Being a Front Man is a task that it takes a certain combination of ego, talent, emotion and determination. In Freddie Mercury, Queen had someone who not just possessed those traits, but owned them; embodying them even. Mercury laid to waste any audience who paid to see him; giving them theatrical performances full of power, energy and real emotion. Mercury would have turned 65 on September 5th; a fact that serves as such a cold reminder of his leaving this Earth far too soon.
From Humble Beginnings…
Freddie Mercury was born Farrokh Bulsara in Zanzibar. His father was a cashier for the British Colonial Office in India. This is where Mercury grew up and spent most of his child hood. It was when his parents fled the tumult in Zanzibar in the early 1960s and took the family to England, that Mercury would find himself on the path to stardom. It was 1970 when Mercury joined forces with guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor, christening the band “Queen.”
Reportedly, from the very start, Mercury was all about giving the audience a show. Every ounce of his energy was given to the performances, even the early ones. It was apparent that Freddie adored the spotlight and he knew exactly what to do when it was pointed directly at him. Perhaps it was his childhood in relative obscurity that burned inside of Mercury, forcing him out onto the stage, where he was able to project power and confidence.
The Voice
Freddie’s range was legendary. He could sing the lowest of the low notes with authority and support, but he could also slay the listener with glistening soprano-like, almost operatic performances as well. Watching a clip of Queen play live, it’s obvious that Freddie could move in and out registers and keys like a race car, his foot down on the gas, turning the vehicle with sharp, well-planned dexterity.
“Bohemian Rhapsody” was considered his opus, his epic. Clocking in at almost six minutes, the song winds its way through a beautiful a capella segment into a loping, methodical segment, into heavy metal, and then it all collapses into a beautiful closing. Throughout this piece, Mercury trades one hat for another, and always with believability. It’s never strange to hear him go from singing sorrowfully in the “Just killed a man” part of the song, only to be singing with full-blown pomp and circumstance just a minute or so later.
If you want to treat your ears though, grab a great pair of headphones, fire up your iPod or favorite streaming music application and queue up “Somebody to Love.” The harmonies delivered by the rest of the band cradle Freddie’s performance in a basket of aural perfection. His melody is delivered flawlessly. He jumps from baritone to tenor to soprano without any effort, and what he winds up giving you is a perfectly balanced mega-song. The stuff of legends.
Who Wants to Live Forever?
When Mercury was diagnosed with AIDS in the late 1980s, it was a time when even HIV, the immune disorder that causes AIDS, was a death sentence. Since Freddie also took the care to hide his diagnosis from the media and his fans, his death seemed all the more sudden. News was released of his having the terrible disease, and then less than a day later, he was gone, he was just 45 years old.
November 24th will mark the twentieth anniversary of his passing. What Mercury left behind was a legacy of beautiful and inspired work. The fact he was openly gay also let him become a pioneer for civil rights for the homosexual community, as well as an advocate for AIDS research.