Freddie Mercury Quotes

“I won’t be a rockstar, I’ll be a legend.”

“I always knew I was a star. And now the rest of the world seems to be agreeing with me.”

“Money may not buy happiness, but it can damn well give it!”

“Women are like modern paintings. You can’t enjoy them if you try to understand them.”

“The most important thing is to live a fabulous life. As long as it’s fabulous I don’t care how long it is.”

“I keep wanting to leave but they won’t let me!”

“Money may not buy happiness, but it can damn well give it!”

“It smells like shit in here!”

“We’re not just an average, normal rock group really, we’re just very weird. We do things that people least expect, not just for the sake of doing them but because it is just the phase we are going through”

"I wrote 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love' in the bath. I actually grabbed an upright piano to my bedside table once. I've been known to scribble lyrics in the middle of the night without putting the lights on. "


“The concept of Queen is to be regal and majestic. Glamour is part of us, and we want to be dandy and it was the dandy thing we were into: dressing up, fooling around. Even in those days we knew we’d make it” (‘74)

“Go pretty boy go!”

“We know we’re good, we know what we want, and it’s no good anyone trying to talk us out of it” (‘74)

“If people as me if I’m gay, I tell them it’s up to them to find out”

“People are very apprehensive when they meet me. They think I’m going to eat them” (‘77)

“When we started off, rock bands were all wearing jeans– and suddenly here’s Freddie Mercury in a Zandra Rhodes frock with make-up and black nail varnish. It was outrageous!” (’71)

“It couldn’t have been King, it doesn’t have the same ring or aura as Queen” 

“A concert is not a live rendition of our album. It's a theatrical event.”


“After Sheet' Heart Attack, we realized we'd established ourselves. We felt that there were no barriers, no restrictions.”

“And, we have no such thing as a budget anymore. Our manager freaks when we show him the bill. We're lavish to the bone, but all our money goes back into the product.”

“Back in the old days, we were often compared to Led Zeppelin. If we did something with harmony, it was the Beach Hoys. Something heavy was Led Zeppelin.”

“But, you know, we spent two years putting our act together”

“I bought a house in London which I'd only seen in photographs. I know that 's absurd, but I had no time to go house-hunting.”

“I don't care what the journalists say, we achieved our own identity after Queen II.”

“I dress to kill, but tastefully”

“I guess I've always lived the glamorous life of a star. It’s nothing new-I used to spend down to the last dime.”

“I have fun with my clothes onstage; it's not a concert you're seeing, it's a fashion show.”

“I like to be surrounded by splendid things”

“I think my melodies are superior to my lyrics”

“I want to lead the Victorian life, surrounded by exquisite clutter”

“I was never too keen on the British music press. They've called us a supermarket hype, and they used to suggest that we didn't write our own songs.”

“I'm hopeless with money; I simply spend what I've got.”

“I'm just a musical prostitute, my dear.”

“I'm not into business at all.”

“I'm very emotional; I think I may go mad in several years' time”

“If we're weird onstage, I don't know what you'd call the Tubes”

“In the early days, we just wore black onstage. Very bold, my dear. Then we introduced white, for variety, and it simply grew and grew.”

“Is Billy Idol just doing a bad Elvis pout, or was he born that way?”

“It destroys the soul to hear that you're all hype, that you have no talent, and that your whole career has been contrived”

“One night Roger was in a foul mood and he threw his entire bloody drumset across the stage. The thing only just missed me - I might have been killed.”

“Onstage, I am a devil. But I'm hardly a social reject”

“People think I'm an ogre, you know”

“The lavish presentation appeals to me, and I've got to convince the others.”

“The others don't like my interviews. And frankly, I don't care much for theirs”

“The reason we're successful, darling? My overall charisma, of course.”

“We were always a sitting target in the press because we became popular so quickly”

“We were disliked by the press in the early days because they couldn't put their finger on us, and that was the case with Zeppelin as well.”

“We're a bit flashy, but the music's not one big noise.”

“We're a very expensive group; we break a lot of rules. It's unheard of to combine opera with a rock theme, my dear.”

“We're the fussiest band in the world, and we put so much loving into every album.”

