Reliving Mercury’s magic

Fifteen years after his demise in 1991 the legendary rock star Freddie Mercury’s (born Farrokh Bulsara) music is still enjoyed around the world. On the occasion of his 60th birth anniversary in September 2006 a CD, The Very Best of Freddie Mercury (which has Freddie not with his band Queen but alone, singing some songs never heard before) and a DVD, Lover of Life, Singer of Songs (where for the first time his Indian past has been acknowledged) were released by EMI Music, marketing manager Anand Srinivasan was quoted in Hindustan Times (HT) of September 3, 2006. Also on the anvil is a book, A Life, In His Own Words, culled from various interviews.

EMI and Queen had scheduled parties in London and Cologne with each celebration revolving around a performance of We Will Rock You, one of his famous hits. Queen — It’s a Kinda Magic, a theatrical recreation of the best of Queen that was first performed in 1997 was also to be staged to commemorate Mercury’s memory. In 1996 the Swiss erected his statue in the town of Montreux and in 1999 the British issued a stamp that was part of The Millennium Stamp series, reported HT.

To mark this 60th milestone, his relatives opened up their family album for a special TV tribute to the star. "Their snapshots include photos of him as a wispy-haired baby in a flowered dress on his mother (Jer)’s hip, wearing the flower garland and skull cap of the religion,” notes a write-up by Julie Mccaffrey adding, "Together the pictures give a fascinating insight into Freddie’s early upbringing in Africa and India – parts of his life he kept private from his fans and refused to discuss with his friends. The iconic showman believed his exotic background and family’s Zoroastrian beliefs didn’t exactly fit in with his wild rock ‘n’ roll image…”

Freddie Mercury: iconic showman

In his birthplace Zanzibar, a beach party was planned at the Mercury restaurant, named after the singer but apparently the local Muslim leaders had opposed it on the grounds that Mercury’s flamboyant lifestyle did not conform to Islamic values. He had succumbed to AIDS related complications at the age of 45.

Bombay sculptor Arzan Khambatta, a fan of Freddie Mercury, had worked on a three-foot-tall wooden sculpture of Mercury which he hoped to send to London for the celebrations but unfortunately he could not complete it on time. According to Khambatta, Mercury was "a phenomenal performer. From rock ‘n’ roll to pop to classical, he had a grip on it all.” Bohemian Rhapsody which reportedly sold 150 million albums was a universal favorite and other popular hits by Queen were Is This The World We Created, Another One Bites The Dust, We Are The Champions, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, The Show Must Go On…

"Besides the enormous power of his voice, he was different from the technical point of view…He had distinct operatic influences which made his style unique. His singing was full-throated, something that can be described as great pelting,” vocalist Nandoo Bhende was quoted in the Sunday Mid Day of September 3, 2006. Singer Gary Lawyer commented, "From heartfelt and dramatic ballads to out-and-out rock songs, there was something very uni­que about his style. He was a complete musician — a great singer, a superb composer, a gifted lyricist.”