You’ve probably heard of the legendary British punk band, The Sex Pistols. What you probably don’t know, is that if it weren’t for Freddie, you wouldn’t have. As it turns out, Queen was booked to appear on a famous British TV show in 1976 to promote their new album, A Day At The Races.
However, Freddie had scheduled a dentist appointment that he couldn’t miss (sounds logical since it was his first dental visit in 15 years! Since they canceled at the last minute, the show’s crew found a replacement band – The Sex Pistols. This appearance sky-rocketed them to fame.
A Man Like No Other
By 1990, Queen had started to work on a new album, Innuendo. But by this time, Freddie had been battling AIDS for some time and was in the last stages of the illness, barely being able to even walk. When May wrote “The Show Must Go On”, he wasn’t sure Freddie would be able to sing at all, but as we already know, we’re not talking about a regular human being here. Mercury recorded the powerful vocals in a single, breathtaking take.
Freddie was so ill by then, that the video for the song was basically a montage of old footage from the band’s live performances, and he only appears briefly, shooting down a shot of vodka and saying, “I’ll fucking do it, darling”. And he certainly did.
Freddie And Star Wars
It is said that Freddie wasn’t a huge fan of fantasy or sci-fi, but in 1980, he did a particularly odd show of support for the genre.
This was the year when Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back was about to be released, and during a concert one night, Mercury decided to show his excitement for the groundbreaking sci-fi classic by singing “We Will Rock You” while sitting on the shoulders of a roadie that was dressed as Darth Vader! How we wish someone would’ve filmed this.
Freddie Mercury vs. Sid Vicious
Ironically though, a few months after this happened, in 1977, Mercury and Vicious had a less-than-friendly encounter. Queen was recording their album, News of the World, at Wessex Studios in London, when Sid Vicious suddenly came in and mockingly asked Freddie “Have you succeeded in bringing ballet to the masses yet?”, and drunkenly tried to pick a fight.
What’s funny, though, is that Freddie was never in the least bit bothered by this. In fact, he would say that “he wasn’t going to get into it” with ‘Simon Ferocious’, as Mercury nicknamed Sid (his middle name was Simon). Mercury liked to tease Sid, answering “What are you gonna do about it?” every time he was told to not use that nickname anymore since Vicious hated it. The Sex Pistols hated Queen’s entire image and unparalleled fame.
Freddie Never Tied His Own Shoelaces
We’ve heard about some rock stars having weird requests before a show, quirky obsessions, and just overall insane behavior. Freddie was no different, except that his obsession was with not tying his shoes.
Yup, you read that right. Freddie believed that tying your own shoelaces was “just not the thing done in rock and roll”. In fact, one time in 1977, when the band was getting ready for a show, Mercury is seen relaxing in a chair while a crew member tied his shoelaces! When asked about it, he replied, "Oh no, I never tie my own shoelace, I mean never!”