Freddie and the family lived just outside London where Freddie attended Isleworth Polytechnic and studied art, graduating with a Diploma in Art from Ealing Art College.It was 1969 when Freddie formed his first band, ‘Ibex’ and by 1970 he joined guitarist Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor and bassist John Deacon to form the band ‘Queen’. It was at this time that Freddie changed his name.

In the 1970’s Freddie had a long term relationship with his girlfriend Mary Austin which lasted for quite a few years until Freddie had an affair with a male record executive. Although admitting his sexuality he never stopped loving Mary and in his will he left most of his wealth and estate to her.

In his early days Freddie attributed his main musical influences to Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon and The Beatles. In later years he spoke highly of the talents he saw in singer and performer Liza Minnelli, daughter of Judy Garland. He was also a big fan of the music of Elvis Presley and is rumoured to have penned ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ as a tribute to Elvis.

His musical talents included a range of four octaves and a skill for writing lyrics as he did for ‘Queen’s Greatest Hits album namely, ‘Killer Queen’, ‘Somebody to Love’, ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ and perhaps their most famous song ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. Freddie composed on the piano making some of his keys difficult for Brian May to assimilate on the guitar.When Bob Geldof and Midge Ure put together the Live Aid concert in 1985 Freddie and Queen made what has been known as the greatest live performance in the history of rock music.

By 1987 it was rumoured that following many short term homosexual relationships Freddie had fallen ill with the virus, AIDS. The rumours were never admitted by Freddie but his visual appearance over the next few years gave rise to the belief that the rumours were true. Eventually in 1991 he made a press announcement admitting his condition.

Within 24 hours of the statement, Freddie died.Elton John attended Freddie’s funeral with the rest of the members of ‘Queen’. It was the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert that saw a coming together of many of the greatest of performers such as rock star David Bowie, George Michael, Annie Lennox, Elton John and Liza Minnelli who all performed at the tribute concert which was held in the spring of 1992.

Phil Collins made a statement following the death of Freddie stating that if you lead a promiscuous lifestyle you will always run the risk of contracting aids. Freddie’s death from the virus heightened the awareness of AIDS.

Since Freddie’s death his music has featured in many movies such as ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ which featured in ‘Wayne’s World’ which starred Mike Myers and Queen contributed directly to the music for the movie ‘Flash Gordon’. Their songs have also been covered by other artists for movies such as ‘Somebody to Love’ which was sung by Anne Hathaway for the movie ‘Ella Enchanted’, ‘The Show Must Go On’ was performed by Nicole Kidman and Jim Broadbent in ‘Moulin Rouge’ in 2001 and ‘We are the Champions’ was performed by British singer Robbie Williams in 2001.