FREDDIE MERCURY

Who Was Freddie Mercury?

Freddie Mercury was a singer-songwriter and musician whose music reached the top of U.S. and British charts in the 1970s and 1980s. As the frontman of Queen, Mercury was one of the most talented and innovative singers of the rock era. Born Farrokh Bulsara in Tanzania, Mercury studied piano in boarding school in India, then befriended numerous musicians at London's Ealing College of Art. Mercury died of AIDS-related bronchial pneumonia on November 24, 1991, at age 45.

Freddie Mercury's Parents and Sister

Mercury's parents, Bomi and Jer Bulsara, lived in India and were Parsees, or followers of the Zoroastrian religion whose ancestors came from Persia. After Bomi and Jer married, they moved to Zanzibar, Tanzania, where Bomi worked as a cashier for the British government's High Court. 

The Bulsaras had two children: son Farrokh (better known by his stage name, Freddie Mercury), and daughter Kashmira, born six years later.

Childhood and Musical Education

Mercury was born Farrokh Bulsara on September 5, 1946, in Zanzibar. The family lived a fairly affluent life, with a nanny and other domestic workers.

At the age of 8, Mercury's parents sent him to a boarding school in Bombay (now Mumbai), India, where he studied piano and spent his free time with his aunt and grandparents. It was not long before the charismatic young man joined his first band, the Hectics. In 1963, Mercury returned to Zanzibar.

Following a bloody revolution on the islands in 1964, the family fled to London. Mercury attended the Ealing College of Art and befriended a number of musicians. 

In 1969, Mercury joined a group called Ibex as their lead singer. He played with a few other bands before joining forces with his future Queen bandmates.

Freddie Mercury's Teeth and Vocal Range

Mercury was born with four extra teeth in the back of his mouth, causing his now-famous bucktooth grin. In fact, his nickname growing up was Bucky. 

Mercury never got his teeth fixed because he was afraid it would ruin his impressive four-octave vocal range.

Queen and Freddie Mercury

Mercury met his future bandmates, drummer Roger Taylor and guitarist Brian May, around the time he moved to London in the 1960s. They met up with bassist John Deacon in 1971. The quartet, which Mercury dubbed Queen, played their first gig together that June. 

In 1973, Queen released their first album, titled Queen. They quickly followed up with their second album, Queen II, in 1974, which they recorded in over just one month. The album was the first taste of the group's signature harmonies and music styles, including ballads, folk, blues, metal, pop and rock, and included the single "Seven Seas of Rhye."

Queen's music, however, really only caught on with their third record, Sheer Heart Attack, also released in 1974. 

With a sound that has been described as a fusion of hard rock and glam rock, Queen had an even bigger hit the following year with their fourth album, A Night at the Opera (1975).  

Queen's popularity continued to soar through the late 70s and early 80s with A Day at the Races (1976), News of the World (1978) and The Game (1980). After The Works (1984), the group's ability to sell albums began to wane, although Queen continued to draw huge crowds as a live act around the world. 

In addition to his talents as a singer and songwriter, Mercury was a skilled showman. He knew how to entertain audiences and how to connect with them. He liked to wear costumes — often featuring skintight spandex — and strutted around the stage, encouraging fans to join in the fun. Artistic in nature, Mercury was also actively involved in designing the art for many of the group's albums.

By 1989, Mercury largely retreated from public life. He did not promote or tour for Queen's next album, Innuendo (1991), and rumors about possible health problems began to circulate. 

Before his death, Mercury worked in the studio with Queen. These efforts were released in 1995 on Made In Heaven, the group's last album with all the original members. Gone but clearly not forgotten, this collection of Mercury's final performances reached the top of the British charts. 

Mercury and Queen were recognized for their contributions to American music history when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.