“We've all got massive egos, my dear.”

“What will I be doing in twenty years' time? I'll be dead, darling! Are you crazy?”

“When I'm dead, I want to be remembered as a musician of some worth and substance”

“When the whole point of Queen was to be original”

“Years ago, I thought up the name Queen. It's just a name. But it's regal, obviously, and sounds splendid.”

“You know, I designed the Queen crest. I simply combined all the creatures that represent our star signs-and I don't even believe in astrology.”

"I've put my heart and soul into this album. It's much more beat orientated than Queen's music, and it also has some very moving ballads.

They're all love songs, things to do with sadness and pain. At the same time they're frivolous and tongue in cheek; that's my nature.

I've wanted to do a solo album for a long time, and the rest of the band have encouraged me to do it. I wanted to cover such things as reggae rhythms and I've done a couple of tracks with a symphony orchestra. "

"I'd like to release something with Michael because he is really marvelous to work with. It's all a question of time because we never seem to be together at the same time. Just think, I could have been on "thriller". Think of the royalties I've missed out on Michael has been a friend of ours (the bands) for a long time. He's been to our shows and enjoyed them. We make a great team. "


"The Jubilee's quite fun isn't it? I love the Queen. I'm very patriotic. I love all this pomp, of course I do. I love it. She does outrageous things!"

"As far as Queen are concerned our old management is deceased. They cease to exist in any capacity with us whatsoever. One leaves them behind like one leaves excreta. We feel so relieved!"


"When I look back on all that black nail varnish and stuff, I think, 'God, what did I do?'. I used to feel a need for all that on stage. It made me feel more secure."

"Years ago I thought up the name Queen... It's just a name, but it's very regal, and it sounds splendid. It's a strong name, very universal and immediate. It had a lot of visual potential and was open to all sorts of interpretations. I was certainly aware of the gay connotations, but that was just one facet of it."

“Does it mean this, does it mean that, that's all anybody wants to know. Fuck them, darling. I say what any decent poet would say if you dared ask him to analyze his work: If you see it, dear, then it's there.”

“Fuck today, it's tomorrow.”


“I enjoy being a bitch. I enjoy being surrounded by bitches. Boredom is the biggest disease in the world, darling. Sometimes I think there must be more to life than rushing round the world like a mad thing getting bored.”

“I just love being pampered it's just something that's grown with me. I mean, I can't even make myself a cup of tea. I'm useless at it, so I have someone else to do it for me. That's the kind of environment I live in, my dear!”

“I like to ridicule myself; I don't take myself too seriously. I wouldn't wear these clothes if I was serious. The one thing that keeps me going is that I laugh at myself.”


“I love New York. When I am there, I just slut myself. It is Sin city with a capital S.”

“I'm a very emotional person, a person of real extremes, and that's often destructive both myself and others.”


“I'm simply dripping in money, darling. It's vulgar, but it's wonderful. All I want from life is to make lots of money and spend it.”

“I'm so powerful in stage that I seem to have created a monster. When I'm performing I'm an extrovert, yet inside I'm a completely different man.”

“It's not a question of money anymore. I spend money like it's nothing. You know, I could be penniless tomorrow, but I'd get back, somehow.”

“Rod Stewart, Elton John and I were going to form a band called Hair, Nose & Teeth after the three of us. But it hasn't happened because none of us can agree on the order of the words!”

“Roger and I go pouncing and ultra lagging just about everywhere and lately we've been termed a couple of queens.”

“The thing is, I believe in personalities, not papers. I'm not interested in us versus the NME, I'm just here talking to you. People do think that because I don't do interviews, I've got this thing about the press. And it's not true.”


“They wouldn't let us into Russia. They thought we'd corrupt the youth or something.”


Interviewer : "Do you think you're going to get to heaven ?
Freddie: "No, I don't want to.
Interviewer : "You don't want to ?
Freddie: "No, hells much better. Look at the interesting people that you're going to meet down there. You're going to be there too, you know.

