Freddie Mercury Biography

Farrokh Bulsara was born on September 5th, 1946 in Stone Town, Zanzibar, which is an island off the coast of Tanzania. When Freddie was just one year old, Freddie had his first taste of fame when the local photographer took his picture and displayed it in his shop window, and it won first prize in a baby contest. When he was 5, he attended the Zanzibar Missionary School, which was run by British nuns. When he was 8 years old, he was shipped off to St. Peters School, a boarding school for boys, in Panchgani near Bombay, now Mumbai, India. Whilst at St. Peters, he was in a band called The Hectics, for which he played the piano. They played only within the school at fêtes, parties, and school dances. It was also at St. Peters where his friends began to call him “Freddie”, which was also accepted by his family.When he was 17, he and his family fled Zanzibar as a result of the 1964 Zanzibar Revolution. His family moved to a small house in Fletham, Middlesex. Little did he know, he was only about a block away from Brian May, who he would (obviously) later meet. In 1966, he enrolled in Ealing College to study art. There he earned a Diploma in Art and Graphic Design, and later used these skills to create the Queen logo. At Ealing College, he became friends with Tim Staffell, and Freddie, Tim, and another art student spent lots of their spare time together as they all shared an interest in art and music. As they became better friends, Tim brought Freddie along with him to Smile rehearsals. Freddie soon became a huge fan of Smile, as he loved their sound. It was here he released he wanted to be in a band to. In the summer of ‘69, Fred was introduced to a Liverpool band called Ibex, who had come to London to make a name for themselves. Later Ibex was changed to Wreckage. Apparently, Fred called each member, saying the rest had agreed on changing the name to Wreckage. He said the same thing to each member. However this band failed, so he became the lead singer of Sour Milk Sea in late 1969. However, 2 months later, this band broke up as well.Still, Freddie wanted to be in a band. In April 1970, Tim Staffell left Smile, believing that they were going nowhere, to try and make a name for himself with Humpy Bong. (He didn’t) Because Smile was left with no singer or bass player, Freddie came in and took over as the singer. But Freddie couldn’t play bass, so, after several bass players, found John Deacon. ***On November 23rd 1991, Freddie informed the public with the worst—he had AIDS. The next day, Freddie passed away from bronchial pneumonia, which was brought on by AIDS. The following year, The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert was held, which raised over £20,000,000 for AIDS charities. The remaining members of Queen also formed the Mercury Phoenix Trust.Even though Freddie died in 1991, he will always live on forever. He was a legend, and because he was such a legend, people will never forget him. There is also a Freddie statue in Monteux, that is also seen on the front cover of Queen’s 1995 album, Made in Heaven.
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