On 5 September, Freddie Mercury would have celebrated his 80th birthday. Having passed away in November 1991, the charismatic and often flamboyant lead singer of Queen can still be heard everywhere, even 35 years on, with global hits such as Bohemian Rhapsody, Another One Bites the Dust, We Are the Champions and many more. Freddie captivated audiences with his unmistakable voice and extroverted stage presence. We commemorate the Queen frontman with some interesting facts.
1. Total identification with his stage persona
Although his real name was Farrokh Bulsara, he immersed himself so deeply in his stage persona, Freddie Mercury, that he wanted everyone, without exception, to call him only Freddie. But that wasn’t the end of his identification with his alter ego: in the 1970s, he had his name changed and ‘Frederick Mercury’ entered on his identity card.
2. The two sides of Freddie Mercury
Anyone who has ever seen Freddie Mercury and the band Queen live will confirm it: once the show got underway and Freddie Mercury took to the stage, he needed no introduction. A single glance, a subtle gesture, and he had the whole stadium in the palm of his hand. He was the personification of stage presence. And he loved interacting with the audience, for example when he would introduce the song ‘Under Pressure’ by singing a bit of it first and letting the audience sing along. However, he only ever replied “Alright” at the end during Live Aid, as seen in the video below. Yet away from the music and the public eye, he was quite shy and usually let others take the lead, enjoyed keeping a tidy home and had absolutely no airs and graces.
3. Master of vocal cords
In 2016, researchers at the University of Olomouc in the Czech Republic analysed the distinctive characteristics of Freddie’s voice. The vocal cords of a rock singer imitating Freddie’s notes were filmed using a high-speed camera, and various audio recordings were also analysed. They found that in addition to his chest voice and falsetto, Freddie was able to activate undertones using throat singing. Furthermore, his vocal cords were capable of producing high-speed vibrato. Typically, vibrato ranges from 5.4 to, in extreme cases, 6.9 Hz. Freddie achieved an incredible 7.04 Hz.
4. The Queen logo, designed by Freddie himself
Having graduated from Ealing College of Art, Freddie was an accomplished graphic designer. And so he designed the opulent band logo himself. As well as bearing a resemblance to the coat of arms of the British monarchy, the elaborate logo is characterised by the symbolic combination of the band members’ star signs. The two lions to the left and right of the ‘Q’ and the crown represent Roger Taylor and John Deacon; the Cancer in the centre represents Brian May; and the two fairies symbolise Virgo, Freddie Mercury’s star sign.
5. Record breaking recording – “Bohemian Rhapsody”
A record from 2019 proves how timeless and everlasting Queen’s songs are: The music video for “Bohemian Rhapsody” had reached over 1 billion streams, making it the first video released before 1990 with this extreme number of clicks. YouTube record over 44 years after the first music video for this song was released. And the video has reached more than 2 billion streams on Freddie Mercury’s 80th birthday!
6. Never let inspiration slip away
Together with Brian May, Freddie Mercury was Queen’s principal composer. He was always ready to capture ideas and impressions. To ensure that none of his flashes of inspiration were lost, his assistants were instructed to carry a notepad and pen at all times. ‘Life Is Real’ was created in this way as a tribute to John Lennon during a flight across the Atlantic.
7. Freddie Mercury was a ballet dancer
During his live performances with Queen, he often displayed a diva-like, dramatic and at times acrobatic stage presence. Freddie lived the music, full of pathos, from head to toe. In fact, he was also an outstanding ballet dancer. In 1979, he performed with The Royal Ballet. During the ballet performance, he sang two of the Queen hits he had penned: ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’.
8. A cat lover who even used to talk to his cats on the phone
Freddie was mad about cats. Not only did he dedicate several songs to his purring felines, such as ‘Delilah’ – a track on the album Innuendo that features some cat-like segments – but when he was on tour, Freddie would ring home time and again. The reason: he wanted to talk to his cats. At his peak, he had no fewer than ten cats.
9. Obsessed with music and creativity right to the end
On 24 November 1991, Mercury died of AIDS. The news of his illness was only made public the day before his death. Due to his rapidly deteriorating condition, he hastened his death by refusing to take any medication other than painkillers. According to Brian May, Freddie wasn’t afraid at all; instead, he remained obsessed with music right up to the end. “Write me songs. (…) I just want to sing it and when I’m gone, you finish it.”
10. Freddie Mercury the producer
On the one hand, the announcement that he wanted to leave the finishing touches to his vocal recordings to others after his death was not unusual for Freddie Mercury. According to the German music producer Reinhold Mack, who worked extensively with Queen, he was not a particularly technical person. On the other hand, he was a perfectionist and, within Queen, was happy to take on the role of producer time and again, knowing exactly how a song should sound. During the recording of ‘One Vision’, for example, he sang along to the drums for Roger Taylor until they were spot on.
Happy 80th birthday, Freddie; your voice will never fade away.
Your Opinion
Are you a fan of Freddie Mercury or Queen? If so, why? Why not let us know in the comments!
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