Freddie’s trademark “bottomless mic” started as a complete accident. As it turns out, during one of Queen’s first shows, Mercury’s mic stand broke while he was performing a song. Refusing to change it in the middle of the show and disrupt the song, he simply continued to sing. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Allegedly, Freddie much preferred it this way and demanded this setup was used for all subsequent shows. They called it “bottomless mic” because he basically just used the boom and the microphone, without the stand.
His Headboard Was A Piano
Like many musical geniuses, Freddie sometimes got his inspiration at the oddest of times. Since he worried he’d forget an idea before writing it down on paper, he decided to have a piano installed as a bed headboard.
What’s even funnier is that, since he was double-jointed, he didn’t even have to turn around to play it. Talk about convenience.
Mercury Never Abandoned Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism is one of the oldest monotheistic religions in the world, founded by the prophet Zoroaster in Iran, approximately 4,000 years ago, and Freddie’s family were avid practitioners of this Middle Eastern religion.
Zoroastrianism preaches that doing good deeds is the only way for a person to be happy and avoid chaos. They believe life is a temporary journey in which people must fight falsehood and defend the truth at all costs. Pretty nice, huh? Freddie never abandoned his religion and was a believer in Zoroastrianism until the very end of his life. The service at his funeral was performed by a Zoroastrian priest.
Freddie's Parting Gift To Elton John
Freddie loved giving nicknames to all his close friends. And Elton John was one of them. They both gave each other nicknames, calling them their “drag alter-egos”. Elton’s nickname was “Sharon” and Freddie’s was “Melina”.
On Christmas of 1994, a few weeks after Mercury passed away, Elton received a knock on his door. It was a mutual friend holding a package wrapped in a pillowcase. It was a gift Freddie had left for Elton just before he died. When John took out the package, he saw a painting by one of his favorite artists, the British painter Henry Scott Tuke, and a note that read “Dear Sharon, thought you’d like this. Love, Melina. Happy Christmas”
A 10-foot Statue Of Freddie In Switzerland
Being the icon that he was, and his incomparable musical legacy, it’s only logical that a monument is built in his honor. In 1996, a ten-foot statue was erected in Freddie Mercury’s honor, overlooking Lake Geneva, in Switzerland.
They unveiled the statue in a beautiful ceremony, to which Mercury’s father and two of his bandmates attended – Brian May and Roger Taylor.