Today, December 22, but in 1991, the founder and vocalist of the British band Queen, Freddie Mercury, passed away. The singer and composer was of Indian origin, born in Zanzibar, his birth name was Farrokh Bulsasa, and it was during his boarding school that he began to be known as Freddie, a nickname that the family also adopted.
At the age of 18 he moved to England with his family, where he studied art and received his diploma in that career. After playing in several bands, he finally joined the group that would make him famous, Queen, in 1970. At the beginning of that period he began to be aware of his sexual orientation, which he expressed during several interviews.
Mercury had a long relationship with Mary Austin, to whom he dedicated several songs, and always referred to her as his only great friend, and throughout his life she was always present. In 1985 he began a long-term relationship with a hairdresser called Jim Hutton, with whom he was until the day of his death. Freddie, despite having a very extravagant personality, was a very shy and reserved person, and he also rarely gave interviews, even once saying about himself “When I’m on stage I’m very extroverted, but inside I’m completely different.”
As a performer, he has been recognized for his powerful voice and extravagant stage performances, and as a composer he wrote many of Queen’s hits, such as “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Somebody to Love,” “We Are The Champions,” among others. But in addition to the success he had with the band, in the 1980s he launched his solo career, where he published two albums, “Mr. Bad Guy” (1985) and “Barcelona” (1988).
According to his partner, Hutton, Freddie Mercury was diagnosed with AIDS after Easter 1987, at that time in an interview he said that he did not suffer from the disease, despite the denials the British press fueled rumors about this possible illness due to Mercury’s appearance since Queen was no longer touring or concertizing.On 22 November 1991, Mercury called the band’s manager, Jim Beach, to discuss a public matter, and a public statement was made the following day, stating that “Following the enormous press speculation of the last two weeks, it is my wish to confirm that I am suffering from AIDS, I felt it was right to keep this information private…. However, the time has come for my friends and fans to know the truth and I hope that everyone will join me and my doctors in fighting this terrible disease.”
Two days after he issued this statement, on November 24, 1991, Freddie Mercury died at the age of 45, from bronchopneumonia complicated by AIDS. Although he was not religious, his funeral was conducted by a Zoroastrian priest, and Mercury was cremated and his ashes rest in an unknown location.
In 2005, in a poll organised by Blender and MTV2, he was named the greatest male singer of all time. In 2008, Rolling Stone magazine placed him at number 18 on its list of the 100 greatest singers of all time, while the following year Classic Rock considered him the best rock singer in history. Meanwhile, a poll carried out by The Sun, which sought to find the Ultimate God of Rock, placed Mercury in first place.