Why do so many people get excited when they hear Freddie Mercury sing? What in his voice seems human ear so seductive? The team of researchers decided to approach this question with scientific point vision. Here's what they found.
Scientific analysis
An analysis of the great singer's vocal range showed that he was able to quickly modulate his voice. This means that he was able to make himself sound both soft and rough. This, by the way, applies not only to singing, but also to ordinary conversation - for example, an interview. The results of the study were published in the journal Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology. 
Amazing ability
The effect was most likely achieved due to quick change pitch. This skill is beyond the capabilities of most classically trained vocalists. Additionally, Freddie may have been able to control what are called the ventricular folds of his larynx (the little "wings" within his vocal cords). 
All this led to the fact that Mercury was able to produce “subharmony” - a combination of sounds that the vast majority of people are not able to reproduce. They can only enjoy this sound from the lips of a genius. The team of researchers compares it to a sound system going into overdrive, calling the singer "on the path to chaos." The researchers concluded that these traits, combined with a fast and irregular vibrato, may have helped create Freddie Mercury's eccentric and flamboyant stage persona. 
It was rumored that the Queen singer's vocal range spanned four octaves, but an international team of researchers found no evidence of this. But the absolute fact remains that the amazingly talented Freddie Mercury had an incredible voice, and science has only once again confirmed how truly unique he was.
I have repeatedly come across expressions like “I have a range of 4 octaves”, or “the singer of this group has a range of 8 octaves!! 11”. To understand whether this is nonsense, it is enough to know what it is octave.
From a physical point of view octave-- this is a doubling of the frequency of sound vibrations. For example, 440 Hz is A of the first octave (standard tuning fork), 880 Hz is A of the second octave. The interval between them is an octave. (This musical system has been the main one for Europeans for 2 centuries).
The entire range of vocal frequencies in people of both sexes lies approximately between 80 Hz and 1100 Hz. From D major octave (73 Hz) to C# third octave (1108 Hz).
If we convert to octaves, we get:
80 * 2^x = 1100;
2^x = 1100/80;
x = ln(110/8)/ln(2) = 3.78 octaves;
Round up to 4 octaves. This is the entire (ENTIRE) range of normal human voices from bass to soprano. A person (no matter what gender) who can sing in the 4 octave range, has outstanding vocal abilities (and most likely years of training). There are few such people. These four octaves can be shifted above or below the main band, but for now I'm talking in general about the range of the range. In the Guinness Book of Records, the record for men is 6 octaves, for women - 8 octaves. There are only a few such mutants in all of humanity.
Vocal ranges (bass-tenor-alto-soprano) are usually divided into 2 octaves. Let's say we take into account not only the normal register of the voice, but also falsetto - this is about 1 octave up for men. For female voices, falsetto gives a slight increase in range. There are 3 octaves in total: this well trained singing voice including falsetto. A confident voice without falsetto from 2 to 3 octaves is already good data + very good training.
For example, Freddie Mercury could sing from F in the major octave to F in the second octave (and E in the third octave in falsetto). This is three octaves of pure voice and almost an octave of falsetto. Eric Adams sings in 4 octaves on recordings.
It is also worth considering that the actual range and the musical range are different things. Vocal range is usually understood as a set musically useful sounds that are available to the singer. By useful we mean those sounds to which the singer can give the necessary duration, strength and color. For example, I can squeak in falsetto in the third octave and gurgle in bass in the big one - but musically these sounds are useless, because I cannot control their duration, make them loud, or influence their expressiveness. And their very reproduction causes such tension that no performance no speech.
A standard piano keyboard has 88 keys. This is 7-odd octaves. Twice as much as is available to a very well developed voice.
In some songs you can hear his voice reach C5, but in such cases it is noticeable from the timbre and vibrato that he seems to be screaming, thus strengthening his voice.
That's exactly what I never liked about him.
I don't like it with him either. But apparently he really wanted to take on different vocal heights. And publicly demonstrate your virtuosity. Even this way.
Quote: Quote: During the conversation, Freddie Mercury keeps his voice between B2 and G3...The main note on which Freddie Mercury speaks is E3.
Awesome. This is something new.
Maybe someone else can write out the spoken language in notes?))))
