Welcome to Freddie Mercury Online, His first, largest and best source about Freddie Mercury, Best known as Frontman of The Band Queen. Queen do you know from the songs A kind of magic ,Radio gaga , and Bohemian Rhapsody.Here you will find information about projects, as well as news, photos and videos from Freddie's and Queen life. We hope you enjoy and come back often.
We’ve always thought if we weren’t able to put on the kind of show we wanted, then it wasn’t worth doing. I hate the process of doing a show and making excuses afterwards. That’s bullshit. Once you do a show, you’ve got to stick by it. I was also really worried because my voice takes a beating. The more vocal gymnastics I do in the studio, the more I have to do on stage, because if I didn’t, people would say, “Oh, he can only do it because he’s got the studio,” and I hate all that. I sing my arse off, and it’s very hard to do.”
8 December 1980, Queen released Flash Gordon, their ninth studio album and first soundtrack album by EMI Records in the UK.
Italian director Dino de Laurentiis was slated to direct a film adaptation of the 1930s comic hero, Flash Gordon. The De Laurentiis’ people made initial contact in the summer of 1979 (during preliminary sessions for “The Game”) to ask whether Queen would score the film. Although, the great Italian producer wasn’t actually aware of the band since he never listened to rock music. His first question on learning of the liaison was “Who are the Queens?”
Brian May recalled, ““We saw 20 minutes of the finished film and thought it very good and over the top. We wanted to do something that was a real soundtrack. It’s a first in many ways because a rock group has not done this type of thing before, or else it’s been toned down and they’ve been asked to write mushy background music. Whereas we were given the license to do what we liked, as long as it complimented the picture.”
Queen’s assignment for Flash Gordon was to supply original songs as well as the score — and that, coupled with the film’s sci-fi story, proved too intriguing to resist.
“We would be writing a film score in the way anyone else writes a film score, which is basically background music, but can obviously help the film if it’s strong enough,” he added. “That was the attraction, because we thought that a rock group hadn’t done that kind of thing before, and it was an opportunity to write real film music. So we were writing to a discipline for the first time ever, and the only criterion for success was whether or not it worked with and helped the film, and we weren’t our own bosses for a change. “
Both Freddie and I were extremely shy. So when I used to see him on stage, it wasn’t like watching the real Freddie. To me, it was watching my brother acting the part.’
‘He was six when I was born, so I only had a year of him, yet I was always aware of my proud older brother protecting me.’ says Kashmira. ‘He didn’t always come home for the holidays – sometimes he’d stay with my dad’s sister in Bombay, or with my mum’s sister, and it was she who got him started on playing the piano and drawing. He was talented in all areas. It made me feel sick, of course. Even now, Mum and Dad have got all his school reports.’
‘He always used to take hours in front of the mirror, looking after his locks. He’d go out a lot, too, and stay out all night. My mum and he used to argue about it constantly. And she was always going on at him to make sure he got a degree, but he was determined to do what he wanted. There was quite a lot of door-slamming, but when Freddie made it, Mum was very proud!’
‘Every morning when I wake up, there’s a Queen song on the radio and people ask me if it makes me sad. My answer is No!
How can I remain sad if my brother wakes me up singing!’
‘He was my brother, but a megastar too. Simply speaking, I don’t know what it was like to have an ordinary brother because my own brother was so extraordinary.’
8 December 1977, Queen performed @ The Omni Coliseum, Atlanta, Georgia “News of The World” Tour
Bob Harris and his Old Grey Whistle Test crew came with the band on this tour with a pending documentary in mind. Hundreds of hours of footage were reportedly filmed on and off stage. Later this month Bob would state that he filmed the band in various cities (he initially cited Fort Worth and Houston, and later Las Vegas as well). Footage from Atlanta, Fort Worth, and Houston has since been seen and released, mostly in documentaries.
In the winter 1977 Queen fan club magazine he said an hour-long Old Grey Whistle Test special should air in January 1978, but the project would ultimately be shelved, with a possible reason being the Old Grey Whistle Test producers wanted to focus on punk and new wave instead of an older band like Queen.
