The late musician Freddie Mercury, lead singer of the ground-breaking and iconic band Queen, would be celebrating his 72 birthday on Wednesday 5 September this year. Freddie Mercury died in 1991 at age 45 due to complications from AIDS.
Fans around the world honour Freddie Mercury every year on September 5th (Freddie’s birthday) with a global charity celebration called “Freddie for a Day.” Many celebrate his life by donning a white vest, his famous yellow jacket and sporting a trademark moustache to dress up like the late singer. The event, celebrated across the globe, raises money for the Mercury Phoenix Trust, the AIDs charity set up in his name in 1992.
BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY: The Legacy of Queen
Elaine Lipworth
The ground-breaking and iconic band Queen have defied the odds, remaining vanguards of music and pop culture over the decades. In the trendiest clubs around the world, DJs frequently play Queen hits, along with music from many contemporary artists whom Queen inspired. Meanwhile, far beyond city nightlife, in football stadiums from the US to the UK to Japan and Brazil, fans stomp-stomp-clap in unison, and chant Queen’s anthemic ‘We Will Rock You’. So influential is the band, that just this summer, Queen songs occupied three of the Top 20 spots on the Billboard Hot Rock Songs Chart. Not only does their music defy categorization and break convention; it transcends generations.
The beat is irresistible, the style, timeless. Unlike many 70s and 80s groups that came and went, Queen remain as relevant today as they were then. “Whenever and wherever people hear Queen’s music, it’s instantly recognizable,” explains Brian Southall, who spent 15 years as head of press, marketing and promotion for Queen’s record label, EMI, “You could release ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ tomorrow and it would be a hit.”
Today’s leading musicians cite Queen as a major inspiration. “Freddie Mercury was and remains my biggest influence,” said Katy Perry about Queen’s legendary frontman. “The combination of his sarcastic approach to writing lyrics and his ‘I don’t give a f***’ attitude really inspired my music.” Lady Gaga was such a big fan that she borrowed from one of Queen’s songs to form her stage name: “I adored Freddie Mercury – and Queen had a hit called ‘Radio Gaga.’ That’s why I love the name,” she said. “Freddie was unique – one of the biggest personalities in the whole of pop music. He was not only a singer but also a fantastic performer, a man of the theater and someone who constantly transformed himself. In short: a genius.” And Muse’s Matthew Bellamy declared, “The best band in the world is Queen, definitely.” “The best virtuoso rock and roll singer of all time,” is how Roger Daltrey described Freddie Mercury. Eric Clapton enthused about Brian May’s talents, saying the guitarist “can do things on the guitar which are beyond my reach … things I would dream of doing.” And, according to Elton John, the members of Queen “were among the most important figures in rock and roll.”
What was it about the music that is so compelling? In essence, they defied categorization. “Queen didn’t choose to follow any particular fashion,” adds Southall. “They just made the music they wanted to make.” “Musicians of today love Queen because they appreciate the band’s level of performance, their skill, their professionalism,” says Southall. “Queen crossed genres and it was impossible to pigeonhole them. They would play rock and roll, ballads, pop … they even got into soul. And, remember, everything was written by the band members themselves.”
The new film BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY, starring Rami Malek in an uncanny performance as Freddie Mercury, charts Queen’s extraordinary story, from the band’s roots as bright London college students, to the dazzling heights of international stardom, when they filled stadiums across the world at record-breaking concerts, including the legendary 1985 performance at Live Aid, which was watched by a global audience of 1.9 billion and raised money for the famine in Ethiopia. As the story unfolds, it becomes crystal clear why the band had such lasting appeal. The film also stars Gwilym Lee (Jamestown, Midsomer Murders) who plays Queen’s lead guitarist Brian May, Ben Hardy (East Enders, X-Men Apocalypse) as drummer Roger Taylor, and Joe Mazzello (Jurassic Park, Justifed) as bass guitarist John Deacon, as well as Mike Myers (Austin Powers, Wayne’s World) and Tom Hollander (Breathe, The Night Manager).
