his health. Only close people knew about his terrible diagnosis.
In 1989, Queen gave their first joint radio interview in several years, where they announced that they wanted to deviate from the usual “album-tour” scheme, and therefore would not go on tour this time. The real reason was that the physical condition of the band's vocalist did not allow for concerts.
Mercury, knowing that there was little time left, tried to record as many songs as possible. In the last years of his life, in addition to his solo album Barcelona, the musician managed to record songs for three more albums of the group. During his lifetime, two albums were released - The Miracle, which was released in 1989 and Innuendo, released in 1991. Also, several video clips were shot for the songs of these albums. For the last lifetime album, the clips were filmed in black and white to disguise the physical condition of the band's vocalist. After the death of Freddie Mercury, the remaining members of the group, using recordings of his voice, were able to release the last album, Queen Made in Heaven, in 1995.
On November 23, 1991, Freddie made an official statement that he had HIV infection: “Given the rumors that have been circulating in the press for the past two weeks, I want to confirm that my blood test showed the presence of HIV. I have AIDS. I felt it necessary to keep this information secret in order to keep my family and friends calm. However, the time has come to tell the truth to my friends and to fans all over the world. I hope everyone will join the fight against this terrible disease.".
He also ordered that all rights to the song "Bohemian Rhapsody" be transferred to the Terence Higgins Foundation, created to counter HIV and AIDS.
The next day, November 24, at about seven o'clock in the evening, Freddie Mercury died at his home in London from bronchopneumonia, which developed against the background of HIV infection and AIDS. After his death was announced, thousands of people came to the fence of his Garden Lodge to place bouquets of flowers, postcards, letters and photographs on the paths.
The funeral of Freddie Mercury was held behind closed doors - only relatives and friends were present. Although the musician, as an adult, no longer followed Zoroastrian beliefs, his Zoroastrian parents conducted the funeral ceremony in accordance with their beliefs, with the exception of cremation of the body, which, according to the customs of Zoroastrianism, is not welcome.
Peter Freestone, personal assistant to Freddie Mercury, described the ceremony as follows: “Freddie’s coffin was carried into the chapel to the sound of Aretha Franklin’s song “You’ve Got a Friend.” The Zoroastrian rite that followed was a continuation of the ceremony, which began at half past eight in the morning. Two Parsi priests dressed in white robes conducted it in the memorial chapel John Nods & Sons Funeral Home in Ladboke Grove ... At the end of the service, Freddie's body left the world, accompanied by the voice of Montserrat Caballe, who sang the aria "D'Amor Sull 'Ali Rosee" from Verdi's Il trovatore. Freddie never aspired to be like everyone else - such an adieu was just in his spirit, and Freddie would have approved of him ".
Freddie Mercury's body was cremated. Only his family and Mary Austin knew where the ashes of the musician were buried - that was his desire. In early 2013, The Daily Mirror reported that fans had discovered the artist's resting place at Kensal Green Cemetery in West London.
In his will, Freddie Mercury left the bulk of his fortune, including the mansion and income from his record sales, to Mary Austin and to his parents and sister. In addition, £500,000 was bequeathed to his chef Joe Fanelli, personal assistant Peter Freestone, £100,000 to his personal chauffeur Terry Giddings, and £500,000 to Jim Hutton. Jim Hutton returned in 1995 to Ireland, where he died on January 1, 2010 from lung cancer.
Freddie Mercury was and still is one of the most popular performers in the world. His incredible stage images and eccentric demeanor on stage are known even to people far from music. On April 20, 1992, the remaining members of Queen Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon, along with many of the world's pop and rock stars, gave a concert in memory of Freddie at Wembley Stadium, the proceeds of which, amounting to 19,400,000 pounds, were sent to funds the fight against AIDS. November 6, 1995 saw the release of the Made in Heaven album, featuring recordings from the spring sessions at Dreamland Studios in Montreux in 1991.
November 25, 1996, 5 years after the death of Freddie Mercury, in Montreux (Switzerland), where the musician worked and rested for many years, a monument was unveiled to him.
Queen musicians originally planned to erect a monument in London, and for four years they were looking for a place for him there, but they were refused. The only site proposed by the government for a monument in London was the backyard of the art college where Freddie studied. Friends considered this an insult to the memory of the great musician. On June 18, 2003 in London near the Dominion Theatre, where performances of the We Will Rock You show are regularly held, another monument about 8 meters high was unveiled.
The name Freddie Mercury has become a kind of brand in music, synonymous with rock of the 80s. Many modern singers take the image, performance style and image of Freddie as a model, but no one has yet managed to achieve the same success that Freddie Mercury and Queen have been able to achieve in 20 years of working together.
The song "Bohemian Rhapsody", which was written by Freddie, was voted the "Best Song of the Millennium" by The Official Charts Company. Freddie's second such famous song was and remains "We Are The Champions", which was in the rotation of almost all US radio stations, not to mention the fact that this composition became the unofficial anthem of the winners of major sports competitions.
Freddie Mercury personal life:
At the end of 1969, Freddie Mercury, thanks to Brian May, met Mary Austin in West Kensington, with whom he lived for about seven years. But then they broke up.
They remained close friends, Mercury made her his personal secretary and often admitted that Mary is his only true friend. In an interview in 1985, Mercury said: “All my lovers ask me why they can’t replace Mary for me. But it's just not possible. She is my only friend and I don't need anyone else. She was actually my wife. We believe in each other and that's enough for me." The singer dedicated several songs to Mary, of which the most significant is the song "Love of My Life". Mercury was the godfather of Mary's eldest son, Richard, and left her his mansion after his death.
