When I was growing up there were several artist that truly influenced me and who I am today, and Freddie Mercury and Queen were some of them. Freddie was cooler than cool, and didn't hide who he was, although the secret of his sexuality remains out of the public eye until his death. Yeah, there were rumors, but all great rock stars have those circling around them all the time.
Where as Prince consoled my need for funk, and Bowie my need for the unusual. Queen quelled my need of pure unadulterated rock. Not just rock, but rock inside of rock. They were the ultimate in beating down the doors and doing what they wanted to do. Rock has always been the bad boys of music, but still to this day, rockers seem to follow unwritten rules. Rage hard, fight the power, but don't do anything other than heavy guitars, drums, and scorching lyrics. That wasn't Queen. Yes, they did that, but they did it with flare and panache. They broke the rules within the broken rules. They used experimental sound before that was even a thing. They dared to create operatic songs. Sure The Who had their rock opera Tommy, but it wasn't really opera. A Night at the Opera, the album that gave us the song Bohemian Rhapsody, was an actual opera with rock. It changed the dynamic of what you could do in music, and Freddie Mercury was a driving force behind that.
I'm not giving the other members enough credit, because they saw the vision that Freddie had for that album and dove in without even thinking. They were all for it. They didn't want to be a formal band either. Brian May's love for his friend Freddie Mercury is still evident to this day. He was the force behind this movie being made. He is also the reason they have never replaced Freddie. They have had other artist tour with them and do shows, but they never wrote new songs, and the front man was never a true replacement. They did more of a respectful tribute to Queen when they did live shows. The band still is Brian May and Roger Taylor with John Deacon having retired from playing. Their love of Freddie is evident in this movie. The portrayed him in good and bad light, which is how Freddie lived. He wasn't perfect, but when it came to the music of Queen, he was a god.
I can remember the first time I heard of Queen. I was too young in the seventies to have noticed them, but then in 1980 a little song by the name of Another Bites the Dust hit the airwaves, and I became a believer. It was that same year that one of my favorite campy movies came out, Flash Gordon. Guess who did the entire soundtrack for that movie? If you guessed Queen, you would be right, and I loved it. It was two of my favorite things. Sci fi and Queen. Flash's Theme was the greatest thing to ever pass through my ear holes at that time. I loved it. Flash, ahaaaaa, Savior of the universe. Come on, is there anything better than that.
Freddie's voice would tear through you and then heal the wound as it went. It was around after that album that I began looking for more music from Queen, and that is when I found Keep Yourself Alive, Brighton Rock, Killer Queen, Stone Cold Crazy, You're My Best Friend, and so many more, Including Bohemian Rhapsody. I became a rabid fan, whenever a new album would come out, I would have the cassette, just like I did with Prince.
In 1982, two of my worlds collided, when Queen collaborated with David Bowie. It was smoothies and class, meets rock and rapture. Under Pressure was the song, and it meant the world to me. It remains to this day as one of my all time favorite songs. When I die, if I have my way, I would like nothing but Prince, Queen, and Bowie playing during my memorial service. If it were the last thing I could give people, is the joy of hearing the absolute very best, it would be a fitting end to me.
In 1984, Queen once again broke those unwritten rules of rock, and made a discoesque album. As you may remember, disco is my thing, so I naturally loved this album, but it wasn't well received because of that risk that they took. The first song on the album, tells more about Freddies life than any song he had written. That is of course my opinion, but since it is going to be Favorite Song of the Week, I want you to really listen to the lyrics. It may seem like he is talking about radio, and he is, but he is talking a great deal about himself. It was around this time that he found out that he had contracted the AIDS virus. So listen to those words real good, and see what he is really talking about. He is facing his mortality and is telling everyone he knows about it.
I read an article a couple of years ago, about Freddie's final days. He didn't waste time sulking in what was inevitable. He threw himself into writing music. He wrote and recorded daily. The result were the last three studio albums that Queen released: A Kind of Magic, The Miracle, and Innuendo. The songs from these albums were all full of hope and sadness. They were telling the story of how Freddie wanted to be remembered. It's a Kind of Magic's lust for life and hope of achieving greatness, to I Want It All's furious grasp of the unattainable, to the final cry of moving forward despite everything being gone in The Show Must Go On.
I remember seeing Freddie release his statement about being stricken with AIDS. I was at a friends house and it was on TV. I was devastated by the news. I watched as a man resembling Freddie sat at a table wearing a thick white robe. He was frail but still commanded attention. He spoke with poise and grace despite the death sentence that was awaiting him. The boyfriend of my friend's sister, spoke up after the press conference, "I'm never going to listen to that fags music again." I went right up to him and asked him. "Why does it matter who he slept with? Did you like his music before this? Did you listen to it, before this?" He just looked at me and said, 'You must be a faggot too." I turned and walked away from him. His ignorance wouldn't darken how I felt about my hero.
Two days after that press conference, came the announcement that Freddie had died. I listened to every Queen song I could get my hands on. I did that for weeks. It was all I would listen to. I still have those days when I put on some Queen in order to remember Freddie, and what he meant to me. Prince, Bowie and Queen were all the same to me. They were gender benders that broke rules, and then when those rules were turned into dust, they found more rules to break. The world will never see Legends such as these again. There will be artist that grab the attention of the masses, but not like them. Queen didn't even have to sing there songs when they played live. The simple fact that people were in the same building with them was enough. They would sing the songs. I have been a part of something like that on a smaller level, with Twenty One Pilots. I have been in the crowd singing with the entire crowd to their songs, and watched as Tyler Joseph would just stand there in awe of what was happening. It is an amazing thing to be a part of, but it was nothing like what would happen with Queen. I watched their performance at Wembley Stadium for Live Aid. I saw how the crowd reacted, I was singing in my living room watching it as it happened. It was the closest I ever got to seeing Freddie Mecury and Queen playing live, and I was a very tiny part of that crowd that day.
As long as I live, I will never tire of hearing those songs from those artist. Peace in and goodnight.
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