Infused with indelible Queen songs, the film highlights the dynamics of the trailblazing band both on and off stage – how audiences enthusiastically joined in ‘We Will Rock You,’ taking over from the band members themselves who watched their fans in awe. We witness how their classic songs were created – from the ingenious and operatic ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ to the “stomp stomp clap” of their signature anthem ‘We Will Rock You’. The movie also focuses on the moving and complicated personal story of Freddie Mercury, the man, exploring his relationships, both with his muse, Mary Austin (Lucy Boynton, Murder on the Orient Express and Sing Street), who became a lifelong friend after they split up, and with the men in his life. It examines the band’s evolution, and later Freddie’s struggle with AIDS. Engrossing and fantastically entertaining, the film relates how the band shook the music world, rolling out hit after exciting hit, from ‘Killer Queen’ to ‘Another One Bites The Dust.’
“Queen were different from anything else going on at that time,” reflects renowned British journalist and author, Mick Brown, whose books include, ‘American heartbeat: travels from Woodstock to San Jose by song title,’ and ‘Tearing Down the Wall of Sound: The Rise and Fall of Phil Spector.’ He explains that by the mid 70s, much of rock music had become “very bloated and out of control. There had been a revolution and a return to basics with punk and the emergence of bands like The Sex Pistols and The Clash … it was very much out with the old and in with the new.” Queen’s music, he says, was invigorating, “they stood out from everyone else in terms of their theatricality.”
Southall, who has written 20 books about the music industry and rock music, including ‘Made In England’ about Jimi Hendrix and his latest book entitled ‘The White Album: The Album, The Beatles And The World in 1968,” worked with other musical giants, including Wings and Pink Floyd “but Queen was EMI’s biggest band. They had an ear for what would make the public sit up and listen. All the members of Queen are great composers and musicians, but Freddie was the frontman. He was the biggest star I ever worked with – and I worked with George Harrison and Paul McCartney. They were an amazingly talented band in terms of sheer stardom, outlandishness, outrageousness and the constant delivery of major hit records.”
Perhaps the most striking of those hits was ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’ which appears on Queen’s album ‘A Night at the Opera’ and is widely regarded as a masterpiece. It has been 43 years since the song rocketed to the number one spot in the UK, going on to become a global hit. The song was groundbreaking not only for its operatic influences but also for its length (it ran to almost six minutes). Emotive and quite simply one of the most beautiful pop songs of the era, it was written by Freddie Mercury. Brian Wilson (of the Beach Boys) describes the song as “a fulfillment and an answer to a teenage prayer – of artistic music.” The making of the track is depicted in the movie; we see how the band spent weeks recording hundreds of overdubs for their ‘mini opera.’
Marveling at the ingenuity of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’ Southall also takes note of the “fascinating and overwhelmingly creative video” which promoted the song and included now memorable images of four floating heads in a diamond formation. The first video of its kind – and purely fortuitous as the band only created the video as they could not be perform the complex song live and in person – it astounded audiences and critics alike when it was first shown on the popular British TV show ‘Top Of The Pops.’
“They didn’t do anything by halves,” laughs Southall, who explains that the band were fully involved in every facet of the business and their own careers, including the marketing of their music and their highly creative album covers. “They were all extremely intelligent and knew exactly what they wanted,” he says. “He references the group’s controversial video for the single ‘Fat Bottomed Girls/Bicycle Race,’ which featured naked women on bicycles. “Everything was extravagant with Queen in terms of marketing,” adds Southall. When promoting the album ‘News Of The World,’ “we gave away grandfather clocks with the cover artwork painted on them, to the media and to retailers.”
