What is the name of all Freddy. Freddie Mercury is the star of all time. Last days. Photos of Freddie Mercury.

Freddie Mercury   (eng. , real name Farrukh Bulsara   (guge. ફારોખ બલ્સારા‌ ); September 5, 1946, Stone Town - November 24, 1991, London) - British singer of Parsi descent, songwriter, vocalist of the rock band Queen. He was the author of such hits of the group as “Seven Seas of Rhye”, “Killer Queen”, “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “Somebody to Love”, “We Are the Champions”, “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”, etc. The musician also studied solo work. Freddie died on November 24, 1991 from bronchial pneumonia that developed against the backdrop of AIDS.

In 2002, Freddie Mercury took 58th place in the survey of "100 Greatest Britons", organized by BBC. In 2005, the magazineBlenderconducted a survey, according to which Freddy took second place among vocalists (first among men). In 2008, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him 18th on the Rolling Stone magazine’s list of “100 Greatest Vocalists of All Time”. Allmusic described him as "one of the greatest rock singers and the owner of one of the greatest voices in the history of music."

Childhood and adolescence (1946–1964)

Freddie Mercury was born on September 5, 1946 on the island of Zanzibar in the family of the Parsi Bomi (1908 - 12/25/2003) and Jer (born September 29, 1922) Bulsara. At birth, the boy received the name Farrukh, which means "beautiful", "happy." Farrukh's father worked as a cashier at the Supreme Court of England and Wales. In 1952, Freddy had a sister in Kashmir.

In 1954, parents assigned Farrukh to St. Peter's School in Panchgani, 500 kilometers from Bombay. At that time, the Bollywood singer Lata Mangeshkar had a significant formative influence from a musical point of view. In Panchgani, Freddie began to live with his grandfather and aunt. The name "Farrukh" was inconvenient for pronunciation by classmates (mostly English), so friends began to call him Freddy.

All sports at St. Peter's School were typically British. Freddie did not like cricket and long-distance running - he preferred hockey, sprint and boxing. At the age of ten he became the champion of the school in table tennis, at the age of twelve he received the trophy for winning the youth all-around, as well as the certificate "for excellence in all sciences and arts." Freddie studied well, showed interest in music and painting, constantly did drawings for friends and relatives. He also sang in the school choir and participated in productions of performances.

From an early age, Freddie was fond of music. Singing occupied almost all his free time, sometimes to the detriment of his studies. The musical abilities of Freddy drew the attention of the director of the school of St. Peter. He wrote a letter to the boy’s parents, in which he suggested organizing piano courses for Freddy for a small fee. Parents agreed, and Freddy began to study with enthusiasm. At the end of his studies, he received a fourth degree in theory and practice. Piano grade iv).

In 1958, five friends from St. Peter's School - Freddie Bulsara, Derrick Branche, Bruce Murray, Farang Irani and Victor Rana created their first rock band, which they called The Hectics (Rus.Crazy) The group played at school evenings, dances and anniversaries.

In 1962, sixteen-year-old Freddy graduated from St. Peter's School in Panchgani and returned to Zanzibar. In early 1964, the British government transferred power over Zanzibar to the Arab Sultan, and a week after that Zanzibar was declared an independent state. Due to political unrest in the country, the Bulsar family, having captured only two suitcases with clothes, flew to the UK.

In anticipation of fame (1964-1970)

Arriving in England, the Bulsar family first stayed with relatives living in Faltham, Middlesex County, then they bought their own home. Freddie, who at that time was eighteen years old, entered the Islesworth Polytechnic School, where he studied mainly painting, as he wanted to go to art college.

The family had problems with money, so during the holidays Freddie had to earn extra money. At first, he worked in the logistics department of Heathrow Airport in London, then as a loader at Faltham's warehouse. His colleagues drew attention to his "graceful" hands that did not fit this work. Freddie answered their questions that he is a musician and works as a loader only in his spare time. Thanks to the charm of Freddy, other movers began to take on the lion's share of his work.

In May 1966, graduating from Islesworth with a high mark in painting, Freddy was interviewed at Ealing College of Art in London, where he began to study at the Department of Graphic Illustration in the fall of that year.

