Freddie Mercury Research Paper

My personal hero would have to be Freddie Mercury. The impact his music has left on me is immeasurable, the music he’s given the world has truly changed me for the better.
Freddie Mercury was born as Farrokh Bulsara on September 6th 1946 in Zanzibar (now Tanzania) though he spent the much of his early childhood living in India then moving back to Zanzibar. When he was age seventeen, his family had to flee Zanzibar in interest of their safety. The place they fled to was the UK. Freddie was a part of several bands after he moved to the UK, but in the spring of 1970 he joined with guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor and started the soon to be world famous group “Queen”. Around the same time, he changed his surname to Mercury, giving us the now one of the most well-known singers of all time.
Mercury’s stage persona did shift over the years, but he always filled the

stage and was brimming with charisma and enthusiasm about the group’s songs. He was undoubtedly in control. He was a man capable of holding an audience of tens of thousands like puddy in his hand throughout his years. In his earlier career with Queen his personality was extremely flamboyant, with big hair and bright unitards.

He eventually did away with the hair and unitards and assumed a more tamed look, but he maintained a powerful persona. He did still wear some very iconic costumes though with his new look, like that bright yellow jacket made famous at the Queen’s performance at Wembley Stadium for their Live Magic tour. That jacket’s gone one to be a centerpiece for many a Mercury costume, just like the many you’ll see as part of the “Freddie For A Day” initiative. Freddie For A Day is an initiative started by the Mercury Phoenix Trust back in 2010, every year on September 5th (the rock star's birthday) anyone and everyone is encouraged to dress up as Mercury to celebrate his life and raise awareness and funds to fight AIDS worldwide. The Freddie For A Day initiative grows every year as more and more people are raising awareness. Queen themselves are an incredibly accomplished band. They’ve toured worldwide, playing to sold out stadiums. In 1985 Queen performed at Live Aid at Wembley Stadium. Live Aid was one of the biggest musical

events ever organized with a 16 hour broadcast across two venues. Queen however, they stole the show. Now keep in mind that Live Aid was a general audience full of people who had bought tickets to see the biggest names in music, and Queen wasn’t exactly the group selling the tickets, not with U2, The Who, David Bowie, Elton John, and other musical powerhouses booked. Moreover, the band was squeezed in between U2 and David Bowie’s performances, both more popular groups at the time. However, when Queen came onstage it was an explosion of passion and bravado like no other as they launched straight into their most famous song, Bohemian Rhapsody. The crowd was wild. After Bohemian Rhapsody they segued straight into Radio Gaga, a song that led to what was one of the most iconic moments of the performance. During the chorus of the song Mercury had everyone together moving their arms, all 72,000 of them. Mercury’s presence was so powerful that even the people right at the back of Wembley would feel they had a connection with him, they’d feel something personal in his voice and be engaged in every song. Their twenty five minute performance at Live Aid is widely considered to be the greatest performance of rock ever, period. There was a consensus among performers and audience alike that day, Queen had stolen the show. Queen’s guitarist, Brian May, has said, “It was the greatest day of our lives.” in reference to the performance. David Grohl of the Foo Fighters has said that “Every band should study Queen at Live Aid. Grohl has also claimed Mercury to be the greatest frontman of all time.
Mercury’s death has shown to have been one of massive importance. Mercury was the first big time rockstar to have died of AIDS. In his name, the Mercury Phoenix Trust was established by Queen’s remaining members to combat the disease. One of the first things they did was organize the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert For AIDS Awareness which was held in April 1992. The concert was held at Wembley stadium for an audience of 72,000 and featured many of the most famous musicians and groups, including David Bowie, Def Leppard, Elton John, George Michael, and Guns n’ Roses. The Mercury Phoenix Trust has since raised millions for AIDS research. Mercury has ranked on many lists of the top 100 most influential people and the likes, he ranked 52nd on a Japanese national survey of the top 100 most influential heroes and 18th in the Rolling Stone’s top 100 singers of all time.