Biography of Freddie Mercury in facts

Freddie Mercury is a recognized genius of the music world. He went down in history not only as a talented rock musician, but also as a skilled conqueror of women's hearts, as well as a capricious and flighty artist. Mercury's glorifying hedonistic lifestyle had a lot of unusual habits, hobbies and features. We managed to find out the most interesting and curious of them.

1. Mercury-pars

He was born on the island of Zanzibar in a family of followers of Zoroastrianism originally from South Asia. The future rock star spent his childhood in the small town of Panchgani, located 500 kilometers from Bombay.

2. The musician's real name is Farrukh Balsara

The artist studied at a school consisting mainly of English-speaking students. The traditional Zanzibar name was hard for them to accept, so they gave the future rock legend the nickname "Freddy".

3. Mercury's father is a cashier

All his life he worked in the Supreme Court of Great Britain and Wales.

4. Mercury became famous in his hometown at the age of one

In 1947, his photographs were sent to a local competition, where they won an unconditional victory.

5. During his school years, the artist was seriously interested in sports

He actively attended hockey and boxing sections, participated in short-distance races. Mercury even has the school's ping-pong champion Cup in its arsenal.

6. Mercury's musical potential was revealed by the school principal

It was he who first discovered the amazing natural inclinations and talents of the boy, sent him to piano courses. Upon their completion, Freddie was awarded the fourth step in theory and practice.

7. Mercury founded his first band at the age of twelve

It was a school rock quartet called "The Hectics". The year of its foundation is considered to be 1958. The group took an active part in school events, gave small concerts.

8. Freddie Mercury-Certified Designer

In the spring of 1966, he managed to enter the prestigious London College, located in Ealing, in the department of graphic illustration. It was here that the musician made one of the most significant acquaintances – with the vocalist of the band "Smile", Tim Staffel. At the rehearsals, where Mercury was invited, always gathered a variety of creative personalities: artists, writers and, of course, musicians. It was at one of these rehearsal parties that Freddie met Brian May and Roger Taylor.

9. The official name change of the singer took place in 1970

Despite the fact that almost no one called Mercury by his real name, officially he was still Farrukh Balsar. In 1970, the band "Queen" was created, at the same time the artist changed his documents, finally legalizing the pseudonym "Frederick Mercury".

10. Mercury was never a good pianist

Although during his school years, the artist did take piano courses, he never mastered the skills of playing the instrument perfectly. Because of this, he often experienced inconvenience during performances, and tried to avoid long keyboard parts. At the height of his musical career, Mercury even began to resort to the help of guest pianists, forever abstracting from the instrument.

11. Mercury was an avid philatelist

He had an impressive collection of postage stamps, which he brought back from each new trip.

12. The musician's vocal range was four octaves

He moved with enviable ease from the top notes to the bottom and vice versa, causing delight even to the most sophisticated listeners. Once Mercury managed to impress Montserrat Caballe herself with his abilities.

13. In a sense, a musician can be classified as a conservative

There was always a microwave in his house, but Mercury never used it.

14. Contrary to popular rumors and speculation, Mercury knows only two languages

Some fans of Queen mistakenly believed that the vocalist of the group is a real polyglot. In reality, Mercury spoke only English and his native Gujarati.

15. Freddy the Scary Cat Person

Up to ten cats could live in his mansion at the same time. And while on tour, he was not lazy to talk on the phone with each of them. In the arsenal of the musician even has a whole album " Mr. Bad Guy", dedicated to four-legged friends.

16. Mercury-the prototype of the character Saul from the popular fighting game series

When creating it, the designers of "Guilty Gear" were inspired by the bright and eccentric images of the vocalist, who came at the height of his career.

17. The musician was terribly complex because of an incorrect bite

Despite his embarrassment, he did not attempt to correct the birth defect. And the reason for this is a banal fear of dentists.

Also, Mercury ignored the necessary surgery to remove polyps on the vocal cords. He was afraid that this would negatively affect his vocal abilities.

18. Mercury was a heavy smoker

He gave up bad habits only in the last years of his life.

19. The artist's death was surrounded by a series of strange and mystical coincidences

So, the premiere of the popular horror film " Freddie is dead. The Last Nightmare" fell exactly on Mercury's last birthday. He passed away two months later.

20. Freddie was a closed and introverted person

Giving the brightest and most incendiary performances, starting up a hall of fans with half a turn, he still remained modest and shy, did not like attention. In the last years of his life, the performer began to lead a reclusive lifestyle, preferring noisy gatherings at home.

21. The iconic song "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" was invented by a musician in the bathroom

Mercury spent no more than half an hour on its studio recording and processing. This is the only track in his career where you can hear a guitar solo.

22. Before filming the music video for "It's A Hard Life", Freddie broke his leg

In some shots from the video, you can see that the musician is slightly limping, trying not to make sudden and careless movements. He received a fracture during a drunken brawl in one of the Munich bars.

23. Freddie's final concert took place on October 8, 1988

Then the company on the stage was made by Montserrat Caballe herself. Subsequently, she spoke very warmly about working with the artist, and recalled their joint rehearsals with trepidation.

24. "A Winter's Tale" - the last composition written by the musician

Distinguished by its special melodism and deep symbolic content, it was greatly loved by the audience.

25. In two cities there are monuments opened in honor of Freddie Mercury

The first one is located in Montreux, Switzerland. Its official opening took place in 1996. The second one was opened seven years later – in 2003. It is located in London next to the Dominion Theatre, which regularly hosts musicals and musical productions.