Freddie Mercury Papercraft Model

6 Sep, 2021

1. Born in Zanzibar, Africa, with the name Farrokh Bulsara

Although known as the vocalist of a British band, Freddie Mercury was born in Stone Town, Zanzibar (now Tanzania). His family moved there so his father could continue his career as an official in the British Colonial Office.

Freddie Mercury itself is not his birth name. The man who was born on September 5, 1946, was given the name Farrokh Bulsara by his parents. He only started using the name Freddie when he attended St. Peter's, an all-boys hostel in Mumbai, Italy.

He officially changed his name to Freddie Mercury around 1970 when the band Queen was formed.

2. Freddie Mercury and his family are Zoroastrian

Freddie's family is of Persian ethnic descent and they practice the Zoroastrian faith, one of the oldest monotheistic religions in the world. Although Freddie admitted that he had not practiced this religion for a long time, the release of his body in 1991 was carried out in a Zoroastrian religious manner.

3. Freddie's voice range reaches 4 octaves

From a perspective, female singer Mariah Carey can sing in 5 octaves. Freddie himself said that he had a baritone voice character, however, his singing style mostly fell into the tenor voice area.

In 2016, a team of researchers studied the character of Freddie's voice and found that Freddie's vocal cords vibrate faster than most people. "While ordinary vibrato fluctuates between frequencies of 5.4 Hz and 6.9 Hz, Mercury's sound vibrato reaches 7.04 Hz," Consequence of Sound reports.

4. Freddie Mercury designed the band Queen himself

Having studied art and graphic design at Ealing Art College, Freddie Mercury proved not only good at singing. He also designed the band Queen's emblem by unifying the zodiac symbols of all the band members, namely the two Leo lions for John Deacon and Roger Taylor, the Cancer crab for Brian May, and the two fairies to represent the Virgo star from Freddie Mercury.

The letter 'Q' and crown represent the band's name, while the phoenix protects them all.

5. Freddie Mercury was very shy offstage

Although he is known for his energetic and attractive stage acts, those closest to Freddie admit that the vocalist is very shy in his personal life. That's also why Freddie rarely responds to interview requests.

"In real life, nobody knows about Freddie," said Roger Taylor, a member of the band Queen. "He is very shy, gentle, and kind. His character in real life is very different from his appearance on stage."

6. Freddie revealed the AIDS he suffered the day before he died

On November 23, 1991, Freddie and his manager issued a statement confirming that the vocalist was infected with AIDS, a disease that attacks the human immune system. Many people had suspected he was infected with the disease given that his appearance over the previous few years had changed, and Queen had abruptly canceled their tour schedule.

7. Freddie Mercury is a true cat lover

According to the Mental Floss website, Freddie is a true cat lover. He is said to have kept 10 cats at one time. He also composed a song (Mr. Bad Guy) dedicated to his cats.