Freddie Mercury had a brief relationship with the famous Austrian actress Barbara Valentin, whom he met in 1983. Mercury spoke of their relationship: “Barbara and I created an alliance that was stronger than with any of my passions in the last six years. I could really tell her everything and be myself with her, which happens to me very rarely. The musician also mentioned her among others in the dedication of his solo album Mr. Bad Guy": "Thank you for the big tits and bad behavior."
The image of Freddie Mercury from the very beginning of his popularity raised a lot of questions about his orientation, but Mercury always avoided talking about his personal life, laughing it off or answering vaguely.
In one of the interviews, when asked if the song “I Want to Break Free” is dedicated to sexual minorities (in the video, the group appeared as female characters of the popular soap opera in the UK), Freddie replied: “The funny thing is that everyone thinks that it was my idea, because people think... But it's not. I had something similar in my subconscious, but if I expressed this idea to the rest of the group, they would not agree with it, as it would look like I was trying to dress them all as homosexuals, and everyone thought that I was trying to take advantage situation or something like that. The funny thing is that it was the rest of the band that came up with the idea to me... But I was actually shocked that they were actually going to dress up in women's outfits."
After the death of the musician, information resources continued to discuss the topic of Mercury's orientation. Press allegations that Freddie was gay were based, in part, on interviews with people who personally knew Mercury. Brian May and Roger Taylor gave an interview a week after Freddie's death, in which Brian May said: "He was gay and didn't really hide it" (eng. He was gay and he was quite public about it), and at the Mercury memorial concert, in the spring of 1992, George Michael mentioned the open bisexuality of the singer. The book by Mercury's personal assistant, Peter Freestone, described the singer's connections with several men. Jim Hutton also wrote the book Mercury and Me about his relationship with Freddie during the last six years of the singer's life.
Freddie's friends were such famous people as Montserrat Caballe, Robert Plant, Tim Rice, Rod Stewart, Elton John, Dave Clark, David Bowie, Michael Jackson and many others.
Freddie made four demos with Michael Jackson: two versions of "There Must Be More to Life Than This" (one sung by a duet, the other by Michael Jackson with a few small phrases of Freddie on backing vocals, later the composition was released on Freddie Mercury's solo album Mr. Bad Guy), "State of Shock" (subsequently released by The Jacksons on the album Victory) and "Victory" (details of this recording are unknown). However, by unknown reasons cooperation never took place. Officially, it was said about the employment of both musicians.
After the appearance of the songs "Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)", "Mustapha" and "Las Palabras de Amor (Words of Love)", many were interested in how many languages Freddie knows. In fact, apart from English, Freddie only spoke his native Gujarati.
At all Queen concerts, Freddie used a microphone with an unfinished stand attached to it. This distinctive sign, which became the singer's hallmark, was formed during the years of his first performances in England as part of the Wreckage group. At a concert that took place on Christmas Day 1969 at the Wade Deacon Girls' School in Widnes, Freddie jumped and twirled around the stage as usual. He was tired of the heavy microphone stand - he unscrewed the base from it and "after that he jumped around the stage in his all-familiar manner, squeezing the "extra" three-foot rod attached to the microphone in his hand."
The image of Freddy formed the basis for the design of Saul, one of the main characters in the Guilty Gear series of games.
"A Winter's Tale" is the last song written by Mercury, and "Mother Love" is the last song he recorded. He failed to finish the recording, so the last verse is performed by Brian May.
Mercury was a keen philatelist as a child. His collection was exhibited at philatelic exhibitions in different countries.
Mercury was very fond of cats, in his mansion in different years Several cats usually lived: Oscar, Tiffany, Goliath, Delilah, Miko, Romeo, Lily. He dedicated a song to his cat Delilah.
Freddie is dead movie. The Last Nightmare ”was released in the year of Freddie Mercury’s death, a few months before his death, and the premiere took place on September 5, 1991, the singer’s last birthday.
On May 31, 2011, a two-part documentary about Queen called "Queen - Days of Our Lives" was released on the British channel BBC.
On September 5, 2011, in honor of the 65th anniversary of the birth of Freddie Mercury, the Google search engine was loaded with a special animated intro (Doodle) to the song "Don't Stop Me Now".
In September 2012, the image of Freddie Mercury was turned into one of the characters in the popular computer game Angry Birds. All proceeds from turning Freddie into a computer hero will go to the Mercury Phoenix Trust, a charity dedicated to helping people with AIDS.
Discography of Freddie Mercury:
Mr. Bad Guy (album released April 29, 1985)
Barcelona (album released October 10, 1988)
The Freddie Mercury Album (released November 17, 1992)
The Great Pretender (album released November 24, 1992 US only)
Freddie Mercury - Remixes (album released November 1, 1993 in Bolivia, Brazil, Italy, the Netherlands and Japan only)
The Solo Collection (box set released October 23, 2000 in the UK, Europe and Japan)
Solo (album released in 2000)
Lover of Life, Singer of Songs (album released September 4, 2006).
Singles by Freddie Mercury:
1974 - "I Can Hear Music"
1984 - "Love Kills"
1985 - "I Was Born to Love You"
1985 - "Made in Heaven"
1985 - "Living on My Own"
1985 - "Love Me Like There's No Tomorrow"
1986 - "Time"
1987 - "The Great Pretender"
1987 - "Barcelona" (with M. Caballe)
1988 - "The Golden Boy" (with M. Caballe)
1988 - "How Can I Go On" (with M. Caballe)
Posthumously published (selectively):
1992 - "Barcelona" (with M. Caballe)
1992 - "How Can I Go On" (with M. Caballe)
1992 - "In My Defense"
1993 - "The Great Pretender"
1993 - "Living on My Own" (No More Brothers Remix)
2006 - "Love Kills" (a series of remixes released for the 60th anniversary)