Soon after, Freddie left his parental home and settled in a rented apartment in Kensington with his friend Chris Smith. Kensington in those years was the heart of London's bohemia and art. Freddie drew a lot, a special place in his drawings was occupied by his idol - guitarist Jimi Hendrix. In Ealing, Freddy met and made friends with Tim Staffel, vocalist, bass player and leader of the Smile band. After some time, Tim began to invite Freddy to the rehearsals of the group. Freddy appreciated the potential of Smile, especially the game of guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor. Freddie also met other young beginner musicians such as Tim and Nigel Fosters. Chris Smith, his flatmate, was also into music. Freddy and Chris played together, trying to mix different styles, but did not go on stage.

In the summer of 1969, twenty-three-year-old Freddie graduated from Ealing with a diploma in graphic design. Soon, Freddy moved to Roger Taylor, and they opened a store in the Kensington market, where they sold both Freddy's paintings and other goods.

August 13, Freddie met with the Liverpool groupIbex. The group included guitarist Mike Berzin, bass player John Taylor nicknamed Tapp, drummer Mick Smith nicknamed Miffer (from the English.miff   - “get angry,” “spoil the mood”) and another bass player, Jeff Higgins, who replaced Tapp when he played the flute. With them was their manager Ken Testy. Ten days after the meeting, Freddie already knew the entire repertoire of the group, added some of his songs and went with them to their first joint concert, in Bolton, Lancashire. Their concerts were held as part of the annual blues festival, so the events were covered by the press. Ibex concerts took place on August 23 at the Oktogon Theater and on August 25 at the Royal Park. Ibex performed cover versions of songs by Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Freddie’s favorites.

In September-October 1969, at the suggestion of Freddy, the group was renamed Wreckage ("Shipwreck"), and Freddy went to the trick to convince everyone to change the name of the group. After a short time, Miffer left the band and was replaced by Richard Thompson, the ex-drummer of 1984, who played Brian May before Smile. After renaming Wreckage, they gave a few concerts, but soon, largely due to the fact that Mike Berzin returned to Liverpool to study, the group broke up.

Freddy decided to find a new group. Among the ads in Melody Maker, he found a vocalist job in the Sour Milk Sea ("Sour-Milk Sea") band. Freddy came to the audition, and on the same day was received, as other participants liked his voice and his manner of moving. The group included vocalist and guitarist Chris Chesney, bassist Paul Milne, rhythm guitarist Jeremy Gallop, nicknamed Rabber, and drummer Rob Tyrell. After several rehearsals, the group gave a couple of concerts in Oxford, Chris's hometown.

Freddy and Chris became friends, and soon Chris moved to the apartment where Freddie and the musicians from Smile lived. The rest of the Sour Milk Sea members did not like their friendship, they argued this antipathy concern for the future of the group. As a result, two months later, Jeremy took almost all the equipment (since it belonged to him), and the Sour Milk Sea ended on this.

Queen (1970-1991)

1970-1982

In April 1970, Tim Staffel decided to leave Smile, and Freddie took the place of the vocalist in their group. At his initiative, the group was renamed Queen.

Until February 1971, the group did not have a permanent bass player - in less than a year Queen replaced three people. Finally, at one of the music parties, they met John Deacon, whose abilities best arranged the group professionally. After that, Queen formed in the final composition.

After the composition of the group became permanent, Freddy decided to draw its coat of arms. According to one version, the emblem of Great Britain was taken as a basis, with the Latin letter Q around which the zodiac signs of the Queen members are “woven”: two Leo - John Deacon and Roger Taylor, a crab crawling out of the fire - the sign of Cancer - Brian May. Two fairies with wings are good helpers for heroes from the British epic (also the zodiac sign Freddy is Virgo).

In 1972, while recording Queen's debut album Queen, Freddie decided to change his surname Bulsar to the creative pseudonym “Mercury”.Mercury   - “Mercury” and “Mercury”). He used this name in his song “My Fairy King” (Rus.My fairy king ), in which there are lines: “Mother Mercury, look what they’ve done to me, I cannot run I cannot hide” (RussianMother Mercury (option: mercury ), look what they did to me, I can’t run, I can’t hide ) In parallel with the work on the first album -Queen   - Freddy took part in the Trident Studios project under the pseudonym Larry Lurex, performing cover versions of the songs “I Can Hear Music” and “Going Back” (on the initiative of Freddie Mercury, Brian May and Roger Taylor were involved in this project).

