VH1 CLASSIC ROCK RADIO
5 September 2013
Thursday (9/5) would have been Queen singer Freddie Mercury’s 67th birthday. While the legendary performer is gone, his music lives on. Guitarist Brian May reflected on what made Freddie such a great frontman.
“Well Freddie just completely had the outrageous persona I suppose and he always was that way, he didn’t work at it, he didn’t decide he was going to play this part. He just was this guy who had a very unusual way of coming across and came from an unusual place I guess. He had an insane belief in himself which was wonderful, his driving force, and in us as his friends and partners in crime.”
LISTEN HERE
Brian went on to describe how Freddie performed.
“I mean Freddie had the amazing voice but I think he also had this thing that he could also make people feel like they were making contact. So we could play things like Wembley Stadium, which up to that time, had not been done. People didn’t do it because they couldn’t really get across in this vast space but Freddie particularly had this knack of making everybody feel like they could be personally in contact and almost, I think he made them feel like they could do it too, you know, this business of singing along and stuff. He just had that kind of common touch I suppose. I don’t know what it’s called. It’s a kind of magnetism that he had.”
LISTEN HERE
* TIDBIT: Freddie passed away on November 24th, 1991.
* TALKING POINT: Do you think Freddie Mercury was one of the best frontmen of all time?