Background

Freddie Mercury was born as Farrokh Bulsara on September 5, 1945, in the British territory of the Sultanate of Zanzibar, a part of present-day Tanzania, to Parsi parents, Bomi and Jer Bulsara. The family surname is derived from the town of Bulsar (also known as Valsad) in southern Gujarat. As Parsis, Mercury and his family practised the Zoroastrian religion. The Bulsara family had moved to Zanzibar so that his father could continue his job as a cashier at the British Colonial Office. He had a younger sister, Kashmira.

The family lived a fairly affluent life, with a nanny and other domestic workers. Young Freddie was raised in India, where he was taught the piano at a tender age of seven. When Zanzibar became part of the independent country of Tanzania in 1964, Bulsara moved with his family to Feltham, England.

Education

Farrokh Bulsara was educated at the St. Peter's School in Panchgani, near Mumbai, beginning 1954. Freddie began pursuing a course in art from West London's Isleworth Polytechnic (present-day West Thames College). He graduated with a diploma in Art and Graphic Designing from the Ealing Art College.

Career

Influenced by the hard-edged, blues-based style of rock acts such as Cream and Jimi Hendrix, Bulsara began singing with bands in London. He also became friends with guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor of the band Smile, and in 1970, when Smile’s lead singer quit, Bulsara replaced him. He soon changed the group’s name to Queen and his own to Freddie Mercury. Bassist John Deacon joined the following year. Incorporating elements of both heavy metal and glam rock, the band debuted on record with Queen (1973), which was followed by Queen II (1974). Despite an impressive blend of majestic vocal harmonies and layered virtuosic guitar work, Queen initially failed to attract much notice beyond the United Kingdom. The album Sheer Heart Attack (1974), however, shot up the international charts, and A Night at the Opera (1975) sold even better. The band’s ambitious approach to both songwriting and studio production was epitomized by the latter album’s mock-operatic single “Bohemian Rhapsody,” one of a number of Queen compositions written principally by Mercury. The song spent nine weeks atop the British singles chart, and its accompanying promotional film helped the music industry recognize its future in video. Spectacular success followed in 1977 with “We Are the Champions” and “We Will Rock You” - which became ubiquitous anthems at sporting events in Britain and the United States.

By the early 1980s, Queen had become an international phenomenon, drawing particular attention for its elaborately staged performances in enormous venues. Strutting the stage in outrageous costumes, Mercury effortlessly commanded audiences in the tens of thousands. Although Queen’s commercial fortunes had begun to wane by mid-decade, the band arguably reached its apotheosis as a live act with a stellar performance at the charity concert Live Aid in 1985. That same year Mercury released the solo record Mr. Bad Guy, which took musical inspiration from disco. Mercury later appeared on the soundtrack of Dave Clark’s science-fiction musical Time (1986) and teamed with Spanish soprano Montserrat Caballé for the semi-operatic album Barcelona (1988).

Mercury wrote 10 of the 17 songs on Queen's Greatest Hits album: "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Seven Seas of Rhye", "Killer Queen", "Somebody to Love", "Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy", "We Are the Champions", "Bicycle Race", "Don't Stop Me Now", "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", and "Play the Game".

In 1991 Mercury, who had engaged in relationships with both men and women, announced that he had been diagnosed with AIDS. He died a day later from complications related to the disease. Until shortly before his death, Mercury had continued to record with Queen, and he was posthumously featured on the band’s final album, Made in Heaven (1995).

Released in 2018, the movie Bohemian Rhapsody, starring Mr. Robot's Rami Malek as Mercury, follows the rise of Queen leading up to their legendary Live Aid performance in 1985.

Following the movie's release, Queen's music saw a resurgence in popularity decades after their last studio album. The group's song "Bohemian Rhapsody" shot from 87th place globally on Spotify the day before the movie's release to 15th one week later, and it hit the Billboard 100 for the third time.

Achievements

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  Mercury has been referred to as "Britain's first Asian rock star". In 2002, Mercury was placed at number 58 in the British Broadcasting Corporation's poll of the 100 Greatest Britons, in 2006, Time Asia named him one of the most influential Asian heroes of the past 60 years, and he continues to be voted one of the greatest singers in the history of popular music. In 2003 Mercury was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and in 2005 he was posthumously awarded an Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Song Collection from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers, and Authors. In 2005, a poll organized by Blender and MTV2 saw Mercury voted the greatest male singer of all time. In 2008, Rolling Stone editors ranked him number 18 on their list of the 100 greatest singers of all time. In 2009, a Classic Rock poll saw him voted the greatest rock singer of all time.

Works

More photos

• music

  • Mr Bad Guy 1985
  • Barcelona 1988
  • Queen 1973
  • Queen II 1974
  • Sheer Heart Attack 1974
  • A Night At The Opera 1975
  • A Day At The Races 1976
  • News Of The World 1977
  • Jazz 1978
  • The Game 1980
  • Flash Gordon 1980
  • Hot Space 1982
  • The Works 1984
  • A Kind Of Magic 1986
  • The Miracle 1989
  • Innuendo 1991
  • Made In Heaven 1995

Religion

Mercury’s family were practitioners of the Middle Eastern religion known a Zoroastrianism, which is one of the oldest extant religions in the world. Mercury never abandoned this faith either; his funeral service was actually performed by a Zoroastrian priest.

Politics

Mercury was disappointingly quiet about politics and might have missed some opportunities to become an agent of change for the issues of gay acceptance and battle against AIDS. He was a strong supporter of the British monarchy and would be considered a liberal if he was alive today.

