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Freddy Mercury

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Best known as lead singer of popular British rock group Queen. Born 5 September 1946 in Stone Town, Zanzibar, died 24 November 1991 in Kensington, London, UK.

Born as Farrokh Pluto Bulsara to parents Bomi and Jer Bulsara, he attended St. Peter's boarding school near Bombay and formed his first school band ("The Hectics") where he played piano.
At age 17 the Bulsara family fled to England during the Zanzibar revolution and Freddie (as he began calling himself) took up studies in art design. He also formed a band called "Ibex" (later renamed to "Wreckage") but they failed to take off. Soon after he joined another band called "Sour Milk Sea" but it also soon disbanded.

In 1970 he met Brian May and Roger Taylor who at the time were going under the name Smile. Quickly taking full charge, he soon changed the name to "Queen", and with his art design education designed the band's logo. It was also around this time that he changed his name to Frederick Mercury by deed poll.

As flamboyant a performer he was on stage, Mr. Mercury was equally adept at songwriting; it was his "Bohemian Rhapsody" that propelled the band to superstardom.

Between the late 1970's and early 1980's, Freddie took a break from the band to pursue a solo career, spending much time in Munich and New York. In 1987 he was diagnosed with HIV. Despite his illness he still recorded with Queen to finish one last album ("Innuendo") and his last recorded song, "Mother Love" (which was to appear on the posthumous "Made In Heaven" album). As the disease took hold, public appearances and subsequent videos revealed a very thin Freddie -- yet he insisted on keeping his illness a secret.

On 24 November 1991, he died in his Kensington home, one day after announcing his illness, aged 45.

Mercury wrote 10 of the 17 songs on Queen's Greatest Hits album: "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Seven Seas of Rhye", "Killer Queen", "Somebody to Love", "Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy", "We Are the Champions", "Bicycle Race", "Don't Stop Me Now", "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and "Play the Game".

In addition to his work with Queen, Mercury put out two solo albums and several singles. Although his solo work was not as commercially successful as most Queen albums, the two off-Queen albums and several of the singles debuted in the top 10 of the UK Album Charts. His first solo effort involved his contribution to the Richard "Wolfie" Wolf mix of Love Kills on the 1984 album (the song also used as the end title theme for National Lampoon's "Loaded Weapon") and new soundtrack to the 1926 Fritz Lang film Metropolis. The song, produced by Giorgio Moroder, debuted at the number 10 position in the UK charts.

Mercury's two full albums outside the band were Mr. Bad Guy (1985) and Barcelona (1988). The former is a pop-oriented album that emphasises disco and dance music. "Barcelona" was recorded and performed with the opera singer Montserrat Caballé, whom he had long admired. Mr. Bad Guy debuted in the top ten of the UK Album Charts. In 1993, a remix of "Living on My Own", a single from the album, reached the No.1 position on the UK Singles Charts. The song also garnered Mercury a posthumous Ivor Novello Award. Allmusic critic Eduardo Rivadavia describes Mr. Bad Guy as "outstanding from start to finish" and expressed his view that Mercury "did a commendable job of stretching into uncharted territory".In particular, the album is heavily synthesiser-driven in a way that is not characteristic of previous Queen albums.

Barcelona, recorded with Spanish soprano Montserrat Caballé, combines elements of popular music and opera. Many critics were uncertain what to make of the album; one referred to it as "the most bizarre CD of the year". The album was a commercial success, and the album's title track debuted at the No.8 position in the UK charts and was a hit in Spain. The title track received massive air play as the official hymn of the 1992 Summer Olympics (held in Barcelona one year after Mercury's death). Caballé sang it live at the opening of the Olympics with Mercury's part played on a screen, and again prior to the start of the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final in Barcelona.

In addition to the two solo albums, Mercury released several singles, including his own version of the hit The Great Pretender by The Platters, which debuted at number five in the UK in 1987. In September 2006, a compilation album featuring Mercury's solo work was released in the UK in honour of what would have been his 60th birthday. The album debuted in the top 10 of the UK Album Charts.

In 1981–1983, Mercury recorded several tracks with Michael Jackson, including a demo of "State of Shock", "Victory" and "There Must Be More to Life Than This"; none of these collaborations were officially released, although bootleg recordings exist. Jackson went on to record the former song with Mick Jagger for The Jacksons's album Victory, and Mercury included the solo version of the latter song on his Mr. Bad Guy album.

Albums (3)
Songs (21)
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