Freddie Mercury

Freddie Mercury had a short solo career: he was very much involved with Queen and then came his illness and early death. It's unfortunate, think of how much more he could have given us.

He started making solo records in 1984 (not counting a single he made in 1973 as Larry Lurex, which went nowhere fast). His first single, Love Kills, was not about AIDS, in spite of its title. It was originally used in Giorgio Moroder's 1984 restoration of silent film classic "Metropolis". It was also used for the closing credits of the 1993 film "Loaded Weapon 1". In 1985, the song was nominated for a Golden Raspberry for Worst Original Song. Yet, it managed to make #10 in the UK, #4 in Ireland and #69 in the US. Make of that what you will.

He had another medium-sized hit (I Was Born To Love You: UK #11 / US #76) and then in 1985 he released 3 singles. We will deal with the first two.

Made In Heaven and Living On My Own were misses the first time around. They were both deeply personal songs, coming from a dark place that Freddie was at the time. He was most likely diagnosed with AIDS sometime in early 1987, but it seems that there were signs that made him apprehensive as early as 1985.

As Freddie says in Made In Heaven:

I'm having to learn to pay the price

They're turning me upside down

Waiting for possibilities

Don't see too many around

Not a beacon of optimism, is he? Here's the video:

Living On My Own also affirms that life is no bowl of cherries:

Sometimes I feel I'm gonna break down and cry

Nowhere to go nothing to do with my time

I get lonely so lonely living on my own

Here's the video:

Made In Heaven was re-recorded by Queen (keeping the original vocal track), a few years after Freddie's death in 1995. Living On My Own was remixed and released in 1993 and went to #1 in the UK as well as in half of the major European markets and #2 in the other half.

Here's the video of the 1993 remix:

Freddie was a great opera fan and especially a fan of Spanish diva Montserrat Caballé. They finally arranged to meet in February 1987, in the hotel Freddie was staying in, in Barcelona. Freddie was very nervous about meeting his idol: he was ready hours earlier, made sure that the decoration of the place would be to her liking and was anxiously pacing up and down until she showed up. Happily, they hit it off perfectly: they retired in the piano room and spent many hours there together, talking and playing music till the break of dawn.

When Barcelona was chosen as the site of the 1992 Summer Olympics, Caballé was asked to produce a song for the games. She summoned Freddie and he became enthusiastic about the project, so instead of recording a single, she proposed that they make an album, to which Mercury agreed. The song "Barcelona" was to be its opening song, to be completed by 1988, so it could be submitted as a candidate for the 1992 Olympic theme selection.

The single was a big Top 10 in the UK and elsewhere and immediately became a big gay favorite. What's not to love? The combination of gay Pop Star and Opera Diva managed to showcase both genres, without opting for the middle road. So it's a balanced mixture of Pop and Opera, rather than Popera. Check for yourselves: