Freddie Mercury

Freddie Mercury [ˈfɹɛdi ˈmɜːkjəɹi], born Farrokh Bulsara on 5 September 1946 in Stone Town in the Zanzibar Protectorate and who died on 24 November 1991 in Kensington (London, England, United Kingdom), is a British singer-songwriter, singer, musician and producer.

He was one of the co-founders in 1970 of the rock band Queen, in which he was singer and pianist. It was within Queen that he built his international reputation, alongside guitarist Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor and bassist John Deacon, all songwriters like himself.

Blessed with a wide vocal range and a good command of certain operatic techniques, he also composed most of the band's biggest hits, including Bohemian Rhapsody, Love of My Life, Somebody to Love, We Are the Champions, Don't Stop Me Now, Crazy Little Thing Called Love and Killer Queen. His stage performances with Queen were spellbinding, and his performance at Live Aid on 13 July 1985, at Wembley Stadium, left a lasting impression. He also released two solo albums, Mr. Bad Guy in 1985 and Barcelona in 1988, which include, among others, the tracks Living on My Own, I Was Born to Love You and Barcelona, a duet with Montserrat Caballé.

Freddie Mercury came out as bisexual to his fiancée in 1976. He died at the age of 45 from complications of pneumonia, a day after revealing to the public that he was HIV-positive and had AIDS.

In 2018, the film depicting his career with Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody, achieved major international success and won numerous awards — notably for its lead actor Rami Malek — and became one of the highest-grossing music biopics in history.