Some backstage footage and interviews from the period were first seen in “The Champions” documentary aired on US TV in 1979. The black and white interviews of the band seen in the 1995 “Champions Of The World” documentary are from these reels of film as well. Freddie Mercury’s interview alone is four hours of tape.
Footage of the band arriving to the venue as well as them running Tie Your Mother Down at soundcheck was seen in the “American Dream” documentary on the News Of The World box set released in 2017. The latter was also shown at the “Stormtroopers in Stilettoes” exhibition in London in 2011.
The beautiful concert photos were taken by Michael Mastro.
“Freddie had no fitness regime as such. He was the only person I have ever met who had two complete home gyms, one in New York and one in Los Angeles, who never used them. Freddie had no specific workout schedule. He was one of those very lucky people whose body was naturally fit. He had a very fast metabolism, so he burned fat quickly. He was also very active and didn’t like spending time lying in bed or sitting on the sofa.
You’ve seen in video shots from shows that he did some running on the spot and small jumps before a show, which was really just to warm up his body for what would essentially be a 2-hour workout on the stage. If you think Queen toured the world each year, there were a lot of intense exercises.” (Peter Freestone)
A funny anecdote from this specific time period; June 1970 provided by Pat Johnstone. Sue and her sister Pat were dear friends with the band from Truro. The sisters actually started the official International Queen Fan Club!
Queen’s first ever concert was planned for the City Hall, Truro on 27th June 1970. It was a benefit concert organized by Roger’s mother, and booked originally for Smile.
Pat and Sue Johnstone provided accommodation for half of Queen on that historic weekend.
“Brian and John Harris and Freddie certainly stayed with us in Rosedale up past the City Inn when they played their first gig at the City Hall. They stayed in our attic room and Freddie would stand on his head with his legs crossed doing yoga against the wall. He had long hair and would use our heating tongs to curl his hair in the way he wanted. And my Dad was completely taken aback and initially thought they were all a bit weird.” – Pat Johnstone
Pat also said her dad wanted to get their garden sorted but he worked so much that he didn’t get around to it. The boys said they would take care of it with such enthusiasm. They spent the weekend digging the whole garden, planting, taking care of the flowerbeds. They were lovely and they adored her Dad. When he came home from work and saw all the work in the garden, he was so emotional and grateful. He thanked the boys and told them how lovely of them. He said, “I’m very touched.”
I always loved touring in Japan, particularly with all those geisha girls – and boys. I loved it there; the lifestyle, the people, the art.
It’s Wonderful! I’d go back tomorrow if I could. We knew it was going to be really exciting as soon as we landed. As we walked into the airport building, we couldn’t believe our ears. They had stopped all flight announcements and were playing our music instead. It’s an incredible feeling to step into a country already filled with fans, and we all hoped we could live up to it.
At the time, Queen II was the LP of the year, and the hysteria started the moment we got there; riots at the airport, bodyguards, just like the old Beatle days. The organisation was spellbinding, and we loved every minute of it. We needed protection because you couldn’t go down into the lobby of the hotel – it was infested by really nice people waiting for autographs.
We each had a personal bodyguard, and mine was called Itami. He was the head of the Tokyo bodyguard patrol and his entire job was to pamper and cosset me throughout the tour and make sure no harm came to my person.
He was very sweet and gave me a lovely Japanese lantern, which I treasure.”
Freddie Mercury
Mr. Itami-San took care of Freddie during his trips to Japan from 1975 thru 1986 (His last trip Ever)
The picture is Freddie with Mr. Itami doting his final trip 1986
Live Aid. Sting, U2, Dire Straits, The Who, David Bowie, Elvis Costello, Elton John, and George Michael were among the acts performing in London that day (Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Mick Jagger, Madonna and Tom Petty were at the JFK Stadium in Philadelphia for the American counterpart). But of all the high-caliber artists on display that day, there was unanimous agreement that Queen’s Live Aid performance stole the whole show with a magnificent, 21-minute tour-de-force set.
“News of The World” Tour
