LONDON - On November 24th 30 years ago Freddie Mercury, iconic rock star and legendary Queen frontman, passed away in London. To pay homage to him, we retraced the most emblematic places of his private and professional life to discover curiosities and anecdotes.
We start from Stone Town, the capital of Zanzibar, an exotic island off the coast of Tanzania, where Farrokh Bulsara, the real name of Freddie Mercury, was born on 5 September 1946 from an Indian family of Parsis origin. Today his home is a museum: inside the Tembo House Hotel, one of the oldest hotels in the city, the Freddie Mercury Museum on the ground floor collects numerous memorabilia including his birth certificate, 100 exclusive photos, testimonials from friends and dedications of celebrities.
To gain access to a better education, the young Farrokh began attending St. Peter's Boys School in Panchgani, a city south of Bombay. Here he immediately showed a musical talent, playing the piano and joining the choir. In 1964 he returned to Zanzibar but the revolution forced him to flee with his family to London where he lived at 22 Gladstone Avenue, in a house in Feltham, near Heathrow airport. In 1966 he was admitted to Ealing Art College in London and moved with a friend to a small apartment near Kensington Market.
He loved London and its more extravagant clubs, but his first performance in front of the public was at the Octagon theater in Bolton, a town northwest of Manchester. It was 1969 and he was playing with the band Ibex, with whom he settled in Liverpool staying above a pub along Penny Lane. After a short time he disbanded the band and returned to London where in 1970 he joined new musicians, founding Queen, the legendary band that made rock history and to which he remained linked until his death in 1991.
The new group first performed in public in Truro, Cornwall, for a benefit concert. At the time, Freddie lived with his friend and muse Mary Austin in a house on Victoria Road, in the Kensington neighborhood, an area that is now elegant but which at the time was the refuge of penniless artists and musicians in search of glory. Freddie loved that place so deeply that he built a gigantic and sumptuous villa, the Garden Lodge Mansion, at 1 Logan Place, where he lived most of his life and which is still a pilgrimage destination for fans today.
Queen's first records were recorded in Trident Studios, the recording studios at 17 St. Anne's Court, a small street in the Soho neighborhood. They were an instant success and the band began touring the world, from Montreal to Budapest, from Sao Paulo to Tokyo. In 1976 Mercury left the apartment she shared with Mary and moved to a larger house at 12 Stafford Terrace, convincing her friend to move nearby so she could see her from her windows. Those were the years of concerts abroad but also in London clubs, such as the Earls Court Exhibition Center on Warwick Road, one of the historic places for rock fans.
In 1983 Freddie decided to move to Munich: he worked as a soloist and began to frequent the nightlife of the German city. He also lived in New York for a few months but before the end of the year the band reunited and left for a world tour. He also arrived in Italy, guest in 1984 of the Sanremo Festival where, however, he was criticized for the use of playback. He also performed in Milan in two concerts where he made the entire Palazzetto dello Sport dance. In London he used to go to Heaven, the most famous gay club in the world: during an evening in 1985 he met Jim Hutton, with whom he went to live in the Garden Lodge Mansion. In the same year, the grandiose concert held in Rio de Janeiro in front of about 250 thousand people in two evenings, an absolute record for the time; and in July the famous Live Aid,the humanitarian concert organized by Bob Geldof at Wembley Stadium in London with the participation of the most important international artists. In 1986 the band performed in Knebworth park in northern Hertfordshire, just south of Stevenage: it was the last concert of Freddie Mercury who sang in front of 120 thousand spectators. The musician began to feel ill and, admitted to the Harley Street clinic, was diagnosed with AIDS. Yet Freddie continued to write and sing memorable pieces, collaborating with other artists such as the Spanish soprano Montserrat Caballé, with whom in 1987 he performed at the Ku Club in Ibiza, now the Privilege disco. He loved the Spanish island, where he stayed at the Pikes, a beautiful hotel near Sant'Antoni, and above all he didn't miss any of his crazy parties.In 1989 he revealed his illness to friends: he did so in Montreux, Switzerland, in his yellow villa on Lake Geneva, where he often took refuge to isolate himself and recover his energies. Ten years earlier with the band he had bought Mountain Studios, the recording studios of famous songs like "A kind of magic" and "Innuendo". He also took refuge in the Swiss city a few months before his death, renting the Duck House, a house by the lake. "If you are looking for peace of mind, come to Montreux," Freddie Mercury once said to his friend Montserrat Caballé. And the city paid homage to him with an imposing bronze statue that today towers over the Place du Marché, facing the lake.where he often took refuge to isolate himself and recover his energies. Ten years earlier with the band he had bought Mountain Studios, the recording studios of famous songs like "A kind of magic" and "Innuendo". He also took refuge in the Swiss city a few months before his death, renting the Duck House, a house by the lake. "If you are looking for peace of mind, come to Montreux," Freddie Mercury once said to his friend Montserrat Caballé. And the city paid homage to him with an imposing bronze statue that today towers over the Place du Marché, facing the lake.where he often took refuge to isolate himself and recover his energies. Ten years earlier with the band he had bought Mountain Studios, the recording studios of famous songs like "A kind of magic" and "Innuendo". He also took refuge in the Swiss city a few months before his death, renting the Duck House, a house by the lake. "If you are looking for peace of mind, come to Montreux," Freddie Mercury once said to his friend Montserrat Caballé. And the city paid homage to him with an imposing bronze statue that today towers over the Place du Marché, facing the lake.He also took refuge in the Swiss city a few months before his death, renting the Duck House, a house by the lake. "If you are looking for peace of mind, come to Montreux," Freddie Mercury once said to his friend Montserrat Caballé. And the city paid homage to him with an imposing bronze statue that today towers over the Place du Marché, facing the lake.He also took refuge in the Swiss city a few months before his death, renting the Duck House, a house by the lake. "If you are looking for peace of mind, come to Montreux," Freddie Mercury once said to his friend Montserrat Caballé. And the city paid homage to him with an imposing bronze statue that today towers over the Place du Marché, facing the lake.
He returned to London, to his large villa, surrounded by the affection of his loved ones and fellow musicians and died on November 24th.
According to her wishes, the funeral took place at Kensal Green Cemetery and the ashes were entrusted to her longtime friend Mary Austin, who after two years scattered them in a secret place. The outer wall of the Garden Lodge has since become Mercury's de facto burial place, where fans brought flowers, cards and mementos. Today, however, the wall of the villa has been cleaned and nothing can be seen from the outside; however, the memory of the place where the most famous songs of the band were born remains.
There are two other legendary places in London that deserve to be visited by Freddie Mercury fans: the Dominion Theater, at 268 Tottenham Court Road, where from 2002 to 2014 the musical "We will Rock you" with all the historical songs of the band.
And, in the Westminster area, a few steps from the Thames, the Playhouse Theater where Queen shot the famous video "A kind of magic".
(HANDLE).