Freddie became the author of Queen's first song to hit the UK charts, Seven Seas of Rhye (1973). He also composed the band’s first hit, “Killer Queen” (1974), as well as Queen’s most successful track, “Bohemian Rhapsody”. The song was prophesied a failure due to its length too long by the standards of the time for a single and for playing on commercial radio stations (5:55) and mixing several styles and genres of music. But Queen released the song as a single, shot a video clip for it, which became a revolution in music videos, some even call it the “first video clip”, although the clips for the songs were shot before. The song lasted at the top of the British charts for nine weeks.

In 1975, Queen toured in Japan. The musicians were extremely surprised by the warm welcome of the Japanese fans of the group. Brian May recalled: “We had some success in England and the USA, but we had never seen such fanaticism and adoration before. Suddenly in Japan we began to feel like real stars such as The Beatles and Bay City Rollers, people greeted us with cries of delight, which was news to us. ” Freddie fell in love with Japan and became a fanatical collector of Japanese art.

On October 7, 1979, Freddie’s old dream came true - he performed with the Royal Ballet (english) For his performance, he chose the songs “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”.

In 1980, Freddie changed his image - he cut his hair short and grew a mustache.

Solo career and peak of fame with Queen (1983–1988)

At the end of 1982, the Queen group announced that there would be no tour next year, the group was going on vacation. Freddie Mercury has long pondered the idea of \u200b\u200breleasing a solo album and now there is an opportunity for this. In early 1983, he began recordings at the Musicland Studios in Munich. At this time, he met with composer Giorgio Moroder, who participated in the project to restore the silent science fiction film Fritz Lang's "Metropolis", shot in 1926. Moroder was involved as a composer to create the design of the film with music in a modern style. He invited Mercury to take part in this project. The result of the joint work of Mercury and Moroder was the song "Love Kills", released on September 10, 1984.

At the end of May 1983, Freddie Mercury visited Verdi’s opera Masquerade Ball. Here he first saw and heard the outstanding Spanish opera singer Montserrat Caballe. The extraordinary beauty and strength of her voice made a huge impression on him.

The first single of Mercury’s future solo album Bad Guy became the song “I Was Born to Love You”, released on April 9, 1985. The album was released three weeks later by CBS Records. Subsequently, two songs of this album “Made in Heaven” and “I Was Born to Love You” were included in the album “Made in Heaven”, released by Queen in 1995.

July 13, 1985 was a special day for Queen and Freddy. On this day, a Live Aid concert was held - a grand show at Wembley Stadium, which was attended by 75 thousand spectators and many famous artists such as Elton John, Paul McCartney, David Bowie, Sting, U2 and many others (in parallel with the Wembley show) there was a concert in Philadelphia). The concert broadcast television around the world. With their performance, Queen secured a place in history, and observers, journalists, fans and critics said that the group was the highlight of the program.

Brian May (Queen guitarist): “I remember how the adrenaline level jumped sharply when I stepped on stage and heard the roar of the crowd. But we energetically set to work. Looking back, I believe that we all were somewhat worried then. When we finished, it seemed to me that the performance was somewhat incoherent. But it carried a lot of positive energy. Of course, Freddy was our secret weapon. He easily addressed everyone in the stadium. I think it was his day! ”

A year later, on July 12, 1986, Queen again gave a concert at Wembley as part of the Magic Tour in support of the albumA kind of magic. This concert was attended by over 120,000 people, and was later published asQueen at wembley. The final show of the tour in Nebworth on August 9 was Queen's last performance with Mercury.

February 23, 1987 Freddie Mercury released the single "The Great Pretender" (cover version of the song the band   Platters recorded at Townhouse Studios). He also recorded two songs for the musical. Time   1986 - the eponymous Time and In My Defense.

In March 1987, Freddie Mercury met with Montserrat Caballe in Barcelona and presented her with a cassette with several of his new songs. These songs made a strong impression on Caballe, and she even performed one of them at a concert in London, in Covent Garden, to the surprise of Freddie Mercury.

