One of His Best Performances
Freddie Mercury
(September 5, 1946 ~ November 24, 1991)
Early Life
Freddie Mercury was born on September 5, 1946 in Zanzibar, Tanzania to father, Bomi Bulsara, who was a colonial British official of Indian origin, and mother, Jer Bulsara, who was also born in India, and was Mercury’s biggest fan and supporter. Bomi and Jer Bulsara were living in Zanzibar during the 1964 revolution and had to flee with Mercury and his sister to the UK. Mercury learned to play the piano as a child, then learned how to play the guitar in London, where he also attended the Ealing School of Art.
Career
Mercury joined his first band, Heretic, where he became friends with drummer, Roger Taylor, and guitarist Roger May. He later discovered his voice and joined a new band, Ibex, as their lead singer. He continued to join different bands, but after meeting bassist, John Deacon, the four friends joined together, and formed the band, Queen. The band had immense success, forming for huge crowds with electrifying performances, but later in 1985, Mercury released a solo album, “Mr. Bad Guy”.
Personal Life
Freddie was bisexual, as he had female (Mary Austin) and male partners, but ultimately ended his life in a relationship with Jim Hutton, his lifelong partner whom he spent his last days with and even wore a wedding ring with even though gay marriage was not accepted yet. Freddie was known to have multiple one night stands, which may have been the source of the disease, HIV, that he contracted.
Death
In the late 1980s it became known that Mercury was not well, as he did not promote his new album. He had contracted AIDS, but did not make it public until November 23, 1991, where he publicly announced that he was HIV positive and gave the reasons that he did not make the announcement earlier. He urged people to help doctors find a cure and to support those fighting the disease. Mercury died just a day later after making this announcement.