20 years ago today Freddie Mercury died. I remember it clearly, well not his death as I wasn’t actually there, but the announcement I heard on the radio as I travelled to University. Farrokh Bulsara had died of bronchial pneumonia as a result of AIDS, he was the first major rock star to have died as a result of the virus. There are so many people today that are classed as ‘celebrities’ however I am not convinced that 20 years after their death we will all still be interested in them, however Freddie is different.
What makes Farrokh Bulsara so very special and important then and now 20 years after his death? We know that he sang in a band with a couple of other folk and how they all wrote and sung on the records too. But there was something very very different about Queen.
Queen was one of the ultimate bands; it had something for everyone from every age and background. Nothing beats singing along to Queen in the car at a volume loud enough to hide your vocals, but loud enough to embarrass your child!
If you aren’t convinced by singing along to ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’ or ‘Another One Bites the Dust’ then try a bit of ‘Killer Queen’. Play nearly any Queen track and it doesn’t sound dated; it may sound classic, but not dated.
I could go on about how super Queen are as a band, but this about the 20th anniversary of the death of Freddie Mercury.
It is hard to describe Freddie Mercury without saying ‘flamboyant’, ‘charismatic’, and ‘iconic’, ‘theatrical or ‘hedonistic’. As a result Freddie taught us all that its OK to be what you want and its perfectly fine to be yourself in a do what you will, harm none type theory. After all, where would Katy Perry, Lady GaGa, Madonna and the like be without Freddie’s guiding hand?
The influence that Queen and Freddie Mercury had over the world cannot be measured in my opinion, there are so many people who still play the songs (on cd or mp3 now, not vinyl sadly) sing along, watch the DVDs of Queen playing live in order to experience the great band themselves.
Does Freddie Mercury still have a place in today’s society? Yeah I think so. To me it’s a bit like arguing why ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is still important in today’s society when it was written circa 1593 and we all know it is still relevant and has been copied many times.
Queen is dead, long live Queen. RIP Freddie Mercury, the world is a better place for having known you.
If you are looking for more Freddie facts, www.queenarethechampions.blogpot.com/