It wasn’t only the band’s music and marketing that was unique. As we see in the movie, during the electrifying concert scenes on stage, they were colorful and wildly flamboyant. Mick Brown remembers Freddie Mercury “prancing around the stage in a leotard in an almost carnivalesque, Pierrot-style performance.” Utterly charismatic, “he also wore a silk kimono red shorts and suspenders.” With their bangles and scarves and skin-tight jeans and wings under their arms, Freddie and the others “were an inspiration to all those bands who started wearing spandex … like Judas Priest and Mötley Crüe,” says Brown. “It was a long way from Woodstock,” he laughs, referring to the low-key, tie-dye, hippy look of the old-style rock groups who performed at the historic 1969 music festival in Upstate New York. “Watching Queen, you thought, ‘this is what a rock group is supposed to look like … and the look was personified in Freddie taking center stage. Everybody loves an entertainer and everybody loved him – he acted completely like a star – that’s who he was. Freddie Mercury is a universally recognized figure. He was accepted and embraced and welcomed by everyone,” says Brown.
Queen’s songs are the soundtracks of the most important events of our time: At the Royal Wedding earlier this year between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (now the Duchess of Sussex), one major TV network played Queen’s ‘Love Of My Life’ (written by Freddie Mercury) as they showed a compilation of romantic moments from the big day. “Their songs turned into anthems,” says Mick Brown, commenting that at football games and boxing matches, in fact every kind of big sporting event, “the crowds will burst into ‘We Will Rock You’, written by Brian May – and then, if your team wins a game, there is always a refrain of ‘We Are The Champions’, which Freddie wrote.” In fact, ‘We Are The Champions’ was voted the World’s Favorite Song in 2005. And, in 2011, a team of scientific researchers concluded that the song was “the catchiest in the history of popular music.” “You couldn’t calculate writing a song with that kind of appeal,” says Brown.
“Queen weren’t a passing phenomenon like punk; they were a worldwide hit-making machine,” says Brian Southall. “Their influence extends far beyond any one of their songs. Freddie is certainly the best frontman I’ve ever seen and Queen is unquestionably the best live band I have ever seen,” says Southall, who is excited about the new movie. “They deserve a great film! You don’t make hit records for so long and not have people wanting to know how you did it – they want to get the story behind the music – it’s fascinating. Queen is one of a handful of bands that has survived the passing of time, musical fads, fancies and genres,” concludes Southall, “and they have done it through their professionalism, dedication and immense talent as both performers and composers. This is lasting, great, popular music.”
FREDDIE FOR TAKE-OFF
He handled the heights of rock stardom as lead singer of Queen, but few are aware of Freddie Mercury’s days handling baggage at Heathrow Airport.
Now, to celebrate Freddie For A Day which marks the rock legend’s birthday on September 5th and the upcoming release of Twentieth Century Fox and Regency Enterprises film BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY, Heathrow and British Airways will ‘escape from reality’ to pay tribute to Freddie in spectacular fashion.
Heathrow Terminal 5 arrivals will come alive in celebration of the Queen frontman, as baggage handlers perform Mercury-inspired dance moves, choreographed by Strictly Come Dancing and X Factor choreographer Lyndon Lloyd.
Following weeks of rehearsals, the baggage handlers will Break Free from their routine and astonish passengers with moves inspired by the charismatic rock star, who worked at the airport nearly 50 years ago, shortly before joining Queen and packing arenas around the world.
Any travellers landing at Terminal 5 on September 5th can also look out for Queen songs on Arrivals boards, whilst Queen memorabilia will go on display in the departures area next month. To celebrate the singer’s birthday on September 5, any customer who is called Freddie, Frederick or the legend’s real name, Farrokh, who is departing from Terminal 5 will be invited along with their traveling companions to use British Airways’ First lounge, accessed through the exclusive First Wing.
The celebrations, which will help raise awareness for Queen’s charity The Mercury Phoenix Trust, are in anticipation of the cinema release of BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY, a foot-stomping tribute to Queen, their music and their extraordinary lead singer.
