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7 Things That Prove Freddie Mercury Is The Champion
Freddie Mercury is a legend. It seems like everything that he did in his career is completely timeless and will live on forever. His style, talent and personality made such an impact that he is still relevant to this day. But how much do you really know about the icon?
While everyone seems to know his name, it seems like there is a lot that people don't know about him. Let's remind you of some of the reasons why we all love Freddie Mercury so much!
He loved his cats A LOT
Mercury would actually call home while he was away on tour to talk to his cats. He also had portraits painted of them to hang in his house.
He designed the Queen crest
The band has a crest as their logo, and it turns out it was actually created by the front man himself! He actually attended London's Ealing Art College, so he used his skills to create something new and unique. The elements of the shield represent the zodiac signs for the band members: Two lions to represent John Deacon and Roger Taylor (Leo), a crab for Brian May (Cancer), and then Mercury used two fairies to represent himself.
He performed with the Royal Ballet Company
He might have been known for his dance moves on stage, but the Royal Ballet Company wanted to take that a step further by recruiting him to perform with them. They asked him to come for a charity performance, but that didn't mean they went easy on him. He said, "They had me practicing at the barre and all that, stretching my legs ... trying to do things in a week that they'd been doing for years. It was murder. After two days I was in agony. It was hurting me in places I didn't know I had, dear."
He wrote one of the band's biggest songs in the bathtub
He came up with "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" while he was taking a bath. He went for an Elvis-inspired sound on the guitar which he claims he "can't play". He says that the restriction of his abilities helped him write a good song.
Freddie Mercury lived an exciting life and knew a lot of interesting people, including Princess Diana...
He helped Princess Diana sneak into a gay club
Mercury had become a really good friend to Diana. When he decided to give her a night on the town without the media attention, he knew he had to take some pretty extreme measures. He dressed her up in an army jacket, aviator glasses and a leather hat. She made it through 20 minutes in the club without anyone noticing her, then they decided to leave before they pushed their luck too far.
His assistants had to keep pen and paper on them at all times
He never knew when inspiration would strike so he would have his assistants carry notebooks in case he got some lyrics in his head.
He asked that his final resting place be kept a secret
Mercury revealed his AIDS diagnosis to his band members in 1987, but they did everything in their power to keep it quiet for him. He tried to keep going as long as he could, pushing himself to continue recording to the very end.
He told Mary Austin, his long-time friend, what he preferred for his funeral arrangements. "He suddenly announced one day after Sunday lunch, 'I know exactly where I want you to put me. But no one's to know, because I don't want anyone to dig me up. I just want to rest in peace.'"
Austin agreed and after he passed away on November 24th, 1991 she took his ashes to the secret place without anyone noticing and has never told anyone where he is.