Happy birthday Freddie. 65 years young he would have been today – a pensioner.
I can write a long winded explanation of how Queen have influenced the type of bands and the type of sounds I listen to today, but I won’t. I could go on about how I saw this that and the other – but that would be a lie. I was only 2 years old when Queen played that iconic gig at Wembley Stadium. Probably sitting underneath a blanket pretending to look cute. But through my mum and dad, I heard Queen (I also heard Bryan Adams, Dire Straits and Chris Rea but that’s not the point). I started to discover songs, I started to bounce around and go nutty when I heard ‘Killer Queen’. I remember sitting on the sofa drawing pictures of George Michael and Lisa Stansfield for the Freddie Mercury tribute concert. At that time, I probably didn’t take it all in – I was too young to realise but through the songs and through the words spoken at the concert I was watching, it started to strike a chord.
Had Freddie of not fallen ill, had Queen of continued at the pace they were going – they probably would have been my first ever gig. Subsequently it was Extreme who played the concert, Squeeze and Bryan Adams. The point of that waffle is that Freddie and Queen’s music has transcended the ages – it’s not become dated, referred to as ‘fogie rock’. In fact, more ahead of its time.
I think its also not bold to say that without Queen and Freddie Mercury – you wouldn’t have a considerable amount of bands with the passion and theatrical prowess around today.
In an interview Freddie was once asked about dying, he responded “I don’t really think about it, it’s up to them. When I’m dead, who cares? I don’t” and took a pull of his cigarette. In answer to that, the whole set-up of Freddie for a Day, the Queen fan clubs still around and how much his/Queen songs still mean to people, shows just how much he is missed.
I think the best way to summarise what he did is through the video released today from Queen Online. Thanks for the songs and the flamboyance, Freddie. Thank you for being a big part of my musical-loving life.