The film traces Mercury’s meteoric rise from his unlikely beginnings and features scenes at Heathrow, where he worked whilst living in Feltham, before going from bags to riches and becoming one of the most iconic rock stars of all time.
Adam Dewey, one of British Airways’ baggage managers, who stars in the video, said “Freddie Mercury is an undisputed rock legend and it has been an absolute blast planning his birthday celebrations at Heathrow Airport, where he once worked.
“Myself and the other baggage handlers taking part have put everything into these dance routines and we can’t wait to see the faces on holidaymakers when they strut their stuff in the arrivals hall! The new film Bohemian Rhapsody has proved a great inspiration for all of us and we can’t wait to be hot-stepping our way to the premiere next month!”
Virinder Bansal, a Baggage Service Manager at Heathrow said: “Freddie Mercury was a truly British icon and I am delighted to ‘Break Free’ and celebrate his iconic life with my colleagues. We hope passengers at Terminal 5 enjoy our surprising and unique welcome to the UK, before we return to work. After all, The Show Must Go On”.
Terminal 5 at Heathrow will celebrate Freddie Mercury Day on Wednesday 5th September.
BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY will be in cinemas on 30 November 2018 from Twentieth Century Fox.
- Mercury worked as a Heathrow baggage handler before he joined Queen in 1970
- British Airways and Heathrow staff will celebrate Freddie For A Day on his birthday ahead of the upcoming release of the Queen movie BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY
- To pay tribute to the legend, baggage handlers have teamed up with Strictly Come Dancing choreographer to bring Freddie Mercury moves to Terminal 5
- Other activities at Heathrow for will include Queen songs on Arrivals boards and memorabilia in Departure Lounge
- BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY is released at UK cinemas on 24th October
FUN FACTS ABOUT FREDDIE MERCURY
- Freddie Mercury was born Farrokh Bulsara in Zanzibar (now part of Tanzania).
- He adopted the name Freddie while at St. Peter’s, the English boarding school he attended in India, before he and his family moved to England. Freddie became a table tennis champion at the school.
- As a child, between the ages of nine and 12, Freddie enjoyed collecting stamps. His personal album contains stamps from Britain, Monaco, Eastern Europe, Aden (now part of Yemen) and Zanzibar. The collection was bought by The Postal Museum (in the UK) in 1993 and proceeds of the sale went to the Mercury Phoenix Trust, the charity that was set up in Freddie’s memory.
- Freddie was posthumously remembered on one of a special series of stamps that Britain’s Royal Mail produced to mark the millennium.
- Freddie once had a part time job working as a baggage handler at Heathrow Airport.
- Freddie co-owned and ran a stall in Kensington Market in London with Roger Taylor, which opened in the summer of 1969. They sold Freddie’s own artwork as well as second hand clothes. The two of them kept up the running of the stall, even after Queen released their first album in 1973.
- Freddie had four extra teeth on his upper jaw, which were pushing on the front ones. He never considered ‘fixing’ them because he believed that they contributed to the special sound of his voice — the legendary four-octave range.
- While the lyrics of ‘Killer Queen’ mention Moët & Chandon, Freddie’s own favorite champagne was Louis Roederer Cristal. His other favorite drinks were Stolichnaya vodka and Earl Grey tea – with milk and two sugars. His favorite champagne cocktail was a Bellini (Cristal and peach puree).
- Freddie never needed an excuse for a party. For one celebration, he had a cake made in the shape of the Swiss apartment block where he’d bought a flat – complete with towers and turrets.
- In 1979, Freddie performed ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ with the Royal Ballet.
- Freddie loved reading magazines such as Architectural Digest, House & Garden and auction catalogues.
- One of the most technically accomplished singers to work in pop music, in a list of the greatest English language singers of the 20th century, compiled by BBC Radio, Freddie was ranked No.10. The list included Frank Sinatra, Billie Holliday, Barbra Streisand, Ella Fitzgerald and Nat King Cole.
