I can't believe he's been gone nineteen years [today]. Queen has been my favorite band since I was a kid, the first CD I ever bought was Queen's Greatest Hits, and after that, I was an addict--I just couldn't believe that someone so amazing existed. I went on to collect anything and everything Queen or Freddie related--but my piece de resistance and most prized possession has to be my autographed Freddie Mercury press photo from his Great Pretender solo sessions. I also have their VHS tapes, DVDs, action figures, shirts, posters, buttons, and any other thing you can possibly imagine that can be sold or manufactured to promote a rock band, not to mention every book ever written about them. Queen was the band that brought me to rock and roll, made me want go into music journalism, and inspired me start my own band. In high school I covered my binder with photos of Queen and Freddie--alienating a good number of people--and of course my senior quote was one from Freddie Mercury. I used to bring people over to my house to show them Queen concert tapes, promising the most amazing, and almost beyond-human performances (Blender and MTV2 saw Mercury voted the greatest male singer of all time, and in 2009, a Classic Rock poll saw him voted the greatest rock singer of all time); most people said the videos were "scary," "disgusting," and called me crazy--but as Freddie said, "Fuck them darling, if they just don't get it."
Freddie Mercury was born Farrokh Bulsara in the British protectorate of Zanzibar, East Africa in 1946. At the age of 17, Mercury and his family fled from Zanzibar due to the '64 revolution. They moved into a small house in Feltham, Middlesex (England). He soon received his diploma in Art and Graphic Design at Ealing Art College--not surprising, since he was responsible for the design of the Queen logo. In 1970, Fred joined guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor who had previously been in a band called Smile, and Mercury chose the name "Queen" for the new band.
In their time together, the band has released eighteen number one albums, eighteen number one singles, and ten number one DVDs worldwide, with their total album sales estimated to be over 300 million worldwide. Queen is also the only band in which every member has composed more than one chart-topping single. According to the bands history, Queen have spent a total of 1,322 weeks or twenty-seven years on the United Kingdom album charts; more time than any other musical act.
One of my favorite Freddie Mercury interviews (parts 1 & 2) from 1984
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