“I don't want to change the world. For me, happiness is the most important thing and if I'm happy then it shows in my work. In the end, all the mistakes and all the excuses are down to me. I like to feel that i'm just being my honest self and as far as I'm concerned I just want to pack in as much of life and fun, having a good time as much as I can within in the years I have. Well there you are, you have it on tape. use it. Well that's then nearest I've come to a lot of passion in terms of interviews. How much more have you got. Come on, I'm getting bored."

"I'd like to be buried with all my treasures, just like the Pharaohs. If I could afford it, I'd have a pyramid built in Kensington."


"I was wearing a white scarf and holding a glass of wine when I was introduced to Prince Andrew. But I was so nervous I didnt realize that my scarf was dangling in the drink. There I was trying to be really cool and suddenly the Prince said, 'Freddie, I don't think you really want this getting wet.' He squeezed out the scarf and that broke the ice between us. I said, 'Thank goodness you've put me at ease. Now I can use the odd bit of dirty language.' He really got into the spirit of things and even had a dance. He's really quite hip in those sort of situations. I have a lot of respect for Royalty, I'm a tremendous patriot."

On the subject of children: "I'd rather get another cat."


"We aimed for the top slot. We were not going to be satisfied with anything less."

"Fuck them, darling, if they just don't get it."

"I have a nervous energy that needs to be doing something. I can't relax in bed all day and just do nothing. I think it's a waste of time."

"I'm a very hated person, but I hate the Press as well. So that goes both ways, but to me I think I've learned to live with it."

"I'm a man of extremes, you know, I sort of change from day to day like a chameleon and each day is different to me and I look forward to that. I don't want to be the same person every day."

"Ah! I'm not supposed to talk to you!"


"I don't really think we'll ever break up. I guess if people stopped buying our records, we'd call it a day. And then I'll go off and be a striptease artist or something."

"I'm not going to dance around on stage when I'm fifty. I'd look ridiculous!"

"I can't carry on rocking the way I did in the past. It's all too much. It's no way for a grown man to behave. I've stopped my nights of wild partying. That's not because I'm ill but down to age. I'm no spring chicken. Now I prefer to spend my time at home. It's all part of growing up."


"I don't think I'll make old bones and I don't care. I've lived a full life. I really have done it all and if I'm dead tomorrow I don't care a damn."


"When I'm dead who cares? I don't..."

"One night Roger was in a foul mood and he threw his entire bloody drumset across the stage. The thing only just missed me - I might have been killed. Yes, we're all very highly strung. Once, Roger squirted Brian in the face with hairspray in a tiny, steaming dressing room."
 

“I don't expect to make old bones. What's more, I really don't care. I certainly don't have any aspirations to live to 70, it would be boring.”

(on Bri's Hep attack in 74): "Brian has got to look after himself in future. We all want to make sure something like that never happens again. So he'll have to eat the right things and steer clear of hamburgers."

“I play on the bisexual thing because it’s something else, it’s fun… the last thing I want to do is give people an idea of exactly who I am. I want people to work out their own interpretation of me and my image.”


“A lot of my songs are fantasy. I can dream up all kinds of things. That’s the kind of world I live in. It’s very sort of flamboyant, and that’s the kind of way I write. I love it”


[Just You and I] "That's the end of side one of "A Day At The Races". That was a track by John Deacon, he's contribution to this album. His songs are good and are getting better every time actually. I'm getting a bit worried actually." 

“Why are you wasting you time doing this? You should do more original material. You should be more demonstrative in the way that you put the music across. If I was your singer that’s what I’d be doing!” (to Brian and Roger in 1970)

“I’m just a musical prostitute, my dear!”

“My songs are like Bic razors. For fun, for modern consumption. You listen to it, like it, discard it, then on to the next. Disposable pop.”

“…I’m not John Lennon who sleeps in bags for I don’t know how long…”

“I’m quite aware of what’s going on, but that doesn’t mean that I want to incorporate trends into out songs. I write a song the way I feel it, and if that means bringing in something old-fashioned, I’ll do that. I will never let the song down.”

“It’s about a high class girl. I’m trying to say that classy people can be whores as well. That’s what the song is about, though I’d prefer people to put their own interpretation upon it—to read what they like into it.” (on “Killer Queen”)

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