Paying Tribute To Freddie Mercury On His 73rd Birthday Anniversary With Little-Known Facts
Sep 05, 2019 by apost team
The late lead singer of Queen, Freddie Mercury died in 1991. He passed away just one day after he announced to the public he had AIDS, according to Queen’s website.
Being such an icon there is probably not very much fans didn't know about him. In honor of the late vocalists birthday today here are 10 things you may not have known about Freddie Mercury to read on his birthday:
1. His official passport read "Frederick Mercury"
Although the singer's birth name was Farrokh Bulsara, he preferred to be called Freddie. The star added 'Mercury' onto the end when the band Queen formed.
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2. He didn't think he was a good pianist
As a perfectionist, Freddie didn't particularly like to play the piano and thought he wasn't very skilled according to band member Brian May in the documentary "Queen: The Making of 'A Night at the Opera.'" Freddie tried to use the instrument less and less over time to avoid playing it, giving him more time to dance and entertain on the stage.
3. Freddie dressed Princess Diana in costume clothes and took her for a night on the town
A close friend of Mercury was TV comedian Cleo Rocos, she wrote in her autobiography that Mercury was able to convince Princess Diana to go out to a bar for a drink. So the royal wouldn't be recognized, Mercury dressed her up in drag clothes. "Scrutinising her in the half-light we decided that the most famous icon of the modern world might just - just - pass for a rather eccentrically dressed gay male model," she said as cited by the Independent.
4. He loved his cats A LOT
Mary Austin, Mercury's long-time girlfriend and closest friend would put the cats up on the phone so Freddie could speak to them. Mercury also wrote the song 'Delilah' about his favorite cat.
5. A study was conducted on his singing method
A study was published in Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology that gathered and studied Freddie Mercury's unique singing style. They found that Mercury's vocal cords were essentially moving faster than the average person's vocal cords. While a typical vibrato is at 5.4 to 6.9 Hz, Freddie Mercury's vibrato clocked in at 7.04 Hz.
6. He used to have bad fights with this boyfriend Bill Reid
According to Express, Reid and Freddie had such a bad fight one time that Reid bit Freddie's hand so hard that it began bleeding and left teeth marks. Another time the couple got into a screaming argument and it almost left Freddie unable to perform for Saturday Night Live due to his voice being so hoarse.
7. He always had sudden inspiration
The mastermind had his assistant carry pens and paper with them just in case Freddie became inspired and needed to write something down. Express reports he actually composed a song in the bathtub having a piano be brought to the restroom.
8. He had a little bit of a plane superstition
Peter Freestone who was Freddie Mercury's personal assistant for over a decade wrote a memoir about the late singer, in it he detailed one event where Mercury expressed his superstition for flying on airplanes.
Boarding a flight to New York from Tokyo, Freddie noticed the flight was a DC10. This kind of aircraft had problems during those years. Freddie quickly said, “DC death more like!” He grabbed his belongings and exited the aircraft and went on to take a different kind of plane.
9. He flew his boyfriend all the way to America just to break up with him
Peter Freestone also documented in his memoir the salty revenge Freddie got on his boyfriend at the time Tony Bastin. Freddie had learned that Bastin was stepping out on him. To get Bastin back, Freddie called Bastin, asking him to fly to America to meet him at the hotel. Upon his arrival, Freddie immediately broke up with him and sent him on the next plane back home. Freddie also kept Bastin's cat that he brought to the relationship.
10. His burial place is a mystery
Mary Austin told the Daily Mail that Freddie told her, "I know exactly where I want you to put me. But no one's to know, because I don't want anyone to dig me up. I just want to rest in peace." She said she was able to sneak out of the house one day with the singer's ashes and honor his request. "I just sneaked out of the house... it had to be like a normal day so the staff wouldn't suspect anything... No one will ever know where he is buried because that was his wish."
What do you think about these facts about Freddie Mercury? Tell us any facts we may have missed! Send this article to the Freddie Mercury fan in your life.