The life of Freddie Mercury: "350 bottles of champagne, 250 broken glasses!"

Freddie Mercury is one of the most iconic British musicians of all time! But even despite his staggering popularity, the Queen leader masterfully hid the details of his personal life from millions of fans and prying journalists... Parties with drugs and royalty, a kinky sex life - how did a star named Freddie Mercury burn out?

Freddie Mercury's crazy parties.

The now legendary band Queen were widely famous in their day for their raucous parties - outrageous, crazy and just plain unreal!

The infamous party at the Fairmont Hotel in New Orleans.

In 1978, Queen threw a legendary party to celebrate the release of their Jazz album. Completely naked waiters and waitresses, an artiste biting the heads off live chickens, nude models, an army of dwarves with trays of cocaine mountains tied to their heads....

It was all very different from what Freddie had witnessed in his childhood, which he spent in a strict Indian school before escaping to London with his family at the age of eight....

"350 bottles of champagne, 250 broken glasses!"

Freddie was drowning in accusations of excessive drug use, immoral lifestyle... But he did not betray his interests even after he contracted HIV.

The star celebrated his 41st birthday in Ibiza, at the Pikes Hotel. And it was the wildest party the island had ever seen! Its residents later recalled how the celebratory fireworks could be seen 100 miles away from Mallorca!

700 guests were invited, including: Kylie Minogue, Jon Bon Jovi, Boy George,...

A staggering 350 bottles of Moet & Chandon champagne were drunk during the evening! The Queen's manager, Jim Beach, particularly enjoyed the evening and was given a bill for 232 broken glasses!

Party with Princess Diana, Michael Jackson... and a llama

By the mid 80's Queen had reached the peak of their popularity! And the band started hanging out with members of the royal family... Rumour has it that Freddie once sneaked Princess Diana into a gay club! Disguised with a hat and sunglasses, Diana had an unforgettable night at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern!

In addition to Princess Diana, Freddie was friends with the King of Pop, Michael Jackson! However, not for long...

In 1983, while recording together, Jackson literally drove Mercury to the edge... Here's what Jim Beach later recounted:

"I got a phone call from an agitated Freddie saying he didn't want to record with Michael any more! Allegedly he was bringing his pet llama into the studio every day... He begged me to stop recording..."

At the same time, there were rumours that it was allegedly Michael who stopped recording after catching Freddie using cocaine.....

Personal life

All his life Freddie struggled with his bisexuality: he had a love for both women and men... Critics believe that the legendary composition "Bohemian Rhapsody" is about just that....

In total, there were two women in the artiste's life whom he truly loved: Mary Austin and Barbara Valentine.

For Freddie, Mary was a kind of spouse, an incredibly close and important person... It was to her that Mercury bequeathed his royalties.

As for Barbara, her pompousness and flamboyant personality completely matched Freddie's own image and lifestyle.

Those close to the musician said this about the couple:

"They cost each other... Both explosive, reckless... Eventually this lifestyle took its toll on Freddie. He couldn't control himself anymore.

Freddie later developed a relationship with hairdresser Jim Hutton, who cared for him when his health deteriorated markedly... Together they lived the last six years of his life....

When Freddie died, Jim was at his bedside. It is said that Freddie supposedly took his last breath while wearing the wedding ring Jim had given him.

Obsessive cat lover!

Freddie had a great love for... stray cats! Many of them he kept as pets. Rumour has it that during his tour the artist called home every day to find out how his pets were doing and to hear their...

People close to the musician said that Freddie's house was like a museum! Mercury collected stamps, Japanese art and other unique items!

The last days of life...

The last months of Freddie's life were spent battling AIDS... After conquering the world, the Queen leader found himself bedridden....

Freddie Mercury died in November 1991. The music world was devastated: it had lost a true icon of...

As biographer Lesley-Anne Jones, who toured with Queen at the height of its fame, put it:

"Freddie was always a lot of things. That said, he was a pretty shy guy... But he lived fast, died young and left behind a beautiful corpse!"