Continuing my recent theme of honoring the rock and roll dead (see Elvis post), and this will make A LOT of people feel old, Farrokh Bulsara a/k/a Freddie Mercury would have turned SIXTY-ONE today. That’s weird. He seems burned in time at the age of his death, 45, and also bc he always looked the same (except at the sick near-death end, see below).
Many people old enough to remember the Queen heyday of the late 70’s and early- to mid-80’s remember what huge deal this band was. And a good rock history discussion for those in the room who aren’t old enough to know the band except in old footage or classic rock music. This band, esp. the stage performances, captivated the rock scene. Freddie was the leader of it all, an incredibly talented musician, singer and writer. Many performers have credited Freddie and Queen for inspiring them, and a mention of Freddie is often heard when the Foo Fighters play (and Brian May has also played with the Foo’s). This is from Wikipedia (yes, I know it’s not always accurate) …
Widely regarded as one of the greatest singers in popular music, Freddie Mercury possessed a very distinctive voice, including a recorded range of nearly four octaves. Although his speaking voice naturally fell in the baritone range, he delivered most songs in the tenor range. Biographer David Bret described Mercury’s voice as “escalating within a few bars from a deep, throaty rock-growl to tender, vibrant tenor, then on to a high-pitched, almost perfect coloratura, pure and crystalline in the upper reaches.” On the other hand, he would often lower the highest notes during live performances. Mercury also claimed never to have had any formal training. Spanish soprano Montserrat Caballe, with whom Mercury recorded an album expressed her opinion that “the difference between Freddie and almost all the other rock stars was he was selling the voice.”
The most notable aspect of his songwriting involved the wide range of different genres that he used, which included, among other styles, rockabilly, heavy metal and disco. Compared to many rock songwriters, Mercury tended to write musically complex material. For example, “Bohemian Rhapsody” is acyclic in structure and comprises dozens of chords. On the other hand, “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” is made up of only a few chords. Despite the fact that Mercury often wrote very intricate harmonies, he also claimed that he could barely read music. He wrote most of his songs on the piano, often choosing keys that were technically difficult for band mate and guitarist Brian May.
The stage performances were just captivating. He owned the crowd, often just stood center stage without gimmicks and belted it out.
The 1985 Live Aid performance was incredibly memorable. Bohemian Rhapsody on piano (I love the old paper Pepsi logo cups on top of the piano). In Radio Ga Ga, he has the crowd in his hand. Live Aid here. More Wikipedia …
One of Mercury’s most notable performances with Queen took place at Live Aid in 1985, during which the entire stadium audience of 72,000 people clapped, sang, and swayed in unison. Queen’s performance at the event has since been voted by a group of music executives as the greatest live performance in the history of rock music. The results were aired on a television program called “The World’s Greatest gigs”. In reviewing Live Aid in 2005, one critic wrote, “Those who compile lists of Great Rock Frontmen and award the top spots to Mick Jagger, Robert Plant et al. are guilty of a terrible oversight. Freddie, as evidenced by his Dionysian Live Aid performance, was easily the most godlike of them all.”
Also, from the classic Queen Live at Wembley performance …
Under Pressure
Big worldwide influence and following too. 700 concerts? That seems like a large number. Wikipedia …
Over the course of his career, Mercury performed an estimated 700 concerts in countries around the world with Queen. The band was the first ever to play South American stadiums, breaking worldwide records for concert attendance in the Morumbi Stadium in San Paulo in 1981. In 1986, Queen was also the first to play behind the Iron Curtain, when it performed to a crowd of 80,000 in Budapest.
The whole San Paulo concert is at youtube, but this one from 1981 Buenos Aires show from the same tour shows the impact on the crowd. They pretty much took over vocals for We Will Rock You, with We Are the Champions too. Buenos Aires.
Now to the serious portion of the post. Freddie died in late November 1991 of complications from AIDS. You might remember that this was just a couple of weeks after the Magic Johnson announcement. Remember the Magic announcement? Most people reacted like “huh? where did THAT come from? wow.” This was bc AIDS and HIV were not in the mainstream of consciousness as much as it should have been. Freddie died right after, 2 big back-to-back events related to HIV. contrast his performances with the ill and emaciated person in his last public appearance here.
A very insightful and interesting movie was made in 93 about the advent of HIV and AIDS (Bang the Drum Slowly), notably how government people knew about way back in the late 70’s onset (Studio 54 and the like and that culture had A LOT to do with the spread). These officials, I think the movie even notes CDC knowledge, pretty much dismissed it as some illness indigenous to the San Francisco gay club scene and had no real interest in looking further into it until it was too late. Not sure how much is “based on” actual events, but the movie as I recall linked much of the spread to a certain promiscuous club hopping gay bi-coastal flight attendant who didn’t know what he had. Here’s the IMDB synopsis: “Story of the discovery of the AIDS virus. From the early days in 1978 when numerous San Francisco gays began dying from unknown causes, to the identification of the HIV virus.”
RIP Freddie
At Live Aid
I wish Suge Knight would have thrown him off the balcony…