Happy Belated Birthday, Freddie Mercury
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Thoughts on Freddie Mercury
Mercury would have celebrated his
65th birthday on September 5, 2011.
Google payed tribute to Freddie Mercury (Farrokh Bulsara) today by posting a doodle on the search engine home page. The “doodle” is an animated clip of Queen’s Having a Good Time
The doodle which unfolds into a 1:38 animated video. Mercury’s official birthday was September 5th, but Google chose today to run the clip for its U.S. audience today.
The clip unfolds int an elaborate montage of Mercury clips celebrates what would have been the British musician’s 65th birthday (on Labor Day, but Google chose Tuesday to run it in the U.S.) set to Queen’s Don’t stop me now. From the L.A. Times, here is a list of the sequences:
To accompany the doodle, Queen founding member and guitarist Brian May was guest blogger on the official Google blog site. He recollected his with first meeting Mercury. His initial impression was that of a paradoxically shy yet flamboyant young man. May also wrote, He was truly a free spirit. There are not many of these in the world,” May wrote. “To achieve this, you have to be, like Freddie, fearless—unafraid of upsetting anyone’s apple cart.
Google decided to release the clip on 09.06.11 so people would not miss the tribute over The Labor Day weekend. Mercury’s tribute packs many references to Queen classics—guaranteed blow your mind.
Jennifer Hom, 24-year-old graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, led the design team. We knew that we couldn’t have a regular illustration to celebrate his birthday. We wanted to do something really extraordinary for him because his visual style is so unique. We couldn’t justify one of his costumes or one of his music videos, so we wanted to chronicle his career through all the different looks that he sported in his lifetime.
Some of the animation recalls 1980s Nintendo game. Hom told Rolling Stone, I realized that the time Queen was performing was also the time of video games… Super Nintendo and all these new platforms… had a very distinct look and they were all very adventurous. The scenes in the video that we wanted to capture were equally adventurous, so we thought it would make sense to use that style of animation.
In tribute, we are posting the video from the title track to Queen’s final album with Freddie Mercury, Innuendo.
If there’s a God or any kind of justice under the sky
If there’s a point, if there’s a reason to live or die
Ha, if there’s an answer to the questions we feel bound to ask
Show yourself—destroy our fears—release your mask
The dynamic lead singer was extremely ill when this album was recorded and could only work a few days a week. Freddie Mercury passed away on November 24, 1981, just after his 55th birthday. He died of broncho-pneumonia from complications related to AIDS. The day prior to his death, he released the following statement:
Following the enormous conjecture in the press over the last two weeks, I wish to confirm that I have been tested HIV positive and have AIDS. I felt it correct to keep this information private to date in order to protect the privacy of those around me. However, the time has come for my friends and fans to know the truth, and I hope that everyone will join with me, my doctors, and all those worldwide in the fight against this terrible disease.
The last video Freddie with Queen was for the single These Are The Days Of Our Lives, released shortly after his death. His makeup highlighted, rather than concealed, his gaunt features. A friend called it an apt swan song.
Mad Mike’s America thanks the L.A. Times and Rolling Stone.
Please share your favorite Queen song and let us know what you were doing when you heard Freddie Mercury died.
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Doesn’t seem like 20 years, but by god it is. Still, we have the movie about his life to look forward to with Sacha Baron Cohen playing Freddie. A brave piece of casting.
You know, Holte. I will always love Freddie. I don’t usually like these “bios,” but Cohen could nail the part. It’s going to be interesting to see how the movie plays out.
Whenever I want to feel invincible, Queen it is. Love everything they have done but there are a few standouts like Who wants to live forever, Somebody to Love, These are the days of our lives, Don’t Try so hard, Under Pressure, of course Bohemian Rhapsody that goes without saying. Oh hell, who am I kidding, all of them are my favorites and stand out.
Thank you, Jess. All I can add is that Mercury’s music was, and is, timeless.