Views

Quotations: "It all began with the three wise men, followed a star took them to Bethlehem, and made it heard throughout the land - born was the leader of man. All going down to see the Lord Jesus."

"We’re confident people will take to us, because although the camp image has already been established by people like Bowie and Bolan we are taking it to another level."

"Gay as a daffodil."

"I hate pockets in trousers … By the way, I do not wear a hose. My hose is my own. No coke bottle, nothing stuffed down there."

"Jimi Hendrix is very important. He's my idol."

"Liza, in terms of sheer talent, just oozes with it."

"I like people to go away from a Queen show feeling fully entertained, having had a good time."

"I'm possessed by love - but isn't everybody?"

Personality

Although Mercury was known for his wild, outgoing antics on stage, most people who knew Mercury personally said he was very shy in his personal life, which is one of the reasons he very rarely granted interviews. "In real life, nobody knew Freddie," bandmate Roger Taylor once said. "He was shy, gentle and kind. He was never the one, he was on the stage.”

While some commentators claimed Mercury hid his sexual orientation from the public, others claimed he was "openly gay". In December 1974, when asked directly, "So how about being bent?" by the New Musical Express, Mercury replied, "You're a crafty cow. Let's put it this way: there were times when I was young and green. It's a thing schoolboys go through. I've had my share of schoolboy pranks. I'm not going to elaborate further."

Mercury was prone to getting random inspirations for songs at the strangest of times. Because he was worried about missing an opportunity to get an idea down on paper before it left his mind, Mercury had a piano installed on his bed as a headboard.

Freddie was an avid and fastidious philatelist (stamp collector). His extensive collection is still exhibited at stamp shows world-wide as being under the estate of his birth name.

He loved his cats and dedicated his solo-album "Mr. Bad Guy" to them. When he was out touring, he used to phone his cats and talk to them for hours. On one of his waistcoats, he has painted portraits of all of his cats.

Physical Characteristics: The distinctive smile of the Queen frontman was the product of having four extra teeth in the back. He refused to have them fixed, mainly because he feared it would in some way undo his vocal aptitude.

Quotes from others about the person

• George Michael: "Freddie Mercury was a huge source of inspiration to me as a child. I religiously attended Queen's concerts year after year. This is a sad day."
  
  Roger Daltrey: "When we lost Freddie, we not only lost a great personality, a man with a great sense of humour, a true showman, but we lost probably the best. The best virtuoso rock 'n' roll singer of all time. He could sing anything in any style. He could change his style from line to line and, God, that's an art. And he was brilliant at it."
  
  Axl Rose: "If I didn't have Freddie Mercury's lyrics to hold on to as a kid, I don't know where I would be. It taught me about all forms of music. It would open my mind. I never really had a bigger teacher in my whole life."
  
  Katy Perry: "Freddie Mercury was - and remains - my biggest influence. The combination of his sarcastic approach to writing lyrics and his 'I don't give a fuck' attitude really inspired my music.”"

Interests

• stamp collecting

• Music & Bands

  Lata Mangeshkar, Aretha Franklin, Liza Minnelli, Montserrat Caballé, Jimi Hendrix

Connections

In the early 1970s, Mercury had a long-term relationship with Mary Austin, whom he met through guitarist Brian May. He lived with Austin for several years in West Kensington, London. By the mid-1970s, the singer had begun an affair with a male American record executive at Elektra Records, and in December 1976, Mercury told Austin of his sexuality, which ended their romantic relationship.

By 1985, he began another long-term relationship with hairdresser Jim Hutton (1949–2010). Hutton, who was tested HIV-positive in 1990, lived with Mercury for the last six years of his life, nursed him during his illness, and was present at his bedside when he died.

Father:

Bomi Bulsara

Mother:

Jer Bulsara

Sister:

Kashmira Bulsara

Partner:

Mary Austin

Freddie started dating Mary Austin in the mid-70s. He had met her through guitarist Brian May. Shortly after the start of their relationship, she moved in to live with him. However, after he told her about his homosexual desires in 1976, they decided to end their relationship. But they remained close over the years. After their breakup, he bought a place for her near his home. Even, he left his London home to her in his will along with the proceeds from his music royalties and claimed that she had been his wife anyway.

Partner:

Jim Hutton

Freddie started dating Jim Hutton, who worked as a hairdresser, in 1986. They had first met in 1983. They remained together until Freddie’s death in 1991. When he died, he was wearing a wedding band that Hutton had given him.

Friend:

David Bowie

Long before Mercury and David Bowie gave the world one of the greatest song collaborations of all time with “Under Pressure,” the two unknown musicians were struggling to make it in the industry. Bowie got started first, and he invited Mercury to help out with building a stage for him at the small club where Bowie was set to perform. The “stage” ended up being a few tables pushed together, which ultimately did the trick - and miraculously, didn’t collapse.

Friend:

Elton John

Freddie was good friends with Elton John. All of Freddie’s close friends had female nicknames - Elton’s was “Sharon”. The two artists were both party animals, but even Elton admitted Freddie could “out-party” him.

References

• Somebody to Love: The Life, Death, and Legacy of Freddie Mercury
• Mercury: An Intimate Biography of Freddie Mercury
• Freddie Mercury
• Freddie Mercury: The Biography
• Freddie Mercury: His Life in His Own Words
• Mercury and Me
• Freddie Mercury: A Kind of Magic
• Freddie Mercury: The Definitive Biography
• Freddie Mercury: The Great Pretender
• Queen & Freddie Mercury
• Is This the Real Life?: The Untold Story of Freddie Mercury and Queen
• Queen Magic: Freddie Mercury Tribute and Brian May Interview