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He was so larger-than-life up there on stage that you expected him to be imposing in real life. He wasn’t. On the contrary, he seemed quite small, and endearingly boyish. You wanted to mother him, all the girls did.
I can’t be second best, I would rather give up.
‘Freddie Mercury did the most important thing of all,’ counters Dr Hallstrom. ‘He died young. Instead of becoming a fat, bloated, self-important old queen, he was cut off in his prime and is preserved at that age for eternity. It’s not a bad way to go.’ This is his story.
‘He said that he first became aware that he was luckier than a lot of children when he attended an English boarding school in India, and discovered through a boy’s eyes the plight of the country’s poor.’ ‘But,’ Freddie had insisted, ‘I’m certainly not doing this out of guilt. I don’t feel guilty just because I’m rich. Even if I didn’t do it, the problem would still be there. It’s something that will sadly always be there. The idea of all this is to make the whole world aware of the fact that this is going on. By making this concert we are doing something positive to make people look, listen,
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The Zendavesta, or sacred scriptures, contain no formal commandments, but simply the ‘Three Good Things’ by which Parsees have long tried to live. ‘Humata, Hukhta, Huvareshta’: ‘good thoughts, good words, good deeds’.
Averse to using others to get what he wanted, he rather seemed happy to allow himself to be used, expecting nothing in return.
Whenever Freddie felt his sex/drugs/rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle spiralling out of control, and was unable to cope with the pressures of recording and touring, it was to Mary that he turned. Solid and reliable, ever-forgiving, all-accepting, she was the mother figure to whom he would always cling.
A happy person doesn’t feel the need to do anything, to create anything. Happy people are content with their lot, with the way things are. Freddie was perennially anguished. The way he felt about Mary was the cause of that, but was also an inspiration for his work.’
The greatest irony of Freddie’s life is that, though he was essentially gay, his most meaningful relationship was with a woman. Perhaps that had more to do with the woman in question than sexual preference. There was a real true love there between him and Mary. The sexual thing wasn’t nearly so important as their emotional and spiritual bond.’
Uniquely for a rock band, all four would compose Queen hits (Freddie’s included ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, ‘Killer Queen’, ‘Somebody to Love’, and ‘We Are the Champions’; among Brian’s were ‘Tie Your Mother Down’, ‘We Will Rock You’, ‘Hammer to Fall’ and ‘Who Wants to Live Forever’; Roger wrote ‘Radio Ga Ga’, ‘One Vision’, ‘It’s a Kind of Magic’ and ‘These Are the Days of Our Lives’, and John contributed ‘You’re My Best Friend’, ‘I Want to Break Free’ and ‘Another One Bites the Dust’).
He told me that the secret of happiness was living life to the hilt.
Anyone who is successful will always be burned once or twice. There’s no such thing,’ he added, obscurely, ‘as a clean escalator to the top.’
I’m very happy with my relationship at the moment, and I honestly couldn’t ask for better. It’s a kind of . . . solace. Yes, that’s a good word. We won’t call it menopause! I don’t have to try so hard. I don’t have to prove myself now. I’ve got a very understanding relationship. It sounds so boring, but it’s wonderful. Freddie Mercury
Freddie’s attitude was always, “But you can, don’t you see? You can do it. Put your mind to it, you’ll see what you can do.” That was one of the loveliest things about him.’
