Freddie Mercury

Freddie grew up in Zanzibar and had formal piano lessons from age 7 until the time he was 9.

At age 12, he formed his first band (playing piano) at school called The Hectics who performed cover songs of popular artists like British pop star Cliff Richard, and American rock artist Little Richard. A childhood friend from that time recalled that Freddie had “an uncanny ability to listen to the radio and replay what he heard on piano” An early testament to his future musical genius

At age 17, Freddie and his parents moved to Middlesex England, after which, he enrolled in a local college and ultimately received a diploma in art and graphic design (Freddie would later choose the band’s name and also design the beautiful and intricate logo for Queen based on the zodiac signs of all four members)

In the fall of 1966 , Freddie was entranced by a new star named Jimmy Hendrix. In the summer of 1969, he was in a band from Liverpool called Ibex which specialized in covers of The Beatles and Rod Stewart

In April of 1970, Freddie met guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor, who had played together in a band called Smile. The later addition of John Deacon would complete Queen’s ultra talented lineup.

Freddie had a 4 octave singing range and could do amazing things with his voice. Lead singer Roger Daltrey of The Who has called Mercury “the best virtuoso rock ‘n’ roll singer of all time. He could sing anything in any style. He could change his style from line to line and, God, that’s an art. And he was brilliant at it.”

Queen guitarist Brian May has said that Freddie was unimpressed with his own abilities on piano. While he was not a virtuoso by any means, isolted keyboard tracks have shown that he had rock solid technique, impeccable timing, and the creative instincts to compose the right part at the right time