Freddie Mercury remains one of rock’s great frontmen, an iconic figure of a legendary group that ruled the charts in the 70s and 80s, as well as into the early 90s.
Queen’s hits are still as well known now as they were years ago when the likes of Bohemian Rhapsody, Another One Bites The Dust, I Want To Break Free, We Are The Champions and It’s A Kind Of Magic blasted out from radios and stereos across the world.
Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon may have provided the fabulous musical instrumentation, but Mercury’s distinctive voice greeted listeners to an other-worldly experience as Queen’s ’s lead singer, while his extrovert and flamboyant showmanship on stage belied a shy and introverted character off it.
But his fellow musical colleagues had their doubts about Mercury’s (born Farrokh Bulsara in 1946) vocal abilities before he joined the group in 1970 when they were still called Smile.
It was Mercury’s idea to rename the group Queen, not long after replacing original lead singer Tim Staffell who had quit the fledgling group.
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And although the other band members were unsure of the name change, Mercury told them “it’s wonderful, dear, people will love it”.
Before joining, Mercury – a friend of Staffell’s – had been a keen fan of Smile and was desperate to become their lead singer, but had to wait until Staffell departed.
The band members, though, while realising he exuded stage presence and charisma in abundance, were not too sure about his vocal chops, as drummer Roger Taylor, who ran a stall with Mercury in Kensington market, still remembers his first meeting with him, telling SmoothRadio: “It was at my flat in Shepherd’s Bush. He was a mate of Tim from Ealing college.
“He was on the periphery, just a mate, really. He had musical aspirations, but we were quite good players and we weren’t really sure if he could sing.
“But his drive and determination to write original stuff was great. And of course we became huge friends because we had the stall.
“We were living in each others’ pockets, scrubbing together to eat.”
Mercury also wrote many of the band’s songs, including Bohemian Rhapsody, Somebody To Love, Killer Queen and Don’t Stop Me Now, with Taylor adding: “We didn’t know there’s this incredible songwriter with this incredible musical sensibility hidden.
“He was really such a joy to be around, a driving force for the band in the early days.”
May also recalls their doubts about Mercury’s singing abilities when they first got to know him, saying back in 2021: “We loved Freddie from the beginning.
“He was such an ebullient character and so full of confidence. We thought, ‘he’s a good showman, but can he sing?’.
“In the early days, he would throw himself around and give it 100%, but the voice wasn’t developed.
“The instrument was there, but he hadn’t learned that incredible control, which made him the great god Freddie Mercury.
“So we didn’t know. We just thought, ‘Well, we should give this a shot. Freddie seems to be up for it. Why don’t we go for it?’.”
And on his first meeting with him, May said in 2013: “He came to see us play – we were in this little group called Smile and Freddie came along to watch.
“He was really enthusiastic and really full of energy, like he always was, and he came back and was all ‘this is great, but you’re doing this wrong, and this wrong, and this wrong’. What you need is me.”
“He looked like a rock star in those days, absolutely. He acted like a rock star. He was a rock star, always. He was born a rock star.”
