Such Gorgeousness (Photo By Gail)
On This Date, November 24th, in 1991: Queen’s lead vocalist and primary songwriter, Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara) died of complications from AIDS, one day after publicly admitting he was HIV positive. He was 45 years old. Thank you Freddie for all of the great music, your truly inimitable style and for helping to make my Teenage Hell years bearable. I never loved any other rock star the way I loved you.
Guitarist Dweezil Zappa was born on this day, September 5th, in 1969, while singer/songwriter Al Stewart was born in 1945, with the late, great Queen front man, Freddie Mercury joining us on this day in 1946. You can read my interview with Dweezil from November of 2000 (published March 2001) at This Link.
Cover of Al Stewart’s 1976 Album, Year of the Cat
Freddie Mercury Circa 1975
It is no secret that I spent a few of my teenage years being completely, over-the-top obsessed with the rock band Queen. I was lucky enough to see Queen about five times on the Night at the Opera, Day at the Races, News of the World and Jazz tours. My love of all things Queen was so all-consuming, I even knew the names of and biographical details about their roadies, one of whom was nicknamed “Ratty.” So it only took me about three seconds to flash back to the good old late ‘70s when, quite by chance, I came across the website Ratty’s Queen Memories. Here’s an excerpt from the site’s home page by Peter ‘Ratty’ Hince himself:
Continue reading Rad Website of the Week: Ratty’s Queen Memories
“Cheers!”
This is probably a weird thing to remember, or feel the need to validate, but every year on March 9th I celebrate what I call my “Queeniversary,” which is the anniversary of the night I saw the band Queen live for the first time at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Los Angeles, way back in 1976. I don’t listen to my Queen albums as much these days as I once did, but between the ages of fifteen and seventeen, I swear that band saved my sanity. So thanks Freddie, Brian, Roger and John, for being the band I needed to have in my life at that time, and for making such unforgettable music.
“As a college student used to her freedom, I’m sometimes gone for days at a time when I’m home for the summer,” explains Jesse from Gurnee, Illinois, admitting that during this time, her Beta fish, Freddie Mercury tends to go unfed. “My 14-year old-sister has shown him mercy a few times,” Jesse says, and admirably, “she’s never asked for thanks.” But Freddie, it seems, has had just about enough of this neglect.
Courtesy of Passive Aggressive Notes Dot Com.
