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.<\/p>\n
Fans around the world honour Freddie Mercury every year on September 5th (Freddie\u2019s birthday) with a global charity celebration called \u201cFreddie for a Day.\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
Elaine Lipworth<\/em><\/p>\n 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\u2019s anthemic \u2018We Will Rock You\u2019. So influential is the band, that just this summer, Queen songs\u00a0occupied\u00a0three 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.<\/p>\n The beat is irresistible, the style, timeless.\u00a0Unlike many 70s and 80s\u00a0groups that came and went,\u00a0Queen\u00a0remain\u00a0as relevant today as they were then.\u00a0 “Whenever and wherever people hear Queen\u2019s music, it\u2019s instantly recognizable,\u201d explains Brian Southall, who spent 15 years as\u00a0head of press, marketing and promotion for\u00a0Queen\u2019s record label, EMI, \u201cYou could release \u2018Bohemian Rhapsody\u2019 tomorrow and it would be a hit.\u201d<\/p>\n Today\u2019s leading\u00a0musicians\u00a0cite\u00a0Queen\u00a0as a major inspiration.\u00a0\u201cFreddie Mercury was and remains my biggest influence,\u201d said Katy Perry about Queen\u2019s legendary frontman.\u00a0\u201cThe combination of his sarcastic approach to writing lyrics and his\u00a0\u2018I don’t give a f***\u2019\u00a0attitude\u00a0really inspired my music.\u201d\u202fLady Gaga was such a big fan that she borrowed from one of Queen\u2019s songs to form her stage name:\u00a0\u201cI adored Freddie Mercury\u00a0\u2013\u00a0and Queen had a hit called\u00a0\u2018Radio Gaga.\u2019\u00a0That’s why I love the name,\u201d\u00a0she said.\u00a0\u201cFreddie was unique \u2013\u00a0one 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\u00a0and someone who constantly transformed himself. In short: a genius.\u201d\u00a0 And Muse\u2019s Matthew Bellamy declared, \u201cThe best band in the world is Queen, definitely.\u201d \u201cThe best virtuoso rock\u00a0and\u00a0roll singer of all time,\u201d\u00a0is how Roger Daltrey described Freddie Mercury.\u00a0Eric Clapton\u00a0enthused about Brian May\u2019s talents, saying\u00a0the guitarist\u00a0\u201ccan do things on the guitar which are beyond my reach \u2026 things I would dream of doing.\u201d\u00a0And,\u00a0according to Elton\u00a0John, the members of Queen\u00a0\u201cwere among the most important figures in rock and roll.\u201d<\/p>\n What was it about the music that is so\u00a0compelling?\u00a0In essence, they defied\u00a0categorization. \u201cQueen didn\u2019t choose to follow any particular fashion,\u201d\u00a0adds\u00a0Southall. \u201cThey just made the music they wanted to make.\u201d\u00a0\u201cMusicians of today love Queen because they appreciate the\u00a0band\u2019s\u00a0level of performance,\u00a0their\u00a0skill, their\u00a0professionalism,\u201d\u00a0says Southall.\u00a0\u201cQueen crossed genres and it was impossible to pigeonhole them.\u00a0They would play rock and roll, ballads, pop \u2026 they even got into soul. And,\u00a0remember, everything was written by the band members themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n The new film BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY, starring\u00a0Rami Malek in an uncanny performance as Freddie Mercury,\u00a0charts\u00a0Queen\u2019s extraordinary story, from the\u00a0band\u2019s roots as bright London college students, to the dazzling heights of international stardom, when they\u00a0filled\u00a0stadiums across the world at record-breaking concerts, including the legendary\u00a01985\u00a0performance at Live\u00a0Aid,\u00a0which was\u00a0watched by a\u00a0global audience of 1.9 billion\u00a0and\u00a0raised\u00a0money for the famine in Ethiopia.\u00a0As the story unfolds, it becomes crystal clear why the band had such lasting appeal.\u00a0The film also stars Gwilym Lee (Jamestown, Midsomer Murders)\u00a0who plays\u00a0Queen\u2019s lead guitarist Brian May,\u00a0Ben Hardy\u00a0(East Enders, X-Men Apocalypse)\u00a0as\u00a0drummer Roger Taylor, and Joe Mazzello (Jurassic Park, Justifed)\u00a0as bass guitarist John Deacon, as well as Mike Myers (Austin Powers, Wayne\u2019s World)\u00a0and Tom Hollander (Breathe, The Night Manager).<\/p>\n Infused with indelible Queen songs, the film highlights the dynamics of the trailblazing band\u00a0both\u00a0on and off stage \u2013 how audiences enthusiastically joined in \u2018We Will Rock You,\u2019 taking over from the band members themselves who watched their fans in awe. We witness how their classic\u00a0songs were created \u2013 from the ingenious and operatic \u2018Bohemian Rhapsody\u2019 to the \u201cstomp stomp clap\u201d of their signature anthem \u2018We Will Rock You\u2019. The movie also focuses on the moving and complicated personal story of Freddie Mercury, the man, exploring his relationships, both\u00a0with his muse,\u00a0Mary Austin\u00a0(Lucy Boynton, Murder on the Orient Express and Sing Street),\u00a0who 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\u00a0struggle with AIDS. Engrossing and fantastically entertaining, the film relates how the band shook the music world, rolling out hit after exciting hit,\u00a0from\u00a0\u2018Killer Queen\u2019 to \u2018Another One Bites The Dust.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cQueen\u00a0were different from anything else going on at that time,\u201d reflects renowned British journalist and author, Mick Brown,\u00a0whose\u00a0books include, \u2018American heartbeat: travels from Woodstock to San Jose by song title,\u2019 and \u2018Tearing Down the Wall of Sound: The Rise and Fall of Phil Spector.\u2019\u00a0He\u00a0explains that by the mid 70s, much of rock music had become \u201cvery 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\u00a0The\u00a0Clash \u2026 it was very much out with the old and in with the new.\u201d Queen\u2019s music, he says,\u00a0was invigorating, \u201cthey stood out from everyone else in terms of their theatricality.\u201d Perhaps the\u00a0most striking of those hits was\u00a0\u2018Bohemian Rhapsody,\u2019\u00a0which appears\u00a0on Queen\u2019s album\u00a0\u2018A\u00a0Night at the Opera\u2019\u00a0and\u00a0is widely\u00a0regarded as a masterpiece.\u00a0It has been 43 years since the song\u00a0rocketed to the number one spot in the UK, going on to become\u00a0a global hit. The song was groundbreaking not only for its operatic influences but also for its length (it\u00a0ran to almost six minutes). Emotive and quite simply one of the most beautiful pop songs of the era, it was written by Freddie Mercury.\u00a0Brian Wilson (of the Beach Boys) describes the\u00a0song\u00a0as “a fulfillment and an answer to a teenage prayer\u00a0\u2013\u00a0of artistic music.”\u00a0The making of the\u00a0track\u00a0is depicted in the movie;\u00a0we see\u00a0how the band spent\u00a0weeks recording\u00a0hundreds of overdubs for their\u00a0\u2018mini opera.\u2019<\/p>\n Marveling\u00a0at the ingenuity of \u2018Bohemian Rhapsody,\u2019\u00a0Southall also\u00a0takes\u00a0note of the \u201cfascinating\u00a0and\u00a0overwhelmingly creative video\u201d which promoted\u00a0the\u00a0song\u00a0and\u00a0included now memorable images of four floating heads in a diamond formation.\u00a0The 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 – \u00a0it\u00a0astounded audiences and critics alike\u00a0when\u00a0it was first shown\u00a0on the popular British TV show\u00a0\u2018Top Of The Pops.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u00a0didn\u2019t do anything by halves,\u201d laughs Southall, who explains\u00a0that\u00a0the band\u00a0were\u00a0fully involved in every facet of\u00a0the business\u00a0and their own careers,\u00a0including\u00a0the\u00a0marketing of\u00a0their music and\u00a0their highly\u00a0creative\u00a0album covers. \u201cThey were\u00a0all extremely intelligent\u00a0and knew exactly what they wanted,\u201d he says.\u00a0\u201cHe references the group\u2019s controversial video for\u00a0the single\u202f\u2018Fat Bottomed\u00a0Girls\/Bicycle Race,\u2019 which featured naked women on bicycles.\u00a0\u201cEverything was extravagant with\u00a0Queen\u00a0in terms\u00a0of marketing,\u201d adds Southall.\u00a0When promoting the album\u00a0\u2018News Of The World,\u2019\u00a0\u201cwe gave away grandfather clocks\u00a0with the cover artwork\u00a0painted on them,\u00a0to the media and\u00a0to\u00a0retailers.\u201d<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t only\u00a0the band\u2019s\u00a0music and marketing that was unique. As we see in the movie, during the electrifying concert scenes\u00a0on stage,\u00a0they\u00a0were\u00a0colorful\u00a0and\u00a0wildly\u00a0flamboyant. Mick Brown remembers\u00a0Freddie Mercury\u00a0\u201cprancing\u00a0around the stage in a leotard\u00a0in an\u00a0almost carnivalesque,\u00a0Pierrot-style performance.\u201d Utterly charismatic,\u00a0\u201che\u00a0also wore a\u00a0silk kimono red shorts and suspenders.\u201d\u00a0With their bangles and scarves and skin-tight jeans and wings under their arms, Freddie and the others \u201cwere an inspiration to all those bands who started wearing spandex\u00a0…\u00a0like Judas Priest and\u00a0M\u00f6tley Cr\u00fce,\u201d says Brown.\u00a0\u201cIt was\u00a0a\u00a0long way from Woodstock,\u201d\u00a0he laughs, referring to the low-key,\u00a0tie-dye,\u00a0hippy look of the old-style rock groups who\u00a0performed\u00a0at the\u00a0historic 1969\u00a0music festival in Upstate New York.\u00a0\u201cWatching Queen,\u00a0you\u00a0thought,\u00a0\u2018this is what a rock group is supposed to look like\u00a0\u2026 and the look was personified in Freddie taking center stage.\u00a0Everybody loves an entertainer and everybody loved him\u00a0\u2013 he\u00a0acted completely like a star\u00a0\u2013\u00a0that\u2019s who he was.\u00a0Freddie Mercury is a universally recognized figure. He was accepted and embraced and welcomed by everyone,\u201d says Brown.<\/p>\n Queen\u2019s\u00a0songs\u00a0are the soundtracks of the most important events of our time: At the Royal Wedding earlier this\u00a0year\u00a0between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle\u00a0(now the Duchess\u00a0of Sussex), one major TV network played Queen\u2019s \u2018Love Of My Life\u2019 (written by Freddie Mercury) as they showed a compilation of romantic moments from the big day.\u00a0\u201cTheir songs\u00a0turned into\u00a0anthems,\u201d says Mick Brown,\u00a0commenting that at football\u00a0games\u00a0and\u00a0boxing matches, in fact every kind of\u00a0big\u00a0sporting\u00a0event,\u00a0\u201cthe crowds\u00a0will\u00a0burst into\u00a0\u2018We Will\u00a0Rock You\u2019,\u00a0written by Brian May\u00a0\u2013\u00a0and then,\u00a0if your team wins\u00a0a game,\u00a0there\u00a0is\u00a0always a refrain of\u00a0\u2018We\u00a0Are\u00a0The Champions\u2019,\u00a0which Freddie wrote.\u201d\u00a0In fact,\u00a0\u2018We Are The Champions\u2019\u00a0was voted the World\u2019s Favorite\u00a0Song in 2005.\u00a0And,\u00a0in 2011,\u00a0a team of scientific researchers concluded that\u00a0the\u00a0song was\u00a0\u201cthe catchiest in the history of popular music.\u201d\u00a0\u201cYou couldn\u2019t calculate writing a song\u00a0with\u00a0that\u00a0kind of appeal,\u201d\u00a0says\u00a0Brown.<\/p>\n \u201cQueen\u00a0weren\u2019t a\u00a0passing phenomenon\u00a0like punk;\u00a0they were a worldwide hit-making machine,\u201d\u00a0says\u00a0Brian Southall.\u00a0\u201cTheir\u00a0influence extends far beyond any one of their songs.\u00a0Freddie\u00a0is\u00a0certainly\u00a0the best frontman I\u2019ve ever seen and Queen is unquestionably the best live band I have ever seen,\u201d\u00a0says Southall,\u00a0who is excited about the new movie. \u201cThey\u00a0deserve a great film! You don\u2019t make hit records for so long and not have people wanting to know how you did it \u2013 they want to get the story behind the music \u2013 it\u2019s fascinating.\u00a0\u00a0Queen\u00a0is\u00a0one of a handful of bands\u00a0that\u00a0has\u00a0survived the passing of time,\u00a0musical fads, fancies and genres,\u201d concludes Southall,\u00a0\u201cand they have done it through their professionalism, dedication and immense talent as both performers and composers.\u00a0This is lasting, great,\u00a0popular music.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nSouthall, who has written 20\u00a0books about the music industry and rock music, including \u2018Made In England\u2019 about Jimi Hendrix and his latest book entitled \u2018The White Album: The Album, The Beatles And The World in 1968,\u201d worked with other\u00a0musical giants,\u00a0including Wings and Pink Floyd \u201cbut Queen was\u00a0EMI\u2019s\u00a0biggest band.\u00a0They had an ear for what would make the public sit up and listen.\u00a0All the members of Queen\u00a0are great composers and musicians, but Freddie was the frontman.\u00a0He was the biggest star I ever worked with\u00a0\u2013\u00a0and I worked with George Harrison and Paul McCartney.\u00a0They were an amazingly talented band in terms of sheer stardom, outlandishness, outrageousness and the constant delivery of major hit records.\u201d<\/p>\n