You will read something different from Mercury fans. It can be assumed that this “note” was derived, knowing that to assess the gradation of the voice (bass, baritone, tenor), experts often pay attention to how the singer speaks: low, high... It is not a fact that he uses his primary when speaking tone, but some kind of indirect indicator.
To continue the discussion, I’ll throw in some more firewood.
Source of quotation: M.V. Akhundova “The Story of Freddie Mercury”. http://www.intellectualonly-mercury.ru/m_ahundova/chapter4_Freddie_Cruger1.htm
Quote: It is difficult to find an analogue to his voice. Freddie raised it to incredible heights, sometimes overpowering the choir and orchestra. He extracted unearthly, fantastic sounds from his throat. He could demonstrate up to a hundred voice variations during one concert. He conveyed the subtlest human emotions with his singing. It is not without reason that they say that his voice was cramped within the framework of rock music. A word from Pavel Surkov: “His main advantage (and, in fact, phenomenon) is that Freddie is the only vocalist in world rock (and remains, unfortunately, to this day) who sang technically correctly. If we consider Mercury’s vocal singing technique, then he sang much more correctly than Montserrat Caballe. How to determine this? First, forget the assurances of many musicians that they “have six octaves in their voices.” This is impossible. The human throat is designed in such a way that it can cover a space exceeding two and a half (maximum!) octaves without switching to falsetto is impossible. Let's remember " sudden jump” Freddie Mercury’s voice at the beginning of “It’s A Hard Life”, when he practically breaks into falsetto. Perhaps this is one of the few technical errors of Mercury. Believe me, other rock vocalists have hundreds of times more of them. Our body is designed in such a way that when we sing, we involuntarily tense up. It's not just a matter of vocal cords: a singing person (singing incorrectly!) strains one muscle or another, and one that is not responsible for singing. It could be the neck, shoulders, arms, back, facial muscles - it doesn’t matter. At the same time, a person singing correctly relaxes ALL muscles, starting from the shoulders and simply allows the sound to come out as he exhales, and he controls it only by regulating the air stream that vibrates the ligaments. This is difficult to achieve: try to completely relax and make a MELODIC “a” sound...
Freddie Mercury could sing relaxed - that’s why he managed to run, jump, play, dance for more than two hours during the concert: he did not strain his muscles and could operate them freely. He did not strain, but simply breathed - the air vibrated the ligaments and the result was a clear, correct, open sound.
At the same time, Mercury could also sing technically correctly in falsetto: let’s take for example the complex vocal part from “Somebody To Love” - it’s easy to go into falsetto: the final “somebody” - Mercury simply directs the air stream not into the open mouth, but into back wall throat, where she, resting against herself, gives out a falsetto (this is very easy to do, the muscles don’t even tense, it’s just an “internal breath”, as if “exhaling into yourself”) - but the next “to” he’s already singing in an open clear sound (and this is much more difficult, because there is only one exhalation), instantly, on the same breath, changing the direction of movement of the air stream - therefore, his final “love” comes out drawn-out and with overflows - due to the relaxed muscles of one breath (and, accordingly , exhalation) lasts for a long time, the energy is not wasted by the body, and Mercury can calmly play notes with his voice on this breath.
As for Caballe, let's remember that she is an opera singer. And all opera singers suffer from one drawback: there are no microphones in operas. And they, poor people, have to shout over an orchestra of dozens of instruments, so that the distant rows of the silent hall of thousands can hear... Can you imagine what muscle tension Is it worth it to them? You will inevitably remember that in Italy opera was created as a chamber art, a salon art, not designed for the shouting of HUGE venues. That's why Caballe tenses up and sings, and Mercury just sings. Do you feel the difference?" Reply
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There, during the discussion, there was a discussion of the vocals of Gradsky, Mercury and “Pesnyary” (Mulyavin’s era, not the current ones). Regarding “Pesnyary” and Mercury, the same participant expressed, in my opinion, interesting judgments. I present here both of his assessments, since this gives some idea of the expert himself.
First on "Pesnyary".
