Today marks the birthday of Freddie Mercury who would have been 60 today.
I have always had a huge respect for Queen, who were one of the few bands prepared to venture into unchartered musical territory and pursue what they wanted to play rather than following the mainstream chart fodder. That said, they certainly had their fair share of success.
When he died (an unbelievable 15 years ago), it was to become one of my great regrets that I'd passed up the chance twice to see them play live. The nearest I got was the following year when, thanks to my brother-in-law being in the fan club, we managed to get tickets for the tribute concert at Wembley Stadium. To this day, it remains one of the most amazing concerts I've seen with a whole array of musical heroes assembling from all corners of the globe to join the remaining band members and 72,000 fans to pay their respects to the great entertainer. Possibly the only time I've been so happy and yet so sad at the same time.
I read today that the government in Zanzibar (Freddie's birth place) have received numerous objections from the local Muslim community calling for a celebratory gala party to be cancelled on the grounds that it is tantamount to promoting homosexuality. That's an argument I'll leave with them, but I think we all know that wherever he is, Freddie will be partying like a good 'un, pleased to know that he is still uppermost in so many peoples thoughts today and that indeed, the show does go on...
4 comments:
You had to love Freddie.
The Queen CD is about the only undisputed common ground in our shared car journeys, although we have been known to wrestle with the karaoke mike over it.
There's something quite reassuring about seeing my 2 year old nephew, clapping his little hands and singing "We will rock you". Gives me some kind of hope for the future generations
I celebrated Freddies day by looking at the bottoms of fat bottomed girls....most enjoyable.
Excellent singer and entertainer and greatly missed.
A great singer and a superb band.
Seany - we had some good "Frenzies" back in the 80's and early 1990's blasting out "Friends will be friends..." and many other good songs...
"Those were the days of our lives"....
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