- Freddie came second in MTV’s list of the 22 greatest singers of the past 25 years – he was beaten by Mariah Carey.
- In 2016, a research team undertook a study to understand the unique appeal of Freddie’s voice. The Austrian, Czech and Swedish researchers studied archival recordings. They noted the singer’s faster vibrato and use of subharmonics, particularly in comparison to opera singers.
- Other than his passion for music, one of Freddie’s favourite hobbies was shopping, mainly for other people. Generous to a fault, he loved buying expensive perfumes, cologne, watches and jewellery.
- Despite not believing in astrology, Freddie designed Queen’s crest using the astrological signs of the four members: two Leos, one Cancer and one Virgo.
- Freddie studied graphic design at Ealing College of Art.
- Freddie loved cats and owned several – some exotic long haired cats were gifts from friends and others were rescued from a shelter. One of his cats, Delilah, was the inspiration for Queen song of the same name.
- Freddie was a big fan of the Spanish operatic soprano Montserrat Caballé. The musicians teamed up to record an album together in 1987 called ‘Barcelona’ and a hit of the same name. Though Freddie didn’t live to see it, ‘Barcelona’ was featured at the Olympic Games in 1992, going on to become the best known song of any Olympics.
- Queen wasn’t going to release ‘Another One Bites the Dust’ as a single until Michael Jackson convinced them. It became the most successful American single of their career.
- Despite the popular song lyrics from ‘Bicycle Race’, Freddie didn’t like riding bicycles.
- Freddie’s final home, Garden Lodge, 1 Logan Place, is a 28 room Georgian mansion in Kensington, London, set in a quarter-acre manicured garden surrounded by a high brick wall. It was picked out by Mary Austin who had been his girlfriend, then became his best friend.
- In his will, Freddie left his London home and the contents to Mary Austin, his lifelong companion, and she continues to live there.
- An asteroid was named after Freddie to commemorate what would have been his 70th birthday in September 2016. The International Astronomical Union designated asteroid 17473 as Freddiemercury. The asteroid was discovered in 1991, the same year Freddie died. It orbits the sun on a path between Mars and Jupiter. Announcing the news, Brian May said ‘Asteroid 17473 Freddiemercury’ is “just a dot of light, but it’s a very special dot of light.”
THE TIMELINE OF QUEEN
1968:
- Guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor formed a group, with lead singer Tim Staffell, called Smile. Their first gig was October 26th.
1970:
- Roger Taylor and Brian May join forces with Fred Bulsara, former lead singer for the band Sour Milk Sea. They consider various names before deciding on Queen. Bulsara changed his name to Freddie Mercury. By February 1971, bassist John Deacon had joined them. They played a few gigs and rehearsed together for two years while still completing college.
1971:
- On January 8th Queen played the London Marquee for the first time.
1972:
- On June 30th Queen began recording at Trident Studios in London their debut album, set to be released the next year.
1973:
- Trident and EMI signed a contract for a recording deal for Queen
- July saw the release of ‘Queen,’ their first album
- The band embarked on their first tour.
- On September 13th, Queen performed at the Golders Green Hippodrome in North London and the show was recorded by the BBC. It was the first professional recording of the band in concert.
1974:
- February marked Queen’s memorable appearance on the legendary British (BBC) TV show, ‘Top of The Pops’, performing ‘Seven Seas of Rhye’. The single became a smash hit, the band’s first, rocketing into the Top Ten.
- The group released ‘Queen II’ which reached number five in the UK charts. They toured the US for the first time, opening for Mott the Hoople.
- In November, they released their third album, ‘Sheer Heart Attack’, featuring ‘Killer Queen,’ another major hit!
1975:
- Queen’s global breakthrough album, ‘A Night at the Opera’ was released. The first single from the album is the five-minute 55 seconds song ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ which stayed at number one in England for a record-breaking nine consecutive weeks. Equally successful in America, the album climbed into the Top Ten and quickly went platinum.
