Queen flew to Argentina in 1981 and gave one of the biggest performances in their career, to an audience of 100,000 people. Turns out, Freddie was a master when it came to entertaining large crowds. The way he carried the microphone everywhere on stage, and the way he danced, was something no one had ever seen before.
His stage performance dazzled audiences in Argentina in Brazil, and when they returned to the UK, they felt the sky was the limit. Shortly after, they traveled to Canada to record in one of the best studios in North America.
Worldwide Praise
“A Night at the Opera” was a very expensive album for its time. Its production cost around $500,000, which was an absurd amount of money back in 1975. There’s a reason why “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Love of My Life” were such colossal hits. Just for “Bohemian Rhapsody”, they had to use six different recording studios!
This album finally started to bring fame and money to Queen, and by the 1980’s, everyone knew about Queen. And their success crossed continents, because in 1981 they received a call saying that they were to go on a tour in South America. Apparently, Argentina and Brazil were crazy about Queen!
Queen Got A Huge Offer
The band was shocked, especially after getting an offer to do a concert in a massive soccer stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina. First of all, they were doubtful of whether they could actually fill an entire soccer stadium, and secondly, they were hesitant about visiting a country that was still very much under dictatorship.
Nonetheless, Queen decided to go for it, and soon enough, they were in conversations with the country’s Army General to decide whether they could put together a concert that could hold more than 50,000 people in a single space. Afraid of big crowd riots, the general had his doubts, but Queen still decided to take the risk.
Mercury lived with ten cats
As if he wasn’t interesting enough already, Freddie was also an avid animal lover, especially cats. He had ten cats at home, which he treated like children. His first pair cats were Tom and Jerry, which he adopted when he was living with Mary Austin.
But he did have a favorite, a calico cat named Delilah. Mercury even wrote a song about her, appropriately called “Delilah”, which is featured in his “Innuendo” album. The cat was just as in love with Freddie, and stayed by his side until the day he passed away.
A bump in the road
Even after their big success in South America, and their rising fame in the United States, Queen still had its issues with record sales. Turns out some of their albums weren’t selling as well as their second and third ones.
The band decided to take a break, and each member started working on individual projects. Of course, the plan was always to regroup. This is when John Deacon wrote “I Want to Break Free” and Roger Taylor wrote “Radio Gaga”. The band had quickly climbed back to the top of the charts, and they were ready for a big comeback. But once again, something stopped them.