Freddie Mercury

Freddie Mercury (c. 1973).

Freddie Mercury, (born Farrokh Bulsara; 1946-09-05 - 1991-11-24) was a musician, best known for his work with the band Queen where he composed music, lyrics, sang lead vocals, and played piano and various other instruments. In addition to Queen, Freddie Mercury also released some solo albums, several singles, and did projects with other artists. Freddie's early music was mostly progressive rock, but he switched to more generic hard rock, and later to various popular genres.

Personal

Like most people, I first learned about Freddie Mercury because of the band Queen. I know I was exposed to various Queen hit songs as a young child through the 1980s, but it wasn't until the early 1990s, with the release of Wayne's World and the Highlander TV series, that my appreciation for them grew enough to identify them as a band. My mother purchasing Queen's Greatest Hits album when I was around 15 was enough to solidify me as a Queen fan for life. This caused me to really get into the band, which led to my fascination with Freddie Mercury as a skilled musician, entertainer, and just plain interesting individual.

I was 11 years old when Freddie died, but his death went unnoticed by me because I had little interest in music at that age. However, when I got into Queen in my mid-teens, and learned that I had missed the life of Freddie by only a few years, I remember feeling quite sorrowful.