Quote: As for the songwriters, they sang not at “school”, but mainly in “nature”. Fortunately, their voices are naturally bright, individually colored (I avoid the word “characteristic”, because when applied to vocals it means something completely different). Their style of singing is “synthetic”: something from classical, something from folk, something from pop. And this synthesis gave the unique character of their sound. From the classics they have “covered” singing on a support with vibrato and head resonance. (Remember, other groups sang with direct, open voices, and even “on the throat”, as a result earning from the older generation the assessment “like tattered cats”) At the same time, Mulyavin himself admitted that he had not received systematic vocal training, but by the nature of sound production he “spontaneously” gravitated toward academic singing. He sings in a “covered” manner, with a pronounced head resonance, although he does not do this as smoothly as well-trained (from the word “school”) singers. In addition, being a tenor, he had difficulty, on the verge of breaking into falsetto, hitting “G sharp” - although this is a “standard” note for a lyric baritone. But these are all trifles... His voice is special, immediately recognizable, because it was not so confined within the “school framework” as that of academic singers. Bortkevich has a naturally unusual voice, a lyric tenor, but not lyrical in the operatic sense; he won’t sing Lensky, but more intimate, with some folk overtones. But Kasheparov sang in an almost folk style! Although for a populist it has a very strong head resonance, many opera singers would dream of this! Very flying sound! Daineko is closer to the pop-jazz style of singing, although he has some inconsistency, which is why many old fans for a long time did not recognize him as a “Pesnyarov” voice. And most importantly, how did Mulyavin manage to merge such different voices into a single ensemble?! That's the miracle! Any “normal” choirmaster would go crazy adjusting one to the other - but he did it, and how else! This is a mystery for researchers...
Now after the "warm-up" - an assessment of Mercury's vocals.
Quote: With Mercury, one immediately notices (in the ears, more precisely) a very big difference in the sound of his voice on studio recordings and in concerts. A sure sign large quantity processing and all kinds of studio “chemistry”. In general, the comrade was very mannered, both in life (due to a number of well-known features) and in music. Vocalists have such a concept - “sung voice”. I remember hearing one young singer who very closely imitated Magomayev’s style, but at the same time did not possess even a tenth of Magomayev’s vocal technique, who, as you know, trained at La Scala. Those. he could sing “You are my melody” like Magomayev, but Figaro’s cavatina - sorry... Mercury has a “sung voice” - he has a certain style, manner, but at the same time he carefully avoided all the difficult and technically inconvenient places. Those. when he sang what was comfortable for him, what worked for him - everything was fine there. But when he came out next to Caballe to sing, it became clear who was a pro and who was self-taught. Caballe's voice, according to the Italian school, is born as if by itself out of thin air, you can't hear any “work” - but with him you can hear everything: the ligaments tinkle, the way he takes breath, and the throat... That is. She has such an “unearthly” voice, and his is earthly, not very resonant. There is no what is called a “socky” voice. And not being able to resonate it correctly, it forces it very much, “tears the ligaments.” If he sang in a more “rock” manner, it wouldn’t feel like that, everything is possible there. But he gravitated towards classical vocals, and here he immediately has to be assessed on a different scale, and not in his favor. But by nature his voice is not bad, and with training he would turn out to be a good tenor.
But I’m judging this from the point of view of “correct vocals” - it turns out that strictly, only shortcomings. In fact, if compared with rock singers, then, of course, he is the king! It's all about the starting point. But in any case, he SINGED - and did not yell, did not wheeze, did not hiss, did not mutter, etc. Which in itself is rare in rock. And if they ask me who I value most in rock vocals, then in an old man’s conservative way I will say - Tom Jones! Here is a man who sings in a completely non-academic manner - and at the same time I cannot find any technical shortcomings in him! Moreover, the man can do everything! answer
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The fact that he was an extraordinary person and knew how to use his voice well is a proven fact. But on the other hand, all the vocalists of that time had amazing abilities. Robert Plant, Ronnie James Dio, Ian Gillan and other rock vocalists....
Well, we will remember Freddie more for the creation of megahits (by the way, almost everyone in the group wrote, but the main authors were Farrukh and Brian) and for the possible use of his range in these hits. In terms of voice, I liked the use of falsetto... Listening to bootlegs or improvisations, you can hear how easily Bulsara plays with his vocals.
Well, of course, an attempt to sing opera, for a pop-rock vocalist, I would not call it unsuccessful... However, being exhausted by illness, singing with Caballe is a difficult task. Well, to write down “91 Inyuendo with such a range and serve while dying is actually a miracle.
