Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury was a British singer and songwriter best remembered for being a member of the iconic British rock band Queen who are known for such hits as We Are the Champions, We Will Rock You, and Bohemian Rhapsody. Freddie Mercury died at the age of 45 in Kensington, London from bronchopneumonia which was caused by AIDS.
Freddie Mercury performing live in New Haven, Connecticut, U.S. in November 1977. Source: Wikimedia: Author: Carl Lender.
Freddie Mercury’s Personal Life
Freddie was born Farrokh Bulsara to Bomi and Jer Bulsara on September 5, 1946 in Zanzibar (which is present day Tanzania). He was therefore technically born in Africa. Despite being in a number of relationships with both men and women (including Mary Austin and Jim Hutton), Mercury never got married nor fathered any children.
Interesting Facts about Freddie Mercury
- He grew up with a younger sister named Kashmira.
- He spent most of his young life in India, where his parents originally hailed from.
- In 1964, Freddie and his family were forced to flee from Zanzibar in order to save their lives as a result of the bloody Zanzibar Revolution, which claimed the lives of several thousands of Indians and Arabs.
- Freddie’s first music band was a band called the Hectics, which was active from 1958 to 1962. Freddie formed the Hectics while attending the St. Peter’s Boys School near Bombay (now called Mumbai) in India.
- Freddie was responsible for designing Queen’s iconic “royal crest” logo, which is officially known as the “Queen Crest”.
- Prior to gaining international stardom with Queen, Freddie did a number of menial jobs, including selling used clothes in London.
- He adopted the name “Freddie” prior to his career with Queen and “Mercury” after he joined Queen.
- Mercury kept the fact that he had AIDS until just a day before he died of the disease.
- Upon his death from AIDS in November 1991, Mercury became the first prominent rock star to die of the disease.
- In 2001, he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Queen.
- In 2002, he was included in the BBC’s list of the 100 Greatest Britons of all time. In the list, Mercury was placed at the 58th position.
Being a fan myself, I’d like to let everyone know that my e-book (Freddie M: The Man Behind The Showman) about the meaning of Freddie songs will be available for free on 24th November on amazon in Pacific Standard Time.