"I won't be a rock star, I will be a legend"
ABOUT Another one bites the dust
Queen A British rock band that formed in London in 1970. Their classic line-up was Freddie Mercury (lead vocals, piano), Brian May (lead guitar, vocals), Roger Taylor (drums, vocals), and John Deacon (bass guitar). Queen's earliest works were influenced by progressive rock, hard rock and heavy metal, but the band gradually ventured into more conventional and radio-friendly works by incorporating further styles, such as arena rock and pop rock into their music.
Before forming Queen, Brian May and Roger Taylor had played together in Smile. Mercury, then known by his birth name, Farrokh "Freddie" Bulsara, was a fan of Smile and encouraged them to experiment with more elaborate stage and recording techniques. Mercury joined in 1970, suggested the name "Queen", and adopted his familiar stage name. The band's 1977 album News of the World contained "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions", which have become anthems at sporting events.
By the early 1980s, Queen were one of the biggest stadium rock bands in the world. "Another One Bites the Dust" (1980) became their best-selling single, while their 1981 compilation album Greatest Hits is the best-selling album in the UK and is certified eight times platinum in the US. Their performance at the 1985 Live Aid concert has been ranked among the greatest in rock history by various music publications. The last concert featuring their classic line up–the final live performance of Mercury–took place at Knebworth, England in August 1986. In 1991, Mercury died of bronchopneumonia, a complication of AIDS, and Deacon retired in 1997. May and Taylor have performed under the Queen name with Paul Rodgers and Adam Lambert as vocalists on tours since.
WHO IS FREDDIE MERCURY?
On April 20, 1992, musicians from virtually every genre banded together at London's Wembley Stadium to pay tribute to Queen's Freddie Mercury. The one-of-a-kind entertainer and vocalist passed away on Nov. 24, 1991 from bronchopneumonia brought on by AIDS, and his former bandmates brought together his many friends and admirers to honor his legacy, and raise money for AIDS-related charities.
Freddie Mercury's Life Is the Story of HIV, Being Bi, and Queer. As the singer lay in what would become his deathbed, medication coursed through his veins, introduced into his bloodstream via an expensive Hickman catheter implanted in his neck. The drugs and a faithful servant would stave off pain and nausea so he could enjoy his elaborate Japanese gardens and lovingly curated London home a bit longer. By the time he decided to go off of AZT, a gaggle of paparazzi and celebrity watchers were stationed outside his home, each trying to get a glimpse of the much-loved man as he withered away. It seemed that even at the hour of his death, everyone wanted a piece of Freddie Mercury.
WATCH BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY
A concert is not a live rendition of our album. It's a theatrical event. - Freddie Mercury
Through his marvelous vocals and his refreshing ability to play the piano, as well as his independent attitude towards the criticism of other, Mercury truly demonstrated the qualities that make a hero. His vocals and piano-playing shocked many, as most people didn’t expect to hear that much charisma generate by him. His opera-like take on the traditional ‘rock concert’, brightly colored clothing, and general aura exuberant energy and happiness. He is an inspiration for showing that if someone pursues what makes them happy; in return they will earn the ability to be skillful at it. Freddie Mercury never asked what the world needed. He was simply the person that he enjoyed being and provided the world with a hero.
The Creative way to play Music: BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY
Creativity is undoubtedly subjective. Creators and their process are open to perception and critics who will take a swipe no matter the scale of your success.
Take Bohemian Rhapsody. Its structure was unusual. So many sections. So many key changes. But it was the length, that was considered the biggest barrier. Pop songs on the radio rarely ventured over four minutes in 1975, let alone approached six. There were exceptions, Hey Jude’s full length was over seven and Led Zeppelin’s 1971 Stairway to Heaven clocked in over eight, although it was never released as a single. The norm was understood to be shorter. Freddie though was resolute. And he had a plan. From a marketing viewpoint, he played an absolute blinder by getting two jocks, either side of the Atlantic, to play snippets and steadily build interest before the record label had even agreed to release the song. Through Kenny Everett at Capital Radio and Paul Drew at RKO, the band had given their product an audience without yet having taken it to market. Genius.
LENGTH DOES'NT MATTER
Just as Freddie thought 40+ years ago. If you create great content people will stay engaged and love it, no matter its length. There are lessons too in building an audience to argue your point, in his approach to marketing the single. It is also one of the most expensive songs recorded and took a month just to record the opera part, when that was the timing for most entire albums. The devil really can be in the detail.
FREDDIE AS A LEADER Four of the biggest lessons, at least for me …
1. Take yourself seriously. Everyone always says you shouldn’t take yourself seriously, but in the beginning of a career or building an entrepreneurial venture at least, you had better, because your’re the only one who will. The transformation of Farrokh Bulsara, a shy immigrant kid from Zanzibar growing up in the poor mill town of Bradford, Yorkshire, into Freddie Mercury, the flamboyant front man of Queen, was one of the most remarkable transformations of all time. Despite his limited formal musicial training, lack of conventional good looks, and British racism, his intense self-scrutiny helped him develop a new idea of himself that went far beyond anything anybody who knew him had imagined he might become. “The biggest influence on Freddie was Freddie,” said Brian May, in the documentary.
2. Care about your audience. Sociologists will tell you that among musicians as almost any other skilled profession, the work involved in becoming a professional is so intense that they often develop a comtempt for the audience. The world of the Seventies Rock was particularly susceptible to this kind of attitude. But Freddie Mercury did not share this mindset. People who knew him say he always cared about his audience. That lack of self-involvement is part of the reason many critics rate Queen’s 25 minute set at the Live Aid benefit concert in 1985 as one of the best live performances of all time — even more as other, more self-involved iconic groups who performed that July day, such as Led Zeppelin, failed to make any connection.
3. Use your deepest emotions. As a gay man growing up in a society where homosexuality had just been legalized, and as an ethnic Indian trying to succeed in a country that did not yet fully accept its immigrants, Freddie Mercury faced many frustrations. However, instead of withdrawing or lashing out in unproductive ways, he channeled his vulnerability back into his work, and made a connection with his audience that still endures in the memory of the people who saw his performances live and in the people who discover him only even now. You can see it in such moments as his rendition of “Love of My Life”, at the Rock Montreal concert in 1981.
Fortunately for the rest of us, this power isn’t restricted to the musically talented: Brené Brown, a professor of social work at the University of Houston, found after interviewing hundreds of people that those who are good at making emotional connections are unusually open to others about their personal vulnerabilities. “They believed that what made them vulnerable, made them beautiful,” Brown explained in a 2010 TED talk.
4. Take a little high, a little low. A talented but largely untrained musician, Freddie grew up recognizing fewer barriers between high and low art than most professional musicians. This allowed him to borrow not only from rock but other genres, including opera, and write songs that he couldn’t have written if he had played by the rules. It also allowed him to enrich his work through some unusual collaborations, such as his duet with Spanish diva Monserrat Caballé, who helped him break into the notoriously snobbish world of opera. He ignored social barriers too, such as being unafraid of the commercial and social consequences of appearing in drag in the “I want to break free” video, although it apparently hurt sales in prudish North America.
But the best lesson of all that can be learned from the life of Freddie Mercury, perhaps, is that if you work with enough love, you can make something that lasts. Freddie Mercury has been gone now for nearly 14 years, but his work is still very much alive. The band he co-founded recently celebrated its 40th anniversary and is still recording and collaborating, much as it did when he was part of it. Millions of people still enjoy their music — which over time has become all of our music — and there’s still no end in sight. All thanks to Freddie Mercury, a champion of the world who become a champion for the world.
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