A separate story with recording techniques. To call those opportunities quite easy is bullshit. It has become easy now, with the advent of computers. And then, well, try recording 80 voice parts on an ADAT tape recorder... No moving with the mouse, or canceling the current live recording. Live overdubs of vocal parts. But Freddie didn’t leave the studio for 2 weeks until he recorded Bohemian Rhapsody. Now, if the situation is good, this can be done in a day.
Then, further, there is the opportunity to improvise and work in different styles... Queen's style goes far beyond rock, rather it is art rock and progressive, if you collect and put Night at the Opera, Hot Space and Inuendo on the same page. Moreover, no group in the 20th century created such a colorful album, like Inyuendo, for example, where you can look at any track and love Bijou...
Therefore, the artistry and charisma of the vocalist, extraordinary melodies, hits, the singing lineup (Roger, by the way, has a voice no weaker than Freddie in some places) and the timeliness of his appearance on stage - this is what the phenomenon of Freddie Mercury means. answer
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A long time ago, on this day, September 5, 1946, 69 years ago, on the distant island of Zanzibar, a boy was born with a strange name for us, Farrukh (which means “happy”, “handsome”)...
This could well have been the beginning of some kind of fairy tale in the spirit of Kipling or an adventure novel, but, in fact, it turned out to be the prologue to one of the greatest musical legends of our time. Because perhaps not everyone in the world knows who Farrukh Bulsara is - but it is difficult to find a person who has not heard of Freddie Mercury.
You can talk for hours about the professionalism of Queen musicians - but without Mercury's charisma, the group would not have achieved cult status. One can admire how similar Freddie’s vocals are to the voice of Paul Rodgers, with whom they are trying to replace him, but “Queen + Paul Rodgers” is simply a surrogate for the nostalgic. After all, it’s not about the voice... So, what is the essence of the legend? Among the idols modern world Freddy takes special place. First of all, because there is a lot of it, it is redundant. He has one of the best votes rock" (in fact - one of the best voices of the twentieth century, Freddie can compete with the best operatic voices), a voice of amazing range (from baritone to counter-tenor), amazing strength, beauty, charm - this would be enough to be remembered to the world. Freddie Mercury is not only his instantly recognizable voice, but his instantly recognizable personality. And this is what makes his art irresistible, and this is what makes it impossible for Queen to work with any other vocalists. Freddie Mercury is one of the greatest singers in the world, his name is one of the legends, or rather, he himself has already become a legend. Even people who have absolutely nothing to do with music know him. Eccentric, energetic and artistic - this is how he remained forever, like an unfading star on the horizon of rock. His songs became symbols of 80s rock, classics, many of them are still popular today.
Some facts:
Farok (or, in other words, Farrukh) was born on September 5, 1946 in Zanzibar into a family of wealthy parents. His childhood was spent on two distant idyllic islands - Zanzibar and Pemba, located in Indian Ocean off the East coast of Africa. Little is known about his childhood. He grew up and was brought up in a boarding house for rich kids. He had few friends and Farrukh was always “on his own”, listened to the Beatles and Elvis Presley under the covers and had his head in the clouds... He put together his first group at the age of 12, together with classmates from the Indian school of St. Petra. Even then, he replaced the exotic name “Farukh” with the universal “Freddie”. When the war began in India, Freddie's ancestors took their son in their arms and moved to England out of harm's way. The boy was already 14 years old at that time and he had absolutely no idea what he should do in cold and inhospitable England, especially since he studied poorly and the only subject in which he excelled was drawing. But, since the boy was gifted - he composed music and poetry, drew well and adored beautiful clothes, he decided to become an art critic. In September 1966 he entered Ealing Art College and graduated three years later with a degree in painting and design. He later explained: "In college we were taught to understand fashion better and to always be one step ahead." Soon he settled in Kensington - a place well-known topics that bohemians lived here: musicians, artists, people of creative professions. And here a fateful thing happened young man meeting with Tim Staffel, leader of the Smile group.
