Artist info:
Γνωστός και ως
Επαληθεύτηκε yes
Τάξη−
Άλμπουμ11
Τραγούδια90
σχετικά μεFreddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; September 5, 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British musician and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and pianist of the rock band Queen. He is remembered for his vocal abilities and charisma as a live performer. As a songwriter, he composed many international hits, including "Killer Queen", "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Somebody to Love", "We Are the Champions" and "Crazy Little Thing Called Love". In 1991, Mercury died of bronchial pneumonia brought on by AIDS, greatly raising worldwide awareness of the disease.
Widely considered as one of the greatest vocalists in popular music, Freddie Mercury possessed a very distinctive, almost four-octave voice. Although his speaking voice naturally fell in the baritone range, he delivered most songs in the tenor range. Another characteristic of his voice involved his powerful delivery of technically difficult material. On the other hand, because he suffered from vocal nodules (refusing surgery for the condition), he would often lower the highest notes during live performances. Mercury also claimed never to have had any formal training. Despite this, he displayed a penchant for exploring many different vocal styles.
As a songwriter, Mercury wrote ten out of the seventeen songs on Queen's Greatest Hits album: "Seven Seas of Rhye", "Killer Queen", "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Somebody to Love", "Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy", "We Are the Champions", "Bicycle Race", "Don't Stop Me Now", "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", and "Play the Game". However, by the 1980s, all four members of the band were writing hits. The most notable aspect of his songwriting involved the wide range of different genres that he used, which included, among other styles, rockabilly, heavy metal and disco. Compared to many rock songwriters, Freddie Mercury tended to write musically complex material. For example, "Bohemian Rhapsody" is acyclic in structure and comprises nearly sixty chords. On the other hand, "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" is made up of only a few chords. Despite the fact that Mercury often wrote very intricate harmonies, he also claimed that he could barely read music.
Although all four members of the band Queen were songwriters, producer Gary Langan, who worked in the studio with Queen on many of their early albums, notes that "Freddie was always intensely supportive of other people's songwriting and would give as much attention to one of the others as he would to his own. It was so unlike other bands I've worked with where there is an acknowledged songwriter and anyone else who writes one really has to hassle to get it anywhere." Mercury wrote most of his songs on the piano, often choosing keys that were technically difficult for band mate and guitarist Brian May (e.g., E flat major). Due to his basic proficiency in playing the guitar, he also wrote many lines and riffs for the instrument, including many of those heard in "Bohemian Rhapsody." He also wrote "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" on the guitar and would play a guitar on stage when performing the song.
In addition to his work with Queen, Mercury produced two solo albums, Mr. Bad Guy and Barcelona, released in 1985 and 1988, respectively. The former was a pop-oriented album that emphasized disco and dance music. "Barcelona" was recorded with the opera singer Montserrat Caballé, whom Mercury had long admired.
Although it remained on the UK Album Charts for 23 weeks, Mr. Bad Guy was not considered to have been a commercial success relative to most Queen albums. However, in 1993, a remix of "Living on My Own", a single from the album, reached the #1 position on the UK Singles Charts. The song remained on the charts for thirteen weeks and garnered Mercury a posthumous Ivor Novello Award. All Music critic David Prato describes Mr. Bad Guy as "outstanding from start to finish" and expressed his view that Mercury "did a commendable job of stretching into uncharted territory." In particular, the album was heavily synthesizer-driven in a way that was uncharacteristic of previous Queen albums, save portions of 1984's The Works.
Barcelona, recorded with opera singer Montserrat Caballé, combined elements of popular music and opera. Caballé considered the album to have been one of the great successes of her career and said of Mercury, "He was not only a popular singer, he was a musician, that could sit at the piano and compose. He discovered a new way to bring different music styles together. He is the first and only person to have done this." In September of 2006, a compilation album featuring Mercury's solo work was released in the UK in honour of what would have been his sixtieth birthday. The album debuted in the top 10 of the UK Album Charts.
Over the years, rare Freddie Mercury solo albums have greatly increased in value. For instance, a Japanese single of the song "Guide Me Home" from the Barcelona album is now worth as much as £1,000 ($2,003). Another valuable item is a 1973 cover of the 1969 Beach Boys song, "I Can Hear Music" recorded under the stage name Larry Lurex. Widely bootlegged, the original record is now a valuable collectible.
Mercury collaborated with Michael Jackson on some tracks which were never officially released, including "There Must Be More to Life Than This" and "State of Shock", which were both leaked to the Internet. "There Must Be More to Life Than This" was later released ‒ in a different, Mercury-only version, on Mercury's solo album "Mr. Bad Guy". Mercury also recorded another track with Michael Jackson called "Victory" that has yet to be released to the public. The latter song, released on the 1984 Victory album, was ultimately performed by Mick Jagger and The Jacksons. Mercury was originally scheduled to appear on the Thriller album as well.
In the years since his death, Freddie Mercury and Queen have remained popular. A statue in Montreux, Switzerland (by Irena Sedlecka) has been erected as a tribute to Mercury. Beginning in 2003, fans from around the world gather in Switzerland on a yearly basis to pay tribute to the singer as part of the Freddie Mercury Montreux Momorial Day on September 1st and 2nd. A Royal Mail stamp was also issued in honor of Mercury as part of the Millennium Stamp series. The stamp caused controversy because Queen drummer Roger Taylor could be seen in the background. At that time, members of the British Royal family were the only living people who usually appeared on stamps in the UK, although this policy has since changed.
Several polls conducted over the past decade indicate that Mercury's reputation may in fact have increased since his death. For instance, in 2002 he appeared in a 2002 list of "100 Greatest Britons", sponsored by the BBC and voted for by the public. In the 1999 Millennium Poll, in which six hundred thousand Britons participated, Mercury was voted into the number 14 and 15 spots as a popular musician and songwriter, respectively. Finally, in a list of the greatest English language singers of the 20th century, compiled by BBC Radio, he was the highest-ranked hard rock vocalist, having been voted at the tenth spot. He also came in second in MTV's list of the 22 greatest singers of the past 25 years, having been beaten to the top spot by singer Mariah Carey.
In addition to its continuing popularity in the UK, Queen remains a popular international band as well. As an example, two of Mercury's songs, We Are the Champions and Bohemian Rhapsody, have each been voted as the world's favorite song in two different polls. Whether Mercury's death in fact enhanced Queen's popularity is not clear. In the United States, where Queen's popularity had lagged in the 1980s, sales of Queen albums went up dramatically in 1992, the year following Mercury's death. At the same time, the movie Wayne's World, which featured "Bohemian Rhapsody," also came out that year.
Finally, Mercury has recently been acknowledged as an influential person of Asian descent. In 2006, Time Asia magazine named Mercury as one of the most influential Asians of the past 60 years. The article credited Mercury with having "duplicated in popular music what other Indians—such as Salman Rushdie and Vikram Seth—have done in literature: taking the colonizer's art form and representing it in a manner richer and more dazzling than many Anglophones thought possible."
Widely considered as one of the greatest vocalists in popular music, Freddie Mercury possessed a very distinctive, almost four-octave voice. Although his speaking voice naturally fell in the baritone range, he delivered most songs in the tenor range. Another characteristic of his voice involved his powerful delivery of technically difficult material. On the other hand, because he suffered from vocal nodules (refusing surgery for the condition), he would often lower the highest notes during live performances. Mercury also claimed never to have had any formal training. Despite this, he displayed a penchant for exploring many different vocal styles.
As a songwriter, Mercury wrote ten out of the seventeen songs on Queen's Greatest Hits album: "Seven Seas of Rhye", "Killer Queen", "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Somebody to Love", "Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy", "We Are the Champions", "Bicycle Race", "Don't Stop Me Now", "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", and "Play the Game". However, by the 1980s, all four members of the band were writing hits. The most notable aspect of his songwriting involved the wide range of different genres that he used, which included, among other styles, rockabilly, heavy metal and disco. Compared to many rock songwriters, Freddie Mercury tended to write musically complex material. For example, "Bohemian Rhapsody" is acyclic in structure and comprises nearly sixty chords. On the other hand, "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" is made up of only a few chords. Despite the fact that Mercury often wrote very intricate harmonies, he also claimed that he could barely read music.
Although all four members of the band Queen were songwriters, producer Gary Langan, who worked in the studio with Queen on many of their early albums, notes that "Freddie was always intensely supportive of other people's songwriting and would give as much attention to one of the others as he would to his own. It was so unlike other bands I've worked with where there is an acknowledged songwriter and anyone else who writes one really has to hassle to get it anywhere." Mercury wrote most of his songs on the piano, often choosing keys that were technically difficult for band mate and guitarist Brian May (e.g., E flat major). Due to his basic proficiency in playing the guitar, he also wrote many lines and riffs for the instrument, including many of those heard in "Bohemian Rhapsody." He also wrote "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" on the guitar and would play a guitar on stage when performing the song.
In addition to his work with Queen, Mercury produced two solo albums, Mr. Bad Guy and Barcelona, released in 1985 and 1988, respectively. The former was a pop-oriented album that emphasized disco and dance music. "Barcelona" was recorded with the opera singer Montserrat Caballé, whom Mercury had long admired.
Although it remained on the UK Album Charts for 23 weeks, Mr. Bad Guy was not considered to have been a commercial success relative to most Queen albums. However, in 1993, a remix of "Living on My Own", a single from the album, reached the #1 position on the UK Singles Charts. The song remained on the charts for thirteen weeks and garnered Mercury a posthumous Ivor Novello Award. All Music critic David Prato describes Mr. Bad Guy as "outstanding from start to finish" and expressed his view that Mercury "did a commendable job of stretching into uncharted territory." In particular, the album was heavily synthesizer-driven in a way that was uncharacteristic of previous Queen albums, save portions of 1984's The Works.
Barcelona, recorded with opera singer Montserrat Caballé, combined elements of popular music and opera. Caballé considered the album to have been one of the great successes of her career and said of Mercury, "He was not only a popular singer, he was a musician, that could sit at the piano and compose. He discovered a new way to bring different music styles together. He is the first and only person to have done this." In September of 2006, a compilation album featuring Mercury's solo work was released in the UK in honour of what would have been his sixtieth birthday. The album debuted in the top 10 of the UK Album Charts.
Over the years, rare Freddie Mercury solo albums have greatly increased in value. For instance, a Japanese single of the song "Guide Me Home" from the Barcelona album is now worth as much as £1,000 ($2,003). Another valuable item is a 1973 cover of the 1969 Beach Boys song, "I Can Hear Music" recorded under the stage name Larry Lurex. Widely bootlegged, the original record is now a valuable collectible.
Mercury collaborated with Michael Jackson on some tracks which were never officially released, including "There Must Be More to Life Than This" and "State of Shock", which were both leaked to the Internet. "There Must Be More to Life Than This" was later released ‒ in a different, Mercury-only version, on Mercury's solo album "Mr. Bad Guy". Mercury also recorded another track with Michael Jackson called "Victory" that has yet to be released to the public. The latter song, released on the 1984 Victory album, was ultimately performed by Mick Jagger and The Jacksons. Mercury was originally scheduled to appear on the Thriller album as well.
In the years since his death, Freddie Mercury and Queen have remained popular. A statue in Montreux, Switzerland (by Irena Sedlecka) has been erected as a tribute to Mercury. Beginning in 2003, fans from around the world gather in Switzerland on a yearly basis to pay tribute to the singer as part of the Freddie Mercury Montreux Momorial Day on September 1st and 2nd. A Royal Mail stamp was also issued in honor of Mercury as part of the Millennium Stamp series. The stamp caused controversy because Queen drummer Roger Taylor could be seen in the background. At that time, members of the British Royal family were the only living people who usually appeared on stamps in the UK, although this policy has since changed.
Several polls conducted over the past decade indicate that Mercury's reputation may in fact have increased since his death. For instance, in 2002 he appeared in a 2002 list of "100 Greatest Britons", sponsored by the BBC and voted for by the public. In the 1999 Millennium Poll, in which six hundred thousand Britons participated, Mercury was voted into the number 14 and 15 spots as a popular musician and songwriter, respectively. Finally, in a list of the greatest English language singers of the 20th century, compiled by BBC Radio, he was the highest-ranked hard rock vocalist, having been voted at the tenth spot. He also came in second in MTV's list of the 22 greatest singers of the past 25 years, having been beaten to the top spot by singer Mariah Carey.
In addition to its continuing popularity in the UK, Queen remains a popular international band as well. As an example, two of Mercury's songs, We Are the Champions and Bohemian Rhapsody, have each been voted as the world's favorite song in two different polls. Whether Mercury's death in fact enhanced Queen's popularity is not clear. In the United States, where Queen's popularity had lagged in the 1980s, sales of Queen albums went up dramatically in 1992, the year following Mercury's death. At the same time, the movie Wayne's World, which featured "Bohemian Rhapsody," also came out that year.
Finally, Mercury has recently been acknowledged as an influential person of Asian descent. In 2006, Time Asia magazine named Mercury as one of the most influential Asians of the past 60 years. The article credited Mercury with having "duplicated in popular music what other Indians—such as Salman Rushdie and Vikram Seth—have done in literature: taking the colonizer's art form and representing it in a manner richer and more dazzling than many Anglophones thought possible."
Πιο Δημοφιλή Τραγούδια (Περισσότερο)
Τα Πιο Δημοφιλή Άλμπουμ (Περισσότερο)
Καλλιτέχνες που μπορεί επίσης να σας αρέσουν
Εικόνες (6)
Θαυμαστές (19)