Posted
on September 5, 2014
We will, we will rock
you! [thump-thump-THUMP]
We are the champions,
my friends,
And we'll keep on
fighting 'til the end...
Is this the real life?
Is this just fantasy?
Caught in a
landslide...
No escape from
reality!
If you recognize these
song lyrics, then you know the work of Farrokh Bulsara, born on this
date in 1946 in the Sultanate of Zanzibar.
But you probably don't
know the name Farrokh Bulsara!
Instead, we know him by
his stage name: Freddie Mercury.
Zanzibar was located in
Africa (it's now part of Tanzania) and was a British protectorate.
Mercury grew up in Zanzibar and another British colony, India, which
is where his parents were from. The family practiced the Zoroastrian
religion, which is an ancient Persian religion. Mercury himself
practiced the piano. A lot! As a teenager, he could listen to a song
on the radio and then replicate it on the piano. While going to
school in India, Mercury started a band, adopted the name “Freddie,”
and played his favorite sort of music: rock and roll.
In 1964, Zanzibar
underwent a revolution, and many Arab and Indian people were killed.
The Bulsara family fled for their safety and relocated to England.
Mercury went to college in London and earned a diploma in art and
graphic design; he then joined a series of bands while holding down
two part time jobs.
When Mercury joined
forces with a guitarist and drummer from a band called Smile, he
changed his last name from Bulsara to Mercury, and he named his new
band Queen.
 |
| Mercury used his art skills to create this logo. |
The band ended up being a
huge success, with number one hits and international recognition. By
the early 1980s, Queen was one of the biggest bands in the world,
known as a stadium rock band because concerts were held in large
arenas and sports stadiums.
Some of Queen's songs include “We Will
Rock You,” “We Are the Champions,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” and
“Another One Bites the Dust.” These songs have been used in
movies and ads and sporting events.
Queen is one of the most
bootlegged bands ever, and the Guinness Book of World Records claimed
in 2005 that the band spent more time on the UK Album Charts than any
other musical act. (More than the Beatles? Wow.) Their Greatest Hits
album was the all-time best-selling album in UK Chart history.
Finally, their performance at 1985's Live Aid is regarded by some as
one of the greatest performances in rock history.
Unfortunately, Freddie
Mercury died of AIDS in 1991, cutting short a great musical career.
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on this date:
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