It is apparent that success (in any shape or form) has not altered Mercury, who still insists on using the suffix “dear” at the end of his sentences. He is also still very much hung up on maintaining the ‘star’ image. For a start he never carries much money around with him.

It’s not that he’s poverty-stricken or even mean – just that it’s difficult to keep cash in your shoes. A star to the last, he wears pocketless trousers and keeps his finances close to his feet.

“I hate pockets in trousers,” he stresses. “By the way, I do not wear a hose. My hose is my own. No coke bottle, nothing stuffed down there.” Of course, Freddie.

However, sticking rigidly to the star image has its draw-backs. Satin trousers aren’t that durable(“I split a pair last week”) and velvet and sequins have a nasty habit of dulling in the rain. Still, they create the desired effect of getting people to stare. Mercury still adores the stares, of course – he’s insisted all along he’s a star and thinks he should dress accordingly.

New Musical Express 1974