- To support ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, Queen and director Bruce Gowers made a promotional video of the song – credited as the first conceptual music video of its kind.
- ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ has regularly featured in all major pop polls and was named ‘the best single of all time’ by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).
1976:
- Queen toured the US, Japan and Australia for their album, ‘A Night at the Opera.’
- In the summer, they performed a free concert in London’s Hyde Park that broke attendance records. It was their biggest attended gig to date — 150,000 to 200,000 people attended.
- They released the single ‘Somebody to Love’ in November and in December released their fifth studio album, ‘A Day At The Races’.
1977:
- In October, Queen released their sixth album, ‘News of the World’, which became a Top Ten hit featuring the indelible ‘We Are the Champions’ c/w ‘We Will Rock You’
1978:
- The album ‘Jazz’ was released in November, with the double A-side single ‘Bicycle Race’/’Fat Bottomed Girls’. It became an international hit despite controversy surrounding their media stunt of staging a nude female bicycle race.
1980:
- On June 30th, Queen released ‘The Game.’ It featured the rockabilly hit ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love”, which was released as a single the year before, and the disco-style ‘Another One Bites the Dust.’ ‘The Game’ became the group’s first American number one album.
1981:
- Queen and David Bowie joined forces on the international hit, ‘Under Pressure’, which reached number one throughout Europe and is included on the ‘Hot Space’ album (1982), as well as ‘Greatest Hits’ (1981) and Greatest Hits III (1999) – an alternative ‘Rah Version’ in the case of Hits III.
1984:
- Queen’s next LP, ‘The Works’ included the international hit single ‘Radio Ga Ga’.
- Another huge hit, the John Deacon penned ‘I Want To Break Free’, featured one of their best-known videos –they were all dressed in drag. Perhaps surprisingly, a concept proposed by Roger Taylor.
1985:
- Queen headlined the first Rock in Rio festival held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the biggest festival to be held anywhere in the world. The band played two nights, opening and closing the festival on January 12th and 19th. The closing night attracted an audience of over 300,000, the biggest ever recorded at the time for a single concert.
- On July 13th, Queen made history with their show-stealing performance at Live Aid, the massive benefit concert to raise funds for relief of the Ethiopian famine.
1986:
- ‘A Kind of Magic’ marked their 14th album, inspired by and written for the film ‘Highlander’.
- ‘The Magic Tour’ was the band’s last tour with Freddie Mercury and John Deacon.
1989 – 1991:
- Between 1989 and 1991, Queen released three albums that entered the UK charts at No. 1: ‘The Miracle,’ ‘Innuendo’ and ‘Greatest Hits II.’
1990:
- On February 18th, Queen received the BRIT Award for ‘Outstanding Contribution to Music’ at the Dominion Theatre in London. It was Freddie’s final public appearance with the band.
1991:
- Queen’s final album in Freddie Mercury’s lifetime, ‘Innuendo’, was released on February 9th.
- In May 1991 Freddie filmed his last Queen video, for “These Are The Days of Our Lives”, featured on the ‘Innuendo’ album. Freddie, Roger and John were present at the shoot, with additional footage of Brian May filmed some weeks later and edited into the footage, as he was out of the country on a radio promotional tour. With a look straight at the camera, Mercury whispers “I still love you” as the song ends, which are his last ever words on camera.
- On November 24th, Freddie Mercury died peacefully at his home, surrounded by friends. He died of bronchopneumonia resulting from AIDS. He was 45 years old.
- In December, Queen had 10 albums in the UK Top 100.
- Also in December, as a tribute to Freddie, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ / ‘These Are The Days Of Our Lives’ was released as a double A-sided single to raise funds for the Terence Higgins Trust (Britain’s HIV and sexual health charity.) It entered the UK chart at No. 1, where it stayed for five weeks. Queen became the first band to have the same single top the UK charts twice.
1992:
- Freddie was posthumously awarded the BRIT Award for ‘Outstanding Contribution to British Music’.
- On April 20th, the surviving members of Queen were joined by a host of stars—including Elton John, Axl Rose and David Bowie for the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness held at Wembley Stadium that was broadcast to a worldwide audience of more than a billion. The profits from the concert were used to launch The Mercury Phoenix Trust, the AIDS charity organization founded by the remaining members of Queen and manager Jim Beach.
- Queen’s record sales earned them a total of eight Gold and six Platinum awards.
1997 – 2002:
- Since Freddie Mercury’s death, the Queen phenomenon has continued unabated. A ballet of their music created by French choreographer Maurice Béjart premiered at the National Theatre in Paris in January 1997. Brian, Roger and John appeared with Elton John to close the opening Gala night with a live version of “The Show Must Go On”. It was the last time John Deacon performed live with his fellow Queen members, retiring thereafter.
- In May 2002, the hit musical ‘We Will Rock You’ opened to sell-out audiences in London’s West End. ‘We Will Rock You’ also played in America, Australia, Spain, Russia, Germany and Japan – and touring productions continue across the world.
2005 – 2008:
- Brian and Roger took Queen back onto the touring circuit in 2005 and 2008, joined by former Free/Bad Company singer, songwriter and musical Paul Rodgers.
- In November 2006 Queen’s ‘Greatest Hits’ Album was declared The Best Selling Album Of All Time In the UK by The Official UK Charts Company in a definitive list of the Top 100 Best Selling Albums ever in the first ever chart made up of actual sales figures from the last fifty years unveiling who really has had the best selling album of all time a fact that had never been revealed before. The chart revealed that legendary Queen had outsold all other artists to claim the coveted title of the UK’s favourite album with their Greatest Hits compilation selling a staggering 5,407,587. To this day the album remains the UK biggest selling of all time and has now become the first UK album to sell over 6 million copies. It is estimated 1 in 3 UK households owns a copy.
2012:
- Since 2012, Queen has collaborated with US singer/songwriter Adam Lambert and have toured extensively across the globe.
QUEEN CELEBRITY FANS OF FREDDIE MERCURY AND QUEEN
Why they love Queen:
“Freddie Mercury was and remains my biggest influence. The combination of his sarcastic approach to writing lyrics and his ‘I don’t give a f***’ attitude really inspired my music.”
“[At 15,] I heard Killer Queen and I wanted to be a killer queen.” – KATY PERRY
“Freddie was unique – one of the biggest personalities in the whole of pop music. He was not only a singer but also a fantastic performer, a man of the theatre and someone who constantly transformed himself. In short: a genius.” – LADY GAGA
“There are so few people behind the glamour who really make it as true performers. It’s a very strange thoroughbred condition to be a successful musician and still be able to project it with confidence. Freddie had that, and there’s not many people who have had it.” – ROBERT PLANT (Led Zeppelin)
“There are people these days who can do things on the guitar which are beyond my reach. There’s one guy who plays with Queen who can do things I would dream of doing. I sincerely mean that.” – ERIC CLAPTON
“Freddie was a unique talent…A one off! 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.” – ROGER DALTREY (The Who)
“Freddie Mercury changed the face of Rock. His musicality and vocal ability remain unmatched. His showmanship came from a place of total freedom. I love watching footage of him live because he seems like he was born to be on the stage. A seasoned pro, yet he gave all his energy to the audience with the fearlessness of a child.”
