"Freddie Mercury" THE LEGEND

CREATIVITY &  ROCK

"Freddie Mercury" 
THE LEGEND
25TH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS DEATH

"I won’t be a Rock Star. I will be a Legend." Freddie Mercury

Today marks the 25th anniversary of the death of this amazing british artist, considered one of the greatest singers in the history of popular music. Was elected in 2009 as the best rock singer of all time by Classic Rock; and was described by AllMusic as "one of rock's greatest all-time entertainers," with "one of the greatest voices in all of music." ROCK, ART, QUOTES & MORE

Freddie Mercury  was a British singer, songwriter and record producer, known as the lead vocalist and co-principal songwriter of the rock band Queen. He also became known for his flamboyant stage persona and four-octave vocal range. Mercury wrote and composed numerous hits for Queen (including "Bohemian Rhapsody," "Killer Queen," "Somebody to Love," "Don't Stop Me Now," "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," and "We Are the Champions").

    His technique was astonishing. No problem of tempo, he sang with an incisive sense of rhythm, his vocal placement was very good and he was able to glide effortlessly from a register to another. He also had a great musicality. His phrasing was subtle, delicate and sweet or energetic and slamming. He was able to find the right colouring or expressive nuance for each word.

The most notable aspect of his songwriting involved the wide range of genres that he used, which included, among other styles, rockabilly, progressive rock, heavy metal, gospel and disco. As he explained in a 1986 interview, 

"I hate doing the same thing again and again and again. I like to see what's happening now in music, film and theatre and incorporate all of those things."

 
Compared to many popular songwriters, Mercury also tended to write musically complex material. For example, "Bohemian Rhapsody" is acyclic in structure and comprises dozens of chords. He also wrote six songs from Queen II which deal with multiple key changes and complex material. "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," on the other hand, contains only a few chords. Despite the fact that Mercury often wrote very intricate harmonies, he also claimed that he could barely read music.He wrote most of his songs on the piano and used a wide variety of different key signatures.

Mercury was noted for his live performances, which were often delivered to stadium audiences around the world. He displayed a highly theatrical style that often evoked a great deal of participation from the crowd. A writer for The Spectator described him as


 "a performer out to tease, shock and ultimately charm his audience with various extravagant versions of himself."

David Bowie, who performed at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert and recorded the song "Under Pressure" with Queen, praised Mercury's performance style, saying: 

"Of all the more theatrical rock performers, Freddie took it further than the rest... he took it over the edge. And of course, I always admired a man who wears tights. I only saw him in concert once and as they say, he was definitely a man who could hold an audience in the palm of his hand."

 

 Queen guitarist Brian May wrote that Mercury could make 

"the last person at the back of the furthest stand in a stadium feel that he was connected."

 Freddie Mercury QUOTES


        I dress to kill, but tastefully.

         Who wants to live forever?

         I’m just a musical prostitute, my dear.

         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 won’t be a rock star. I will be a legend.

         I like to be surrounded by splendid things.

         When the whole point of Queen was to be original.

   

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


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

         I’m hopeless with money; I simply spend what I’ve got.

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

         I’m very emotional; I think I may go mad in several years’ time.

         I think my melodies are superior to my lyrics.

         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.

 On 22 November 1991, Mercury called Queen's manager Jim Beach over to his Kensington home to discuss a public statement. The next day the following announcement was made to the international press on behalf of Mercury:

    Following the enormous conjecture in the press over the last two weeks, I wish to confirm that I have been tested HIV positive and have AIDS. I felt it correct to keep this information private to date to protect the privacy of those around me. However, the time has come now for my friends and fans around the world to know the truth and I hope that everyone will join with me, my doctors and all those worldwide in the fight against this terrible disease. My privacy has always been very special to me and I am famous for my lack of interviews. Please understand this policy will continue.

On the evening of 24 November 1991, a little over 24 hours after issuing that statement, Mercury died at the age of 45 at his home in Kensington. The official cause of death was bronchial pneumonia resulting from AIDS.

The extent to which Mercury's death may have enhanced Queen's popularity is not clear. In the US, where Queen's popularity had lagged in the 1980s, sales of Queen albums went up dramatically in 1992, the year following his death. In 1992, one American critic noted, "What cynics call the 'dead star' factor had come into play—Queen is in the middle of a major resurgence." The movie Wayne's World, which featured "Bohemian Rhapsody," also came out in 1992.According to the Recording Industry Association of America, Queen had sold 34.5 million albums in the US by 2004, about half of which had been sold since Mercury's death in 1991.

Estimates of Queen's total worldwide record sales to date have been set as high as 300 million. In the UK, Queen has now spent more collective weeks on the UK Album Charts than any other musical act (including The Beatles), and Queen's Greatest Hits is the highest selling album of all time in the UK. Two of Mercury's songs, "We Are the Champions" and "Bohemian Rhapsody," have also each been voted as the greatest song of all time in major polls by Sony Ericsson and Guinness World Records, respectively. Both songs have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame; "Bohemian Rhapsody" in 2004 and "We Are the Champions" in 2009. In October 2007 the video for "Bohemian Rhapsody" was voted the greatest of all time by readers of Q magazine.

Freddie Mercury QUOTES

      When I’m dead, I want to be remembered as a musician of some worth and substance.

         The lavish presentation appeals to me, and I’ve got to convince the others.

         The reason we’re successful, darling? My overall charisma, of course.

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

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

         Onstage, I am a devil. But I’m hardly a social reject.

   
 

         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.

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

         I always knew I was a star And now, the rest of the world seems to agree with me.

         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 .



         I’m not into business at all.


  
       A concert is not a live rendition of our album. It’s a theatrica! event.

         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.

         I got my diploma from Ealing College of Art, in graphics and illustration.

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

         We’ve gone overboard on every Queen album. But that’s Queen.

         We’re a bit flashy, but the music’s not one big noise.

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

         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.









More music of QUEEN on Official Channel:
youtube.com/user/queenofficial


SOURCE: wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddie_Mercury 

 
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