Freddie Mercury

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Freddie Mercury's real name was Farrokh Bulsara. He was born in 1946 in Stone Town on Zanzibar, the child of Indian parents from the Parsi community. From the age of eight he attended a British boarding school in India. There he had piano lessons, began calling himself Freddie and played songs by Cliff Richard, Elvis Presley and Little Richard in a school band. In 1964 the family fled the revolution on Zanzibar for England. Mercury studied graphic design at Ealing art college and played in a series of bands.

Music and breakthrough

In 1970 he became the singer of Smile, the band of the guitarist Brian May and the drummer Roger Taylor. In 1971 the bassist John Deacon joined, and Mercury chose the new name: Queen. He also designed the band's logo. For Queen he wrote hits such as Killer Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody, Somebody to Love, We Are the Champions, Don't Stop Me Now and Crazy Little Thing Called Love. He also made solo records, such as Mr. Bad Guy (1985) and Barcelona (1988) with the Spanish soprano Montserrat Caballé.

Influence

Mercury had a vocal range of four octaves and could move within a few bars from a raw rock voice to a clear, high tenor. He broke with the image of the tough rock singer through his theatrical style, which also determined Queen's direction. On stage he drew the audience into his performance, as at Live Aid in 1985. In 1987 he was diagnosed with AIDS. He died in 1991, a day after making his illness public. In 1992 a concert was held for him at Wembley Stadium, in aid of the fight against AIDS.

Listening

Discography

Studio albums

• 1985Mr. Bad Guy
• 1987Zabou (soundtrack)
• 1988Barcelona

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

• Mixtape 7: The 1980s^NL Reader