“Freddie’s voice has so much texture to it. It’s super sexy. He kind of grabs at everything, he squeezes it. He was completely over the top in the best possible way.” – ADAM LAMBERT
“I got into Queen as I got older and now I do writing and I’ve weirdly have discovered that Freddie’s music is the only music I can write to. It gets me going without distracting me. But Freddie – he was an incredible showman and fantastic undeniable soulful man.” – Lauren Laverne
“Freddie Mercury of course started the Mercury Music Prize and I don’t think anyone of us can ever forget that. It is one of the greatest things Britain has going to this day.” – Jools Holland
“I looked up to Freddie Mercury a lot. The music he made was amazing and obscure and he was responsible for celebrating the dress up side of things, something that has really inspired me! My favourite album has to be Hot Space – it just doesn’t sound like Queen but it sounds a bit funk. It shows his diversity.” – PALOMA FAITH
“Freddie is an idol to millions, me included. I work out to his music. If you’re working out like Mr Fahrenheit, then you’re going to be pumped.” – Russell Brand
“Queen were one of my favourite bands growing up, so I listened to them a lot. I love Freddie’s voice in Don’t Stop Me Now! He has the best rock voice, which certainly inspired me in my Rock of Ages role too.”- DIEGO BENTO
“I adore Freddie Mercury and believe that he is the greatest showman that ever lived. His vocal ability, charisma and presence on stage is an inspiration to any artist… In my career as a Spice Girl and solo artist I have been lucky enough to meet so many of my heroes. Whenever I am asked if there is someone I wish I could meet, or the person I’d most like to perform with I always think of Freddie.” – MELANIE C
“Someone told me that I might have the chance to sing with Queen… and I was like: Don’t ask me twice, mothe*’:#ker. I’ll be there!” – JAMES HETFIELD (Metallica)
“The worst day of my life was once that my mom didn’t allow me to go to a Queen concert because I was grounded.” – LARS ULRICH (Danish musician – Metallica)
“The best band in the world is Queen, definitely.” – MATTHEW BELLAMY (Muse)
“All I’ve got on my iPod is every single Queen song and every single Judas Priest song. Queen were an incredible heavy metal band. I saw them on their first ever tour, at Birmingham Town Hall. They just blew me away.” – ROB HALFORD (Judas Priest)
“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.” – AXL ROSE (Guns ‘n’ Roses)
“The difference between Freddie and almost all the other rock stars was that he was selling the voice.” – MONTSERRAT CABALLÉ (Spanish opera singer)
“Every band should study Queen at Live Aid …. I consider him the greatest front-man of all time. Like, it’s funny? You’d imagine that Freddie was more than human, but … You know how he controlled Wembley Stadium at Live Aid in 1985? He stood up there and did his vocal warm ups with the audience. Something that intimate, where they realize, ‘Oh yeah, he’s just a f***ing dude.” – DAVE GROHL (Nirvana, The Foo Fighters)
“Freddie, dude – miss you love, wish you were here still. Always listening to you. I owe you everything. First concert I ever saw 1982, Queen – Irvine Meadows – blew my mind. Ever since then I have been chasing the dream, so I owe that to you Freddie. Love ya.” – TAYLOR HAWKINS (The Foo Fighters)
“For me, Freddie is the brightest representative of the era of rock, when people were not afraid to live life to the full. This would hardly ever be repeated.” – ANNIE LENNOX
“Freddie is great. At a time when everybody around was doing God knows what, Queen was making music.” – OZZY OSBOURNE
“[Queen] are probably the most influential band to My Chemical Romance and also Freddie Mercury being probably the most important front man to me growing up as a little boy.” GERARD WAY (My Chemical Romance)
“Freddie – I just wanted to say that I am sorry that you are not here to see the profound influence you had on pop music since your passing – I think you’d be very happy to see how things turned out and thank you so much for what you left behind.” – PATRICK STUMP (Fall Out Boy)
“I think it’s no secret in my world that I am a huge Queen fan, Queen are one of the biggest rock n roll bands ever. And certainly Freddie as a songwriter as a showman and as a musical visionary had so much to do with inspiring me to do many things that I tried to do in music, I only wish I could sing half as good as he did. Queen is still one of the coolest bands to ever come out, it’s amazing that no matter when or where you hear Queen’s music it never sounds dated, it always sounds fresh and if they were a band coming out today they would still be massive.” – BILLY CORGAN (Smashing Pumpkins)