One of the first photos of Farrukh-Freddie:
Later, his artistic potential was expressed in eccentric and vibrant stage images, full of unexpected and bold details. In 1983, in Queen's video for the song "I Want to Break Free," Freddie appeared as a faun from the ballet "Afternoon of a Faun," in which Nijinsky became famous. He performed some choreographic numbers with the London Royal Ballet. Especially for these scenes, Mercury put on a spotted tights, shaved off his famous mustache and gave himself pointed ears:
Freddie said: “Going on stage in ballet slippers and tights is cool. At that time I needed this effect. I tried to fit it into the stage action, complement the music we were playing, and if it didn’t work, I would I didn't do that. Besides, I really liked Nijinsky's costume" (from the book "Life in His Words" about the early work of Freddie Mercury):
In 1969, Freddie and his friend Roger Taylor opened a store that, among other things, sold the young graduate's paintings. In 1970, Staffel decided to leave the group and Freddie took his place. He suggested renaming the group Queen, and also created a team emblem, taking the coat of arms of Great Britain as a basis and decorating all members of the group with zodiac signs.
Fredii became a success for the whole group, bringing it first to the British charts and then to the world level. At the same time, Freddie took the pseudonym Mercury, under which he became known to the world.
Mercury was the author of many Queen songs, including the most successful - Bohemian Rhapsody. When it was released as a single, many people said that it would be an epic failure - it lasted too long, and mixing musical styles seemed risky. But Mercury’s “musical madness” more than justified itself. The video for the song has become one of the most significant in world music, many even call it “the first video in history.
Any composition performed by Freddie Mercury had the imprint of his personality. It did not have the glossy beauty of Hollywood stars, magazine shine, artificial - calculated and verified ideality, just as there was no emphasized ugliness or “shocking” anti-aestheticism of many rock groups. There was a wonderful warmth of naturalness, sweet imperfection, original beauty in him. His entire appearance was marked by a heart-touching openness; one of his characteristic stage gestures was his arms outstretched for an embrace or for flight, or rather, for both an embrace and for flight.
Of course, Freddie was very theatrical. His crazy parties with dressing up, a cake that needs to be transported by helicopter, his crowded videos, fantastic costumes (for example, covered with many eyes) betray a riot of imagination - this is a “feast of the imagination.” Hence his attraction to changes in appearance (“the great pretender”) Freddie, judging by the recollections of people who knew him closely, took pleasure in being the source of the holiday. “He loved to have fun” - almost everyone who left memories of Freddie writes about this, but in fact, it seems that, rather, he liked to have fun and stage holiday performances. And the wider the circle of participants, the better - just remember the famous birthday in Ibiza, where in the end there was a place for almost all the residents - “just like that”... A holiday to which you can give a lot. He liked to give - mansions, expensive trinkets, he liked to give money - to friends, lovers, the needy, whom he accidentally heard about. Giving, giving, giving (“All I do - is giving”) - he had some kind of instinct of generosity - and, of course, it manifested itself not only in the fact that he spent money uncontrollably and gave away things. The same boundless generosity is in what and how he sang, in the way he treated the world.
In 1980, Mercury changed his image - he cut his hair and grew a mustache.
In 1982, the group went on vacation, and Mercury could realize himself in solo projects. Among other things, he recorded the album Mr. Bad Boy, which included the song I was born to love you:
Among the most famous songs is Queen - We are the champions, which is considered the anthem of football fans. It is traditionally played during the awards ceremony for the Champions League winners. Since 1977, the group has traditionally closed its concerts with two songs - We are the champions and We will rock you. Queen's day of unconditional triumph - July 13, 1985, then took place a charity concert"Live Aid" at Wembley Stadium in London. The event attracted more than 80 thousand people. Despite the fact that Elton John, Paul McCartney, Sting, David Bowie and U2 also performed at the concert, it was Mercury's performance with his team that became the main event of the evening. In 1986, Queen returned to Wembley to promote their album A Kind of Magic.
In 1987, one of the most famous duets of Freddie Mercury took place - with the opera diva Montserat Caballe. It was a unique tandem in which mass and elite music harmoniously united, between which there seemed to be an abyss. By the way, before singing with Freddie, Monserat sang several of his songs during a concert in London's Covent Garden. Mercury, who had previously given the diva a cassette with his recordings, was extremely surprised by this step. According to the memoirs of composer Mike Moran, when they met, Freddie and Montserrat Caballe sang all night long: “they play not for money, but to spend eternity.”
A joint performance with Montserrat Caballe in 1988 was Mercury's last - by that time he had already been hit by AIDS... Already in 1986, they began to talk about Mercury's illness. Freddie made a statement that he had AIDS only on November 23, 1991, after several years of living as a recluse. The next day, November 24, he died.
Freddie Mercury was living proof that there are things in the world, feelings that can only be expressed through the means of art, perhaps they only live in art. Freddie's music is the music of “simple reactions”, simple feelings; it is extremely saturated with a sense of life, greedy love for an imperfect world, a thirst for freedom, and faith. And this is tragic music. His last albums were one better than the other. His voice became stronger and more perfect, and his compositions acquired greater depth. And the tragic nature of his work became more and more obvious: “This is what we have come to: people are divided ...”, “I am only a shadow of the person I should be ...”, “Look what people have done with their souls: they take away from themselves life...the main thing for them is pride...there is no tolerance in them, and the world could be a paradise for everyone,” “Too much love kills...”, etc.
And yet... and yet his gaze was always turned to life. Something worthy of God and forgiveness and eternal life was in Freddy's farewell gesture of love, addressed to an invincibly beautiful life for him. In the song “Winter’s Tale,” life seems to be expiring before our eyes. “Everything is spinning, spinning... Everything is like in a dream...” - Freddie sings, and the “spinning” seems to be a fading consciousness, but at the same time - “Snowfall - red skies... silk moon in the sky... Everything is full of peace and quiet... It’s so beautiful! It's like it's painted in the sky! “The world is in your palms” - and all this crazy wealth ends with an exclamation and sigh - “Woohoo!” This is bliss! Delight before beautiful world fades away only with life.
We can talk for a long time about what ultimately led Mercury to his death. Go through all the details of it personal life and savor them, converging on the idea that everything happened for a reason. But what is all this for? He left, but the music remained - understandable to everyone, inspiring, strong. He died, but his songs inspire us to live.
In order to complete the story about Mercury, you don’t need to invent anything. He came up with everything himself, recording a farewell to everyone who knew him and those who had yet to know him - already like a deceased legend. “Show must go on” is a single that Queen recorded in 1991. Freddie was already so ill that he could not participate in the filming of the video. No one can sing Show must go on like Freddie. From an interview with Brian May on CNN, January 9, 2000. “This collection features The Show Must Go On, uh, which is a Queen song, because we once decided to give Queen credits to everything, but this song is kind of... I consider it my child, because I wrote most of it next to Freddie, who was sitting here (points to the next chair) and, um, it was a huge experience, because Freddie at that time really couldn’t (or didn’t want) to express himself in poetry, for except in some specific cases, and he knew... he knew that it had to do with how we felt about him... and I sang the lead vocal for Freddie, and had to sing mostly in falsetto, because I I just couldn’t sing that high, so I went up to Fred: “How’s it going?” - “Fine” - (Fred) puts down his glass of vodka, goes into the studio and just sings it straight away... and I think it's one of the best vocals Freddie has ever done - the original version of The Show Must Go On. .."
The tragedy of a grandiose life, all its violence, suffering and all-embracingness, the thirst for freedom, the unimaginable beauty of the world, which always beckons and is so rarely achievable - this is what sounds in this voice and awakens unquenchable love - because one cannot fully enjoy life. And in fact, this music is equal only to love, and in it there is a divine taste of freedom, and therefore the voice of victory sounds in it, and therefore, when I listen to Freddie, I feel as if his heart is beating inside me.
And in honor of the Birthday of this legendary man, the greatest singer of rock music, our community proposes to hold, as part of our main project, “Queen: We will ROCK YOU!” mini-project "Freddie Mercury - a Legend Man", which will last from September 5 to September 30, 2015. All communities participating in the main project can join our main project if they wish.
« I won't be a rock star. I'll be a legend».
Freddie Mercury
The pseudonym Freddie Mercury (mercury translated from English is mercury) is in perfect harmony with his voice.
The Queen vocalist, who became one of the most charismatic rock stars of all time, was born on September 5, 1946 on the island of Zanzibar under the name Farukh Bulsara. The singer's parents came from Parsis ( ethnic group, associated with the ancient Persians), but were born in India.
