Facts About Freddie Mercury

Only one woman knows where Freddie Mercury’s remains are buried, and she’s kept it a secret for 30 years.
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Bohemian Facts About Freddie Mercury, The King Of Queen
Nov 24
PEOPLE
Kyle Climans
The King Of Queen Masked Dark Secrets
With a stunningly powerful voice and an onstage presence to match, it’s not an overstatement to say that Freddie Mercury was one of the greatest rock frontmen of all time. But behind the scenes, Mercury’s life was wildly different than what fans saw. From secret pain and heartache to controversy to the jaw-dropping tragedy of his untimely death, Mercury’s story isn’t for the faint of heart.
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1. He Had A Nomadic Childhood
The drama surrounding Mercury’s sad end could only be matched by the tumult of his early life. The man we know as Freddie Mercury was actually born Farrokh Bulsara in British colonial Zanzibar, in East Africa. While they were originally from western India, Freddie’s father worked for the British Colonial Office, which meant that they lives could be upended at any moment—and often, they were.
Mirrorpix, Getty Images
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2. He Was Meant To Be A Star
It seems like Freddie’s upbringing—formative years spent in colorful, exotic places—would later play a huge part in his dazzling and flamboyant public image. In fact, there’s concrete evidence he was born to be a singer. Mercury was born with four extra incisors—and this resulted in a different shape of mouth, which acted almost like an amplifier for his voice.
But while Mercury had the talent and aptitude, he didn’t necessarily have the attitude.
Koh Hasebe, Wikimedia Commons
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3. They Sent Him Away
Freddie Mercury was a painfully shy child, and the upheaval of his early years certainly didn’t help things. He was an only child until the age of 7, when his mother gave birth to his little sister, Kashmira. It was a joyful time—but Freddie had a sad surprise in store. His father thought that an education in India would be much better for him, so they sent little Freddie away to a British-style boarding school near Bombay.
It was his first time away from his family, and the loneliness must have been crushing. However, it took a lot to keep Freddie Mercury down…
Ian Dickson, Getty Images
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4. He Had To Leave Home Again
Mercury quickly settled in at boarding school, not only taking to his arts classes, but also making a concerted effort at trying a variety of sports and sticking with piano lessons. Just when it seemed like he was adjusting, life threw him another curveball. In 1964, riots broke out in Zanzibar, and his family fled to England.
He joined them there—but it was way more of a culture shock than he could’ve predicted.
Moongateclimber, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
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5. He Didn’t Adjust Well
After spending the first decade and a half of his life in warm, sunny locales with a bustling street life, Freddie Mercury found himself in drab, conservative Feltham, a town a handful of miles outside of London. The consequences were dire. Mercury struggled in all aspects of his life because of the sharp transition, but his schoolwork became a particular problem.
Luckily, things in London were about to change in a big way…
Mark and Colleen Hayward, Getty Images
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6. He Found Something To Believe In
The era of the Swinging Sixties was taking full hold in London. Inspiration was everywhere in the form of British acts like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, and records from the US’s best Black soul artists made their way into local record stores. The Stones and the Who alike had been products of London-area art schools, and Mercury set his sights on Ealing Art College, where he studied art and design.
His parents weren’t exactly thrilled, but Mercury was determined to—ahem—break free of the drearier side of his new home country.
Christopher Hopper, Wikimedia Commons
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7. He Was In The Wrong Place At The Right Time
Ultimately, a design program wasn’t exactly the arena for Freddie Mercury to express his creative side. While other students worked on package designs for supermarket products, Mercury grew more and more enamored with rock’s most bombastic performers, including Jimi Hendrix . Not that his persona matched theirs at all—he was still fairly reserved.
While many of his peers looked for jobs at ad agencies and industrial design firms upon graduating, Mercury instead branched out…
Hannu Lindroos / Lehtikuva, Wikimedia Commons
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8. He Found His Scene
After leaving Ealing, Mercury finally put himself in a position where he could live and work how he wanted to. In between jobs selling vintage clothing and working as a baggage handler at Heathrow, he joined a series of bands, making friends along the way even when the aforementioned groups failed.
Two of these friends, Roger Taylor and Brian May, had a group called Smile. Mercury was a big fan—but just that, only a fan. But sometimes, all it takes is one twist of fate to change everything.
Carl Lender, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
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9. He Made It Happen For Himself
Smile was fronted by a singer named Tim Staffell, who was a classmate of Mercury’s from Ealing. They’d been together for about two years and reached a moderate level of success when Staffell decided he wanted to join another band. At that moment, Mercury knew that he had a golden opportunity, and that he had to act on it.
He told Taylor and May that they didn’t have to go their separate ways just because Smile was over. In fact, he saw himself taking the place of Staffell—but this band wouldn’t just be Smile redux. No, it would be something completely different.
Keystone, Getty Images
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10. He Got Confident
Mercury was coming out of his shell, and he wasn’t afraid to tell his two bandmates what he thought the direction of their new band should be. For one, he’d be acting as lead singer. Mercury also suggested they call the band Queen—and while they were initially reticent, they eventually came around to the name. While the moniker stuck, he didn’t always have the same luck…
Kraft74, Shutterstock
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11. He Chose The Wrong Target
In the early 70s, when Queen was still working on their first album, Mercury embarked on a solo side project under a fake name. Looking to glam rock star Gary Glitter for inspiration—or perhaps as an object of mockery—he chose the name Larry Lurex. Well, what seemed like an innocent jab turned into a massive debacle. Glitter’s massive fanbase turned on Mercury, as did many radio DJs.
Of course, Mercury went on to great success, while Glitter went on to become a criminal—but at the time, it was still a catastrophe for Mercury as a newcomer.
Andrew Putler, Getty Images
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12. They Finally Made It Real
As Queen performed their very first shows and prepared material for their debut album, they also went through a litany of bass players—and that wasn’t their only problem. Label after label rejected them, and it took nearly two years for their management to get EMI to finally pick them up. Finally, three years after Mercury had approached Taylor and May, Queen released its self-titled debut album. The react…

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