Freddie Mercury - A short biography

Freddie Mercury was the leading band member of Queen. He was admired in life but remained
a legend in the memory of his fans due to his tragic death and his legacy.
He was born Farrokh Bulsara on the small spice island of Zanzibar. He spent his childhood in
India in a boarding school, about fifty miles outside Bombay. It was there his friends began to
call him Freddie, a name the family also adopted. His musical talent was evident to his
teachers and Freddie began to learn to play the piano. In that time, he and other four friends
at his school formed a rock'n roll band, the Hectics, where Freddie was the piano player. When
Freddie finished school, he returned to Zanzibar and spent his time with friends in and around
the markets, parks and beaches. In those days many of the British and Indians, due to political
unrest in Zanzibar, left their country. So he left for England.
He lived with relatives in Middlesex, until he was able to find his own small house in the area.
Ten years later, due to safety reasons, the family fled from Zanzibar and moved also to
Middlesex. While studying art at Ealing College of Art attending a graphic illustrating course,
Mercury played with a band called Smile. It was then that he became an ardent fan of Jimi
Hendrix and others like Cream and Led Zeppelin.
Freddie was introduced to a Liverpool band called Ibex, who had come to London to try to
make a name for themselves. Later Freddie became the lead singer with Sour Milk Sea that he
found after seeing a "Vocalist Wanted" advert in a local music magazine. Another member of
the band decided to leave Smile, and Freddie join them as lead singer. Freddie decided to
change the name of the band to Queen, he also changed his last name to Mercury.
After this Freddie met Mary Austin. They lived together for seven years and remained good
friends until his death. He was the author of the first Queen song that entered the British
charts (Seven Seas Of Rhye), the first big hit (Killer Queen) and the most famous Queen song
that was on the top of charts for a few weeks (Bohemian Rhapsody). Freddie has always been
considered the front-man of the band and wrote most of their songs.
At that time Freddie changed his image. He cut his hair and grew a moustache. His fans began
to send him gifts of nail polish and razor blades. And it became more difficult for the band to
stay together and all members agreed they wanted to take break from each other.
The first single from his forthcoming solo album was I Was Born To Love You. An about the
same time Freddie's first solo album Mr. Bad Guy was released. Freddie also began work on
the album he agreed to record with Montserrat Caball whom he later sang with on a stage of
a festival in Barcelona. That was the last time Freddie Mercury performed live.
At the time, he was terribly ill with AIDS, although he didn't want people to know about it. He
announced that fact the day before he died. Being ill he continued to compose and record
songs and even took part in making videos. In the end Freddie died peacefully at his home in
London of AIDS-related bronchial pneumonia. He will always be remembered for his great
talent and his songs fool of emotion will transcend into eternity.