In the television film "Freddie Mercury, the Untold Story" he appears as an artist whose musical skill was perfected in the West, but whose talent originated in the East. The film's director, Rudi Dolezal, points to the song Mustapha from Queen's 1978 album, Jazz.
« After listening to this song you will definitely find it very strange. What cultures influenced her, where did she come from?"says the director. " Freddie was born in Zanzibar, then moved to India, then to London - all these trips could well cause culture shock, right? A crazy mixture of completely different cultures flowed in his veins. He skillfully used this feature of his when writing music».
« He had a super sexy voice" says singer Adam Lambert. The "American Idol" winner spent hours listening to Queen, trying to understand how Mercury could sing so beautifully. At the casting for the show that brought him fame, the singer sang one of the most famous songs of the English rock band Bohemian Rhapsody.
« Freddie's voice has so much character and charisma!" says Lambert. " It’s as if he takes a little bit from every culture, from every performance style, and turns it all into a divine-sounding mixture».
Many are amazed at how Freddie Mercury was able to connect with both small audiences and stadiums filled with people in just a few seconds.
Jackie Smith, manager of the Queen fan club, first met the singer in 1982 about a job advert. She had constant backstage access to the band's stadium shows, but says she always preferred to see the band from the audience's seats.
« There was always an incredible atmosphere in front of the stage" Smith recalls. " There were about 120,000 people at the last show in Knebworth, but everyone felt as if they were in a small club, because Freddie in some incomprehensible way achieved contact with everyone, even with those sitting in the farthest stands».
One of Freddie Mercury's signature moves was the following: he called out to the audience, and they answered him. The singer could make the audience sing a ballad by playing along with them on the piano, or he could perform his signature dances on stage, waving a microphone.
« He was taller than everyone, more talented than everyone" says Adam Lambert. " In most cases, music is directly related to sexuality, whether you are straight, gay or bisexual. Rock and roll is about love and sex».
Lambert, who is openly gay, states that Freddie Mercury's lifestyle and image influenced him in many ways.
« Something is clearly missing from the scene right now.", says the singer. " Now there are not enough truly bright male artists who turn their performances into something like theater. There are many such singers, but where are the men? Where are the classic pop-rock showmen?».
Director Rudy Dolezal claims that in life Freddie Mercury was very modest and always put his talent, his music and his voice before his image. He cites the following story as proof:
« Everyone knows that Freddie had very strange teeth. Surely every person who saw a star with similar teeth wondered: “Lord, this guy has a lot of money, why doesn’t he finally go to the dentist?” Freddie was very afraid that such a trip to the dentist could irreversibly and forever change the sound of his voice. As you can see, he cared much more about his voice than how he looked. I think this story says a lot».
In 1991, the humble rock 'n' roll god with a voice as unpredictable as mercury died of complications from AIDS.
« The spirit of Freddie Mercury still lives on" says Adam Lambert. " He shocked everyone».
Statements about Freddie Mercury from his colleagues:
David Bowie(David Bowie): " Of all the theatrical rock performers, Freddie Mercury went further... he was beyond all boundaries and beyond all boundaries. And of course, I have always admired men who are not ashamed to wear tights. I saw Freddie only once at a concert: he was the man who won over the audience as if by magic. magic wand ».
Axl Rose(Axl Rose) from Guns N'Roses: " If I hadn't heard Freddie's music as a child, I don't know where I would be now. I have never had such a wonderful teacher in my life».
Elton John(Elton John): " Freddie Mercury was an innovator both in his singing and in his behavior as a band frontman. We were good friends, and I was incredibly lucky to have known this man for some time in his life. He had an amazing sense of humor, even outrageous at times, he was a very kind person and a great musician, one of the most amazing front men in a rock band. Overall, in the last 20 years, he has become one of the greatest figures in the history of rock and roll." I miss him, we all miss him, his music, his kindness... We will always remember that Freddie Mercury was special».
Dave Mustaine(Dave Mustaine) from Megadeth and Metallica: " I knew him and I saw him die. It was incredibly painful because I loved Freddie Mercury. This was a man who never betrayed himself and his voice».
Trent Reznor(Trent Reznor) from Nine Inch Nails: " The death of Freddie Mercury touched and influenced me much more than the death of John Lennon».
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