The musical achievements of Freddie Mercury – one of the best-known and biggest-selling bands that this country has produced – are inextricably linked to those of Queen. It was as Queen’s frontman that Mercury wrote and performed his greatest compositions, at the same time honing an infectious, outrageous stage persona that reached its pinnacle in the mid-1980s – most famously at Wembley Stadium’s 1985 Live Aid concert, which was broadcast globally to an estimated 1.5 billion people across 150 countries.
Mercury was born Farrokh Bulsara in Zanzibar – then a British protectorate – the son of Zoroastrian parents. The family lived in a flat overlooking a historic area of Zanzibar City, with Mercury’s father, a High Court clerk, earning enough to provide a comfortable existence. Aged 8, Mercury was sent to a British-style boarding school near Bombay, where he formed his first band, The Hectics, and began going by the name Freddie. But it wasn’t until after the family emigrated to the UK, in 1964, that he changed his surname, part of an attempt to obfuscate his South Asian heritage and create a stage persona that was both glamorous and acceptably White- sounding for the British public.
Queen was formed in 1970 from the remnants of another London band, Smile, which had comprised Brian May, Tim Staffell and Roger Taylor. Mercury was recruited to replace Staffell – a friend of Mercury’s from Ealing Art School. It was Mercury who suggested the name-change from Smile to Queen (‘It had a lot of visual potential and was open to all sorts of interpretations’) and, after bringing in bassist John Deacon, the final line-up played its first show together on 2 July 1971.
Queen’s early efforts were very much in the glam rock mode – and it took Mercury time to hone his raw talent. But by the time the band signed with EMI in 1973, releasing its debut, self-titled album, Mercury had clearly become its secret ingredient. His extraordinary vocal dexterity, Puccini-like instinct for melody and witty, caustic lyrics would go on to make their mark on countless Queen hits. Mercury was the primary songwriter behind, among many others, ‘Killer Queen’, Bohemian Rhapsody, ‘Somebody to Love’, ‘We Are the Champions’, ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ and ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’. He also released two solo albums, Mr Bad Guy (1985) and Barcelona (1988), the latter a collaboration with operatic soprano Montserrat Caballé.
Mercury’s global fame coincided with the rise of the AIDS crisis, and the disease would ultimately claim his life. He gave his final live performance with Queen at Knebworth in 1986, and died on 24 November 1991, surrounded by friends and family.