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FREDDIE MERCURY

FREDDIE MERCURY ROCK STAR

Freddie Mercury was the lead singer and central focus of Queen, a super-popular British rock group. Despite his elaborate, flamboyant, sometimes campy performances, many fans were surprised to learn shortly before his death that he was gay, even though the term "queen" is a slang term for "homosexual."

Born Frederick Bulsara in Zanzibar in 1946, Mercury recorded in England under the name Larry Lurex before Queen formed in 1972. After its first LPs, Queen (1973) and Queen II (1974), the group had its first million-selling single, "Killer Queen" from the LP Sheer Heart Attack (1974). The album A Night at the Opera (1975) contained "Bohemian Rhapsody," in which Mercury added operatic touches to a blend of hard rock, heavy metal, and pop. Two of the group's records-"Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and "Another One Bites the Dust'-were #1 on American singles charts in 1980.

Queen was the first band to provide the score for a major motion picture, Flash Gordon (1980), and played in concerts to raise funds for aid to Kampuchea in 1981. As Queen's commercial success diminished, Mercury did more solo work. His music was included in the films Metropolis and Electric Dreams in 1985, and he had a solo hit in England in 1987 with "The Great Pretender."

Mercury did not comment on rumors that he had AIDS until the eve of his death, when he said he had kept silent to protect the privacy of those around him. In revealing the truth about his health, he said, "I hope that everyone will join with me, my doctors, and all those worldwide in the fight against this terrible disease." He died of pneumonia resulting from AIDS on November 24, 1991.

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