Farrokh Bulsara, professionally known as Freddie Mercury, was born on 5th September 1946 in Stone Town, Zanzibar and passed away on 24th November 1991.
Freddie began to study the piano at the age of 7 and a year later, started attending a boys’ boarding school. When he was 12 years old, he created the band ‘The Hectics’ and sang songs by Cliff Richard and Little Richard, amongst others. He mainly listened to and played Western pop music.
In 1964, Freddie and his family moved to England where he studied art and graphic design and later graduated. Afterwards, Freddie was a member of several bands until 1970, when he met guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor and together formed the group ‘Smile’. The group’s name was later changed to ‘Queen’ by Freddie himself, and he also designed the group’s logo.
Apart from the piano, Freddie also played the guitar and was inspired by big artists like Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie and The Beatles. During his performances, he played both instruments and also composed several of the band’s songs for them. These include ‘We are the Champions’, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, ‘Don’t stop me Now’ and ‘Somebody to Love’, to name a few.
Outside ‘Queen’, Freddie released 10 albums and 16 singles. These include ‘Love Kills’, ‘The Great Pretender’ – a cover version of the original song by the group ‘The Platters’, ‘Living on my Own’ and ‘Barcellona’, sung in duet with Spanish soprano Montserrat Caballe. Mercury also collaborated with Michael Jackson in some of his songs. He was awarded a Brit Award for his British music contributions in 1992, i.e. the year following his death.
As a group, ‘Queen’ released more than 40 albums and over 70 singles and had about 300 million record sales globally. The group members each received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award as well as an Ivor Novello Award. They were also enrolled in the Rock and Roll and UK Music Halls of Fame.
Freddie was famous for his distinctive voice, ranging from bass low to soprano high, even up to tenor high. He had extraordinary charisma and transmitted very energetic stage performances, together with his unique ability to involve the audiences to participate in the shows. He was a great showman and considered as one of the best rock music singers of all time.
Mercury passed away on 24th November 1991 at the age of 45 from AIDS, after being diagnosed with this disease 4 years earlier. Following his demise, the rest of the group founded the Mercury Phoenix Trust to raise more awareness about AIDS and raise funds for research. They also held a concert for this purpose.
Amongst other productions, in 2018, a movie called ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ was released, featuring Freddie’s autobiography, played by actor Rami Malek. It went tremendously well in the box office and Rami managed to win 4 awards with his performance.