Freddie Mercury was an icon in the truest sense of the word, and today would have been the legendary Queen frontman’s 80th birthday. His astonishing voice created many of the biggest anthems of our time: We Will Rock You, We Are The Champions and, of course, Bohemian Rhapsody.
He pushed boundaries, challenged societal norms, and will forever be remembered for uniting the world with a standout performance during 1985’s Live Aid. His death, aged just 45, was a tragic end to his outstanding and colourful life – but, decades on, his groundbreaking music still resonates with fans.
Ahead of what would have been his milestone birthday a new Mirror book, Freddie Mercury: A Legend Remembered by Ashleigh Rainbird, reveals an incredible selection of hand-picked pictures, some never published before.
Freddie Mercury was born Farrokh Bulsara on September 5 1946, in Stone Town, Zanzibar. He started taking piano lessons, adopted the name Freddie and at age 12 formed his first rock-and-roll cover band, called The Hectics.
In 1964, his family escaped the violent Zanzibar Revolution and moved to Feltham, Middlesex, England. He studied graphic art and design at Ealing Art College, graduating in 1969. To pay rent, he worked as a baggage handler at Heathrow Airport and sold secondhand clothes at Kensington Market.
It was at this time that Freddie became a keen fan of a band called Smile, which also featured guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor. He frequently watched them play. In 1970, Smile’s lead singer Tim Staffell left Smile to join another band and Freddie eagerly stepped forward.
Freddie brought a grand, theatrical vision to the group. He soon convinced May and Taylor to change the band’s name to Queen – a regal and striking moniker he felt suited their ambitious style. Around the same time, he legally changed his surname from Bulsara to Mercury.
The band had their first UK chart entry in 1974 with Seven Seas of Rhye. Later that year, they released their third album, Sheer Heart Attack, featuring the breakout hit Killer Queen, which reached number two on the UK charts.
But it was in late 1975 that Queen achieved worldwide superstardom with the release of A Night at the Opera. The album featured Bohemian Rhapsody, which spent nine consecutive weeks at number one in the UK and became a massive international phenomenon.
Freddie was catapulted into the stratosphere and became one of the most recognisable performers of all time. Queen’s 20-minute performance at Live Aid on July 13 1985 at Wembley Stadium is widely considered the greatest live rock performance in history.
But his life was to be cut short. He recorded his final vocal tracks, including the song Mother Love, in early 1991 in Switzerland when he was extremely frail, telling bandmate Brian May he would finish the rest later – a moment that never came.
Mercury kept his HIV/AIDS diagnosis private for years, continuing to record music with Queen despite severe physical weakening, loss of vision, and pain. Just 24 hours before his death, on November 23 1991 he issued an official public statement confirming his diagnosis to the world.
The next day, Freddie died of AIDS-related bronchial pneumonia aged just 45. His close friend Mary Austin took his ashes to a secret location known only to her.
But Freddie’s legacy lived on. In 2018, actor Rami Malek won a Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Freddie in Hollywood film Bohemian Rhapsody. The film grossed over £700million at the global box office, making it the most successful biopic ever made.
The We Will Rock You stage musical, featuring 24 of Queen’s hits, broke records by running for 12 years and playing to 6.5million fans in 4600 performances at London’s Dominion Theatre.
Though this year marks the 35th anniversary of his death, and would have seen him turn 80, his impact on modern music is undeniable. But he also left his mark on the world thanks to opening up about the disease that killed him.
Freddie’s brave public admission about his diagnosis stopped the virus being such a taboo subject and drove donations that have saved thousands of lives – the Mercury Phoenix Trust was set up by Brian, Roger and Jim Beach in 1992.
The charity, which runs the annual Freddie for a Day event, where fans dress as the star to mark his birthday has donated more than £17million to the global battle against AIDS. In one of his final interviews, he said: “If I had to do it all over again, yes why not? I’d do it slightly differently.” To everyone else, it was simply a kind of magic.
Freddie Mercury remembered…
Freddie frequently wore drag to perform ‘I Want To Break Free’, including at Wembley Arena in September 1984.
Freddie’s flamboyant style started to take centre stage as the group landed at Heathrow Airport following their Australian tour in 1974.
A rare picture of Freddie rehearsing with The Royal Ballet in 1979 ahead of his charity gala appearance alongside them at the London Coliseum.
Another rare photograph shows Freddie planting a kiss on “Monsty”, while filming the music video for ‘Barcelona’ at Pinewood Studios in October 1987
Queen making a pop video for It’s A Hard Life in 1984. Freddie took inspiration from artists including Salvador Dali, who he admired
*See more amazing photos in Freddie Mercury: A Legend Remembered by Ashleigh Rainbird, published by Mirror Books (£25), on sale September 10th. Order now from Amazon and all good bookshops.
