Freddie Mercury passed away in 1991, just days after announcing her was living with HIV
Queen singer Freddie Mercury passed away on this day in 1991. The music superstar died almost three decades ago but has been a constant fixture in popular culture since his passing.
Mercury achieved international fame in the 1970’s and 1980’s as the lead singer of British rock band Queen, his flamboyant style and impressive vocal abilities made him stand out from other musicians of the time. Throughout their career Queen combined a variety of musical influences into their pop-rock sound and they topped the charts around the globe.
Don’t Stop Me Now, Bohemian Rhapsody, We Are the Champions, We Will Rock You, Who Wants to Live Forever, It’s a Kind of Magic, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Radio Gaga and I Want to Break Free are just a handful of the many hits the band enjoyed. Mercury also released a solo album Mr Bad Guy and collaborated with opera star Montserrat Caballé on an album that combined opera and pop sounds.
Mercury was bisexual, and while he did make multiple comments about his sexuality during his life, he did not publicly align himself with LGBTI causes. The day before his death he released a statement confirming that he had been tested for HIV and received a positive diagnosis. Mercury requested the media respect his privacy.
There has been speculation that Mercury was ill for some time, which increased after he appeared looking gaunt in promotional videos for Queen’s most recently releases.
Less than 24 hours later the news broke, he had passed away.
Since his passing a posthumous Queen album has been released, and his life was depicted in the 2018 biopic Bohemian Rhapsody. There’s been countless documentaries and books about his life and legacy.
Mercury’s passing is seen as a significant point in increasing public awareness about HIV as he was one of the most famous people to be lost to the disease. Following his death the remaining three members of Queen founded the Mercury Phoenix Trust which has raised millions of dollars for HIV research and support services.
In April 1992 a star-studded fundraising concert was held at Wembley Stadium. In front of a crowd of 72,000 people Liza Minnelli, Def Leppard, David Bowie, Annie Lennox, Lisa Stansfield, Extreme, Seal, Guns and Roses, Elton John, Paul Young, Metallica and others joined the remaining members of Queen to perform their hits. The band’s collaboration with George Michael on Someone to Love became a chart-topping hit.
Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor continued the band teaming up with former Free singer Paul Rogers for several years, before collaborating with Adam Lambert in recent years.
The story of Queen was brought to the screen in the biopic Bohemian Rhapsody.
George Michael performed ‘Jesus for a Child’ for the first time in 1994
At the 1994 MTV Europe Awards George Michael performed a new song Jesus to a Child. The song was a homage to Micheal’s partner Brazilian fashion designer Anselmo Feleppa who had died of an AIDS related illness the previous year.
At the time George Michael had not publicly shared that he was gay. The world would find this out when he was arrested for cruising in a Los Angeles public toilet in 1998.
Michael later shared that following Feleppa’s death he had been unable to write music, but Jesus to a Child, which reflected on thier relationship, was written in under an hour.
The song would not be released until 1996 and would serve as the lead single to Michael’s Older album. The album saw George Michael return to the album charts after a five- and half-year break that involved legal battles with his record company.
Whenever the singer performed the song in concerts, he took a moment to dedicate it to Anselmo. The video for the song is filled with symbolic images including two men holding hands while trapped inside boxes.
Lou Reed’s ‘Walk of the Wild Side’ was released in 1972
Lou Reed’s song Walk on the Wild Side was released on this day in 1972. It’s one of the first pop songs to make reference to someone being transgender.
The song shares the stories of several characters, based on real people, and touches on gender identity, male sