Happy Birthday To One Of The Greatest Ever Music Icons

It has been 25 years since his passing, but today would have marked Freddie Mercury’s 70th birthday. The Queen frontman and music icon – best known for his outlandish and flamboyant personality – died in 1991 from complications relating to the AIDS virus. Born in 1946 as Farrokh Bulsara (legally changing his name to?Freddie?Mercury in the 70’s) and raised in Africa, Mercury emigrated to Middlesex, England, during his teenage years which would inevitabley lead to the formation of Queen alongside Brian May and Roger Taylor.

Queen enjoyed a flourishing career throughout its lifespan, and while their most distinctive genre was rock and progressive rock, the band also fell into the disco, gospel, and heavy metal genres. The band was distinguished by their new-age harmonies and melodies, and often complex material. Over the course of his career, Mercury performed over 700 gigs around the world with Queen .

 

As well as heavily influencing the world of rock during the 70’s, Mercury’s unconventional and theatrical style embraced and promoted radical change and wider support for LGBT communities around the world. It was not until his later life that Mercury admitted his sexuality after having an affair and ending his long-term relationship with Mary Austin.

To mark the Freddie Mercury’s milestone birthday,?the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Centre has fittingly renamed a shooting star after the music man.?Asteroid17473 was first discovered in 1991 – the year of the untimely musicians’ death. Just has he had written in ‘Don’s Stop Me Now’, Mercury really is a shooting star leaping through the sky.

Global parties have been organised by fans, friends, and family of the music man to help celebrate his birthday today; with the largest party taking place?The Casino Barriere Montreux in Switzerland. The casino is also home to the?Queen studio experience.