By Trina Meersman Music 1010: Introduction to Music Freddie Mercury: Queen

Biography Born September 5, 1946  Zanzibar, Tanzania Birth name: Fahrrokh Bomi Bulsara Parents  Bomi and Jer Bulsara  One sister Kashmira born in 1952

Biography Attended St. Peter’s Boarding School in Panchgani, India at the age of 7. First piano lessons Received the nickname “Freddie”

Biography  Pianist in his first band at the age of 12  The Hectics  Graduated from St. Peter’s in 1962 at the age of 16

Biography 1963 – Family fled Zanzibar during the Zanzibar Revolution and moved to Great Britain.

Biography  1963 – Enrolled at Ealing College of Art to study Art and Design  Met Roger Taylor and Brian May  Guitarists in a local band “Smile”  Jointed Ibex as lead singer  August 23, 1969  Performed in front of paying audience for the first time. Elvis Presley’s “Jailhouse Rock”

Biography  Convinced Ibex to change name to “Wreckage”.  Band broke up soon after.  Joined Sour Milk Sea  Left band after three shows  Roger Taylor & Brian May left “Smile” and joined Freddie.  1971 – Met John Deacon  Queen was formed  Freddie adopted the stage name “Freddie Mercury”

Biography  Freddie helped design “Queen’s “ logo.  All four band member’s birth signs were used.

Biography  Record labels were confused by Queen’s unique musical styling’s.  Musical influences were: Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Led Zepplin, The Who and Liza Minnelli, to name a few.  Vocal Range of 4 Octaves  Mercury has an extra row of back teeth. He wouldn’t remove them out of fear that it would change his voice.  First studio session with Trident Studio’s.  Made two tracks  Tracks were released as promotional bits rather than commercially

BIOGRAPHY “I always knew I was a star, and now the rest of the world seems to agree with me.” ― Freddie Mercury  Signed to Record Label  1973 – released first album  Self titled “Queen”  Toured with “Mott The Hoople”  Was said Freddie’s performance was more than a “support act”.  Possibly upstaged the main act

BIOGRAPHY  1974 – Released second self titled album  Queen II  First song to hit UK charts  Seven Seas of Rhye  Written by Freddie Mercury I challenge the mighty titan and his troubadours And with a smile I'll take you to the seven seas of Rhye ~ Freddie Mercury

BIOGRAPHY  1974 – Released 3 rd Album “Sheer Heart Attack”  Breakthrough son “Killer Queen”  First single released hit UK Charts at No. 2 and United States at No. 12

Biography  1975 – Offered 1 st US Tour  SOLD OUT Venues in several countries.  Released 4 th Album  Night at the Opera  Featured “Bohemian Rhapsody  Fusion of Rock and Opera  Topped the UK Charts for 9 weeks  Reached No. 9 in the US

Biography “I'm as gay as a daffodil, my dear!” ― Freddie Mercury  Speculations brewed regarding Freddie’s personal life  Openly Gay – 1974  1989 – Withdrew from the public  Revealed to friends and family that he had AIDS.

Biography  1991 – Last Album “Innuendo” released.  Mercury’s physical appearance, privacy and lack of a scheduled tour date for “Innuendo” increased suspicions more.  November 23, 1991 – Mercury released a statement confirming AIDS  November 24, 1991 – Freddie Mercury died from AIDS- related Bronchial Pneumonia at his home in London. “He didn’t want to be looked at as an object of pity and curiosity, and he didn’t want circling vultures over his head,” Taylor said. (Biography) “If I had to do it all over again? Why not, I would do it a little bit differently.” ― Freddie Mercury, Freddie Mercury A Life, In His Own Words

Composition History  Bohemian Rhapsody  Written by Freddie Mercury  Album: Night At The Opera  Released 1975  5:55 minute Rock Operetta  Recorded after a 3-week rehearsal on August 24, 1975  So elaborate, band members were recorded separately  No 1 on UK charts for 9 consecutive weeks  First Top 10 single in the United States “It’s one of those songs which has such a fantasy feel about it. I think that people should just listen to it, think about it and then make up their own minds as to what it says to them.”

Composition History  Killer Queen  “Breakthrough-Turning Point” Song  Written by Freddie Mercury  3 rd Album: Sheer Heart Attack  Released November 8, 1974  No 2 on UK Charts  First time on US Charts No 12  Mercury wrote song first then music  2:59 minute song  Mercury wrote song in 1 night  First Queen song not driven by a guitar single

Composition History  Don’t Stop Me Now  Composed by Freddie Mercury  Written for 7 th Album “Jazz”  Released 1978  March of 1979 – on Billboard charts for 4 weeks  Only peaked to No 86 in US  Reached Top 10 in UK at No 9  Used in many media clips for commercials and movies.  First of their singles recorded on a cassette. Prior singles were recorded on Vinyl.  Brian May – recorded guitar solo onto track after original recording.

Composition History  Crazy Little Thing Called Love  Composed by Freddie Mercury in 1979  1980 Album “The Game”  Tribute to Elvis – Many mistake the song for Elvis himself  No 2 on UK Charts in 1979  February 23, 1980 – No 1 for 4 weeks on Billboard Hot 100  Song was written in ~ 5-10 minutes “’Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ took me five or ten minutes. I did that on the guitar, which I can't play for nuts, and in one way it was quite a good thing because I was restricted, knowing only a few chords. It's a good discipline because I simply had to write within a small framework. I couldn't work through too many chords and because of that restriction I wrote a good song, I think.” ~ Freddie Mercury

Bohemian Rhapsody Listening Guide 00:00 The opening 14 seconds is a harmonized vocal that sets the tone for the song. 00:15 A piano enters dramatically to set the melody and tempo for the song. 00:26 The piano fades into a faint whisper almost and Freddie carries the melody and tempo with his voice. 00:30 The piano again becomes prominent and does battle against the vocal power of Mercury. 00:40 As the tempo appears to gain momentum, there are subtle synthesized sounds that add a free flowing affect. 00:45 The piano and vocals build up to a transition of tone and tempo. 00:50 The song transitions with the piano playing the melody and tempo. 00:55 The vocals enter in a dramatic almost ominous tone, thus setting the mood. 01:19 The vocal inflections build up and culminate into a loud symbol crash. 01:20 Percussion enters to carry the rhythm and tempo. The piano continues to carry the melody. 01:30 The vocals vary in pitch and duration to draw attention to the mood. 01:43 There is a transition back to the somber melody set by the piano in the beginning. 01:55 It then transitions back to vocals in an ominous tone, with the percussion and piano. 02:03 As he says, “shivers down my spine”, you here a bell tree imitating shivering. 02:18 An electric guitar enters to help build intensity. The tempo gradually increases to change the mood. 02:35 The other instruments fall into the background and vocals die off as the electric guitar takes over in a dramatic solo. This makes the transition from a ballad format to more operatic format. 03:03 Everything stops abruptly to solidify the change 03:04 The piano enters to set the new mood, rhythm, and melody; soon accompanied by vocals to add affect.

Bohemian Rhapsody Listening Guide Cont… 03:12 The bass, tympani, and piano the dynamically rise up along with the multiple vocals heard. 03:15 There is an alternating vocal at this point of the same lyric as if they are calling out to “Galileo”. 03:23 There is a quick transition back to the ballad format with vocals and piano. 03:28 The percussion brings the mood and tempo back abruptly. 03:32 The piano takes the mood and tempo back down to set the next transition. 03:38 The vocals and percussion seem to have a battle for control. This builds up in intensity as we approach a guitar solo. 03:55 The vocals and percussion come together and continue to build and increase in tempo. 04:00 You can hear the guitar subtly in the background as the vocals hold in duration. The percussion as well has some dramatic rhythmic beats. 04:07 The guitar begins to blare as a brief transition solo begins. The percussion sets a moderate tempo and rhythmic beat. This symbolizes the transition from operatic format to hard rock. 04:15-04:53 The beat rhythm is steady. The vocals are aggressive. The guitar drives the melody up and down and all around. 04:53 The piano re- enters to bring down the tempo, melody and rhythm. 04:57 The vocals re-enter in the operatic style of previous. 05:07 The style changes again back to the ballad format. 05:27 The piano takes over the melody and tempo. 05:36 There is a brief little guitar riff carrying us toward the conclusion 05:47 – 05:55 A loud crash of a Tam-tam takes the sound out as everything fades away

Killer Queen Listening Guide 00:00 The first 2 seconds are rhythmic snapping to set the tempo 00:02 Vocals enter to begin the melody 00:07 Piano takes over the rhythm and tempo and sets the melody. 00:11 Drums and guitar enter to keep the tempo 00:20 Vocal inflection to draw attention to a transition. 00:27 Chorus begins, multiple octave changes 00:39 Transition to original tone and tempo 00:42 Vocals carry in unison backed by a solo guitar 00:44 Guitar riff backed by piano and drums 00:52 Vocals and piano build up the tone 00:54 Drum roll ending with a chime 00:56 Vocals and piano continue rhythmically 01:15 Chorus begins, multiple octaves throughout 01:26 Guitar solo accompanied by drums 01:33 Drums intensify to add emotion to the solo 02:01 Transition back to original tone and tempo 02:03 Guitar riff 02:12 Drum roll accompanied by vocals in unison building up to chorus 02:25 Vocals carry in unison backed by guitar to build up to transition 02:27 Vocals transition to original tone and tempo 02:32 Vocals carry in unison and fade out 02:35 Guitar, piano and drums carry the tempo and melody 02:46 – 02:59 Guitar solo fades out

Don’t Stop Me Know Listening Guide 00:00 Vocals and piano enter to begin the melody 00:25 Piano cuts to a 2 note vocal transition 00:32 Rhythm and beat change 01:01 Additional vocals added to add more emotion to the song 01:06 Chorus begins with vocal variations and temp is kept by the piano and drums 01:26 Chorus ends with a long vocal note as piano creates the transition 01:44 Vocals and tempo build to a climactic point 01:45 Vocals continue at a erratic yet controlled pace 01:58 Drums transition and take the lead on melody and tempo 02:01 Alternating vocals balance with drums 02: :29 Drum roll builds emotion to transition into guitar solo 02:30 – 02:46 Vocals continue in original tempo and tune accompanied by guitar riff’s as it transitions into the chorus 03:04 Sustained vocal note transitions into the finale 03:09 – 03:29 Piano accompanied by vocal repetition carries out the finale

Crazy Little Thing Called Love Listening Guide 00:00 The song opens with an acoustic guitar 00:05 Drum beat begins 00:06 Vocals rhythmically begin 00:22 Quick drum cadence provides a transition 00:23 Vocals and instruments resume tempo and melody 00:39 Cymbal crash in the middle of the chorus 00:56 Base guitar and Drum stick clap take down tempo and melody, transition into next verse 01:01 Vocals continue in original tone and tempo 01:19 Guitar riff transition into solo 01:20 Guitar Solo accompanied by drums 01:33 Bass Guitar takes down the tempo and tone 01:38 Clapping takes over the rhythm and tempo 01:55 Drum cadence brings back the tempo and rhythm 01:57 The guitar accompanies the vocals with the melody. 02:06 Guitar riff, repetitious vocals begin. 02:17 Guitar riff 02:22 Guitar riffs carry out the rest of the song accompanied by drums and vocals. 02:42 The song ends

Biography Title Page Photo famous.html?image=7 " Farookh Bulsara." Biography.com 08 Oct 2012, 06:27 “Zanzibar Unveiled” 2000 Torrence Royer “Freddie Mercury: Biography” Jacky Gunn & Jim Jenkins “Bohemian Rhapsody” ; Daria Kokoze ‘I can dream up all kinds of things' – a classic Freddie Mercury interview from the vaults Caroline Coon guardian.co.uk Freddie Mercury Interviews > Melody Maker