In early April 1987, Mercury and Caballe began work on a joint album. At the end of May, a music festival was held in the famous Ku Club on Ibiza Island, where Mercury and Caballe were honored guests. They performed the Barcelona song at the festival, which Freddie Mercury dedicated to his hometown of Caballe. October 8, 1988 at the La Nit festival in Barcelona, \u200b\u200bthe second joint performance of Mercury and Caballe took place - they performed three songs: “Golden Boy”, “How Can I Go On” and “Barcelona”. The co-author of these songs, Mike Moran, performed the piano parts for these songs. This performance was the last appearance of Freddie Mercury before the public. By this time, the musician was already seriously ill with AIDS.

Album Barcelona   released October 10, 1988. The title track of the album, “Barcelona”, became one of the two anthems of the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona (the second was the song “Amigos Para Siempre” by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Don Black performed by Sarah Brightman and Jose Carreras).

Sickness and Death (1986-1991)

In 1986, rumors began to appear that Freddie Mercury was sick with HIV. Initially, information leaked to the press that he was taking an HIV test. Since 1989, serious changes began to appear in the appearance of Mercury - he lost a lot of weight. However, until the last days of his life, the musician denied all the rumors about his health. Only his relatives knew about his terrible diagnosis.

In 1989, the Queen group gave the first joint interview on the radio in several years, where it announced that it wants to deviate from the usual “album-tour” scheme, and therefore this time it will not go on tour. The real reason was that the physical condition of the group's vocalist did not allow for concerts.

Mercury, knowing that time was running out, tried to record as many songs as possible. In the last years of his life, in addition to his solo album Barcelona, \u200b\u200bthe musician managed to record songs for three more albums of the group. During his lifetime, two albums were released - The Miracle, which was released in 1989 and Innuendo, which was released in 1991. Also, several video clips were shot for the songs of these albums. For the last lifetime album, the clips were shot in black and white to veil the physical condition of the group's vocalist. After the death of Freddie Mercury, the remaining members of the group, using the recordings of his voice, were able to release in 1995 the last Queen album.Made in heaven.

On November 23, 1991, Freddy made an official statement stating that he was infected with HIV: “Given the rumors in the press over the past two weeks, I want to confirm: my blood test showed the presence of HIV. I have AIDS. I considered it necessary to keep this information a secret in order to keep calm family and friends. However, it's time to tell the truth to my friends and fans around the world. I hope everyone joins the fight against this terrible disease. ” He also ordered that all rights to the song “Bohemian Rhapsody” be transferred to the Terence Higgins Foundation ( english) created to counter HIV and AIDS.

The next day, November 24, at about seven o’clock in the evening, Freddie Mercury died in his home in London from bronchopneumonia, which developed against the backdrop of HIV infection and AIDS. After it became known about his death, thousands of people came to the fence of his Garden Lodge house to put bouquets of flowers, postcards, letters and photographs on the paths.

The funeral of Freddie Mercury was closed - only relatives and friends were present. Despite the fact that the musician, as an adult, no longer followed Zoroastrian beliefs, his parents, professing Zoroastrianism, held a funeral ceremony in accordance with their beliefs, with the exception of body cremation, which is not welcomed by the traditions of Zoroastrianism. Peter Freestone, personal assistant to Freddie Mercury, described the ceremony as follows:

Freddie’s coffin was moved to the chapel to the sound of Aretha Franklin’s song “You’ve Got a Friend”. The subsequent Zoroastrian rite was a continuation of the ceremony, which began at half past eight in the morning. Two Parsa priests, dressed in white, escorted her to the memorial chapel of the John Nods and Sons funeral parlor in Ladbow Grove.<…>   At the end of the service, Freddie’s body left the world, accompanied by the voice of Montserrat Caballe, who performed the aria “D’Amor Sull’ Ali Rosee ”from Verdi’s opera Troubadour. Freddie never wanted to be like everyone else - such an adieu was just in his spirit, and Freddie would have approved of him.

Freddie Mercury's body was cremated. Only his family and Mary Austin know where the musician's ashes lie - such was his desire. In early 2013, The Daily Mirror reported that the place where the artist’s ashes were laid to rest was discovered by fans - this is the Kensal Green Cemetery.Kensal green cemetery) in West London.

In his will, Freddie Mercury left most of his fortune, including his mansion and income from the sale of his records to Mary Austin, as well as to his parents and sister. In addition, 500 thousand pounds were bequeathed to his chef Joe Fanelli, personal assistant Peter Freestone, 100 thousand pounds to his personal chauffeur Terry Giddings and 500 thousand pounds to Jim Hatton. Jim Hatton returned to Ireland in 1995, where he died on January 1, 2010 from lung cancer.

Posthumous glory

Freddie Mercury was and still remains one of the most popular performers in the world. His incredible scenic images and eccentric behavior on stage are known even to people far from music. On April 20, 1992, the remaining Queen band members Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon, along with many international pop and rock stars, gave Freddie a concert at Wembley Stadium, which earned £ 19.4 million in funds. the fight against AIDS. November 6, 1995 album was releasedMade in heaven   with recordings made at spring sessions at Dreamland's Montreux studio in 1991.

November 25, 1996, 5 years after the death of Freddie Mercury, in Montreux (Switzerland), where the musician worked and relaxed for many years, a monument was opened to him. Initially, Queen's musicians planned to erect a monument in London, and for four years they were looking for a place for him there, but they were refused. The only place the government proposed for the monument in London was the backyard of the art college where Freddie studied. Friends considered this an insult to the memory of a great musician. June 18, 2003 in London near the Dominion Theater, where shows are regularly stagedwe will Rock You, another monument was opened with a height of about 8 meters.

The name Freddie Mercury has become a kind of brand in music, synonymous with rock of the 80s. Many modern singers take the image, the performing style and the image of Freddy as a model, but still no one has achieved the same success that Freddie Mercury and Queen could achieve in 20 years of working together.

The song "Bohemian Rhapsody", which was written by Freddy, was recognized as "The Best Song of the Millennium" according to The Official Charts Company. The second, the same famous song by Freddy was and remains "We Are The Champions", which was in the rotation of almost all US radio stations, not to mention the fact that this song became an unofficial anthem of the winners of major sports competitions.

  Personal life

At the end of 1969, Freddie Mercury, thanks to Brian May, met Mary Austin in West Kensington, with whom he lived for about seven years. But then they broke up.

Once, everything changed when Freddy admitted that he had to tell her something very important; something that will change their relationship forever. Mary explains: “I was a little naive, and it took me a while to realize the truth. In the end, he was glad that he told me that he was bisexual. " Mary decided it was time to leave, but he convinced her not to go far.

They remained close friends, Mercury made her his personal secretary, and often admitted that Mary was his only true friend. In a 1985 interview, Mercury said: “All my beloved ones ask me why they cannot replace Mary for me. But that is simply not possible. She is my only friend, and I do not need anyone else. She was actually my wife. We believe in each other, and that’s enough for me. ” The singer dedicated several songs to Mary, of which the song “Love of My Life” is the most significant. Mercury was the godfather of Mary's eldest son, Richard, and left her mansion after her death.

Freddie Mercury had a short relationship with the famous Austrian actress Barbara Valentin, whom he met in 1983. Mercury spoke of their relationship: “Barbara and I created an alliance that was stronger than with any of my hobbies over the past six years. I really could tell her everything and be with her myself, which happens to me very rarely. " The musician also mentioned her among others in the dedication of his solo album “Mr. Bad Guy ":" thanks for the great tits and bad behavior "

From the very beginning of his popularity, the image of Freddie Mercury raised a lot of questions about his orientation, but Mercury always avoided talking about his personal life, joked, or answered vaguely. In a 1984 interview with Canadian magazine Melody Maker, he stated:

Journalist:Freddy, as I understand it, you were upset by the story in The Sun about your “admission” that you are homosexual?

Freddie: My words were completely wrongly quoted. But from the very beginning, the press always wrote about Queen absolutely everything that she wanted, and it always got away with it. The woman who wrote this article wanted to hear some shocking sensation from me, but received nothing. I said: “What do you want to hear? What am I selling cocaine? ” - but for God's sake, if I wanted to make a loud confession about my sex life, would I turn to The Sun, other newspapers to do this? I never fucking do this. I am too intelligent.

Journalist: But now is a good time to be gay. It is beneficial for the business.