Днес се навършват 20 години от деня, в който почина един от най-бележитите и талантливи музиканти в историята. Фарок Булсара (Farrokh Bulsara), по-известен като Фреди Меркюри (Freddie Mercury), промени със своята група Queen модерната музика и остави вечен отпечатък със своите златни хитове.
Каквото и да кажем за Queen ще е малко, те са признати за великани от почитатели на всички музикални стилове и винаги ще служат за еталон за успешна група, впечатлила света с произведенията си.
Фреди Меркюри е роден на 5 септември 1946 година на остров Занзибар, тогава все още част от Британската империя, а днес вече в пределите на Танзания. На 12-годишна възраст той заминава за Бомбай, родното място на родителите му, където учи в британско училище. Там започва да посещава първите си уроци по пиано, а сред приятелите си се отличава с дарбата си да слуша радиото и след това да повтаря чутото на пиано.
На 17 години той заминава заедно със семейството си за Англия, където се заселват в предградие на Лондон. След като завършва колеж в Лондон се запознава с Тим Стафъл (Tim Staffel), който наскоро е заформил групата Smile.
Той вече е приел името Фреди Меркюри и заема мястото на вокалиста в групата, но скоро след това Стафъл я напуска. Така Фреди, заедно с бележитите му колеги Брайън Мей (Brian May) и Роджър Тейлър (Roger Taylor), който по това време е все още студент по стоматология, намират последния и най-млад член на бандата – басистът Джон Дийкън (John Deacon), а скоро след това Меркюри измисля и името Queen.
Така те започват работа по първия си албум – Queen, който скоро е последван от Queen II, а Фреди започва да се издига като един от най-обещаващите музиканти във Великобритания.
Големият пробив идва през 1975 с култовия A Night In The Opera, който съдържа меките му вокали в бележитите Love Of My Life, You`re My Best Friend и историческата Bohemian Rhapsody - най-продаваният комерсиален сингъл на Острова за всички времена.
Freddie Mercury was born on the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar. His
parents, Bomi and Jer Bulsara, sent him off to a private school in
India, from 1955 til 1963. In 1964 Freddie and his family flew to
England. Freddie was very delighted to come to England. In 1966 he
started his education at the Ealing College of Art, where he graduated
in 1969. He loved art, and because of that, he often went along with his
friend Tim Staffell, who played in a band called Smile. Also in this
band where Brian May and Roger Taylor. When Staffell left the band in 1970, Freddie became their new singer. He changed the band's name into
Queen, and they took on a new bass-player in February 1971, called John Deacon.
Their first album, "Queen", came out in 1973. But their real
breakthrough was "Killer Queen", on the album "Sheer Heart Attack",
which was released in 1974. They became immortal with the single
"Bohemian Rhapsody", on the 1975 album "A Night At The Opera". After
setting foot in the US in 1980, with "Another One Bites The Dust", they
had a bad period. Their album "Flash Gordon" went down the drain,
because the movie Flash Gordon
(1980) flunked. Their next, "Hot Space", also wasn't a great success.
Only the song "Under Pressure", which they sang together with David Bowie,
made a difference. In 1983, they took a year off. But, in 1984 they
were totally back with their new album, called "The Works". It contained
great hits, such as "Radio Ga Ga" and "I Want To Break Free". In 1985
Freddie made his first big solo-album, "Mr. Bad Guy". He and the band
had been in a bit of an argument, and he wanted to do something on his
own. The album was loved by the fans, but didn't do to well. But the
band got back together again, after their famous performance at Live
Aid, in 1985. At the end of the year, they started working on their new
album, "A Kind Of Magic". They also held their most famous tour ever,
the "Magic Tour". They did Wembley Stadium twice, and held their very
last concert in Knebworth, in front of 125.000 people. After 1986, it
went silent around Queen. It was in 1987 or '88, when Freddie told the
band he had AIDS, and only had a few years to live. After Freddie told
the band, he refused to talk about it anymore. He was afraid that people
would buy their records out of pity. He said he wanted to keep making
music as long as possible. And he did. His second big solo-album, "The
Great Pretender", got out in 1987. After that, he flew to Spain, where
he made the magnificent album "Barcelone", together with Montserrat Caballé,
whom he saw performing in 1983. Because Freddie loved opera, he became a
huge fan of her. For him, this album was like a dream becoming reality.
The single "Barcelona" went huge, and was also used as a theme song for
the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. After Barcelona, he started working
with the band again. They made "The Miracle", which was released in
1989. It was a success, with hits as "Breakthru", "I Want It All" and
"The Invisible Man". After "The Miracle", Freddie's health got worse.
They wanted to do one more album, called "Innuendo." They worked on it
in 1990 and early 1991. Every time when Freddie would feel well, he came
over to the studio and sang. After "Innuendo" was released in January
1991, they made two video clips. The first one was the video clip of
"I'm Going Slightly Mad", shot in March 1991. Because Freddie was very
thin, and had little wounds all over his body, they used a lot of
make-up. He wore a wig, and the clip was shot in black and white.
Freddie's final video clip was released in June 1991. The clip, "These
Are The Days Of Our Lives", later turned out to be his goodbye song, the
last time he appeared on film. You could clearly see he was ill, but he
still hadn't told the world about his disease. Rumours went around that
he some kind of terrible disease. This rumor was confirmed by Freddie
himself, one day before he passed on. His death was seen as a great loss
for the world of music.
