20 Fascinating Facts about Freddie Mercury
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The legendary frontman of Queen Freddie Mercury is one of those few persons who will be remembered forever. Amazon's voice, unique talent for writing timeless songs, fantastic style, manners, and great humour still keep him alive among generations, even decades after his death. If you love Freddie Mercury too, you will enjoy fascinating facts about this great person and artist.
1. Freddie Mercury had a different name.
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Our legendary star's birth name was Farrokh Bulsara, but he later adopted the stage name Freddie Mercury as soon as he became the lead vocalist of the band Queen.
2. Freddie Mercury is from Zanzibar
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Refrain from trusting his excellent British accent. The star was born in Zanzibar, a part of Tanzania today. For several years, Mercury lived in India. When Freddie was a teenager, his family decided to move to Middlesex, England.
3. Freddie Mercury was Zoroastrian at first.
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This old religion wasn't Freddie's choice. Mercury's family was Parsis and Zoroastrian. Even though Freddie never talked about religion or his beliefs in interviews, his funeral was performed by a Zoroastrian priest.
4. Freddie Mercury had four extra teeth.
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Yes, this is right. Freddie Mercury had four extra teeth at the back of his mouth, and this caused forward teeth to push. The singer was often bullied because of his teeth, but he never fixed it because he thought it would change his voice.
5. Mercury was a baggage handler.
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Before he became famous, Mercury had quite a difficult life, especially financially. Therefore, he was working as a baggage handler at Heathrow Airport.
6. Freddie Mercury Created the Queen emblem.
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The iconic emblem of the Queen includes the inspiration from zodiac signs and the power symbol - the lion. Mercury had a diploma in art and graphic design from Ealing Art College, which helped a lot in creating this fantastic logo.
7. Mercury was a stamp collector.
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Since childhood, Freddie loved to collect stamps. Most were from Zanzibar, New Zealand, Monaco and the UK. One of the first collections was acquired by the British Postal Museum.
8. The headboard of Mercury's bed was a piano.
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Mercury's immense love of piano is not surprising. Before becoming famous, singers used an upright piano for the headboard to be able to play immediately when ideas struck. According to his manager, this is how some parts of Bohemian Rhapsody were written.
9. Freddie Mercury was shy.
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Behind this wild performing style, the showman and iconic star hid a timid man. It was his own words in one of the interviews. His close people also admitted that Freddie was not the same person as we knew from the stage.
10. Mercury's voice was almost 4 octaves.
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Freddie Mercury's voice is the one which the world remembers forever. The most robust tenor range and exciting power of voice were improving from time to time. His principal recording range was four octaves with tenor.
11. Freddie Mercury once performed with the Royal Ballet.
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In 1977, people saw a fantastic collaboration between Freddie Mercury and the Royal Ballet dancing to Bohemian Rhapsody in the London Coliseum. Freddie performed some lifts and high kicks with ballerinas.
12. Mercury wrote the song Crazy Little Thing Called Love in the Hotel Bathtub.
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Many of his song ideas came in Mercury's bed, but this fantastic and enjoyable song was written while Freddie was bathing in Munich at the Hilton Hotel. As he said, Elvis Presley was the song's inspiration.
13. One of the asteroids is named Freddie Mercury.
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In 2016, it was decided to name the asteroid the name of Freddie Mercury, which was discovered in the same year Mercury died in 1991. This asteroid is now located between the planets Jupiter and Mars.
14. Freddie Mercury loved cats.
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Well, it is mainly known for its big fans. Mercury loved cats so much, and it is not surprising that the singer had many cats. He even wrote a song for cats in the album Mr. Bad Guy. The song was dedicated to Freddie's favorite cat, Delilah.
15. Mercury recorded songs with Michael Jackson.
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In 1983, Michael Jackson invited Freddie Mercury to work on three songs. As it is known, their names were Victory, State of Shock, and There Must Be More to Life Than This. One of the versions of "There Must Be More to Life Than This" was released in Mercury's solo album in 1985. Other sons were never finished because they were no longer in the same country.
16. Mercury decided to give most of the wealth to Mary Austin.
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Mary Austin and Freddie Mercury had a long relationship before Mercury discovered his natural sexuality. Even though this couple remained friends before his death, Mercury gave Austin 50% of the wealth. His parents only received 25%, as did his sister.
17. Freddie Mercury used drag names for his friends.
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For Freddie, Elton John was called Sharon, and Rob Stewart was called Phyllis. Guess what was Mercury's name? He called himself Melina. It was discovered after Freddie's death when Elton John received a painting gift from Freddie, with a note: Dear Sharon, I saw this at an auction and thought you would love it. I love you, Melina.
18. Freddie Mercury was mentioned in Kurt Cobain's suicide note.
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Well, it was nothing scandalous, just outlining respect for Freddie Mercury. Cobain wrote: When we are backstage and the lights go out, and the manic roar of the crowds begins, it doesn't affect me like it did for Freddie Mercury. He seemed to love the crowd, which I admire and envy.
19. Freddie Mercury and Princess Diana watched a movie together.
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These two amazing stars once spent a night and watched The Golden Girls together in the legendary gay bar in South London. Diana wore an army jacket, cap, and sunglasses to avoid being noticed by people.
20. Mercury started writing Bohemian Rhapsody before joining Queen.
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Writing Bohemian Rhapsody took years, but it was worth it. Freddie started writing some parts in 1968 when he joined the Queen in 1970. The inspiration came from the phrase Mama, just killed a man.