The extraordinary and unexpected success of "Bohemian Rapsody", the film on the history of Queen that with a budget of 52 million dollars has reached a billion dollar by winning four Oscars including that for best actor in a leading role (Rami Malek), is the most sensational demonstration of what the band represents in the history of rock and, by now, in the collective imagination.
And if this story begins to get confused with the myth, it is because Freddie Mercury was one of the most explosive, transgressive and courageous front man ever seen on stage.
Unfortunately Freddie, who died on November 24, 1991 in London, is also one of the most famous victims of AIDS, who killed him at the age of 45, in his London residence when HIV positivity was still a death sentence.
As many now remember thanks to the film, his name was Farrock Bulsara, he was born in Zanzibar and had Parsian and Indian ancestry.
With his band, along with Brian May, John Deacon and Roger Taylor he had found the synthesis of his personality as a rocker in love with opera but who, raised in the 60s and formed in the 70s, loved Jimi Hendrix, Elvis Presley, Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, Liza Minnelli, David Bowie and the Glam rock of Marc Bolan and T. Rex and admired Paul Rodgers, the lead singer of Free who years ago toured with Brian May and Roger Taylor bringing the legend around the world by Queen with disappointing results to say the least.
He was clearly a man of great musical curiosity who loved to mix genres, capable of brilliant insights like "Bohemian Rapsody" and kitschy slides like "Barcelona Barcelona", Olympic anthem recorded together with Montserrat Caballe or the soundtrack of "Metropolis" made with Giorgio Moroder.
A lover of hyperbole, with a provocative sense of humor, who continues to be revered by a transversal audience and who has left behind an impressive series of hits, from "We Are The Champions" to "Radio Ga Ga", from "Love of My Life" to "Under Pressure", from "Somebody To Love" to "Love of My Life", "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", "WeWill Rock You" to name but a few.
He was a performer who used theatricality as a weapon, the display of his gay machismo had the sense of a liberating mockery that went along with his incredible vocal skills and his talent as a pianist.
He was a tormented and insecure man despite his immense ego: he also tried the solo path and failed sensationally, because away from Queen he could not find the magic.
He led a reckless life full of excesses but without ever making his truth as a man public.
After his death, John Deacon decided to leave the scene: it is Brian May and Roger Taylor who keep the company and the myth, with the tours, the musical (another resounding success), the production of the film. Freddie Mercury was simply inimitable.
Challenging his frailties he worked hard to become a myth: he died too soon, but luckily for him there are his old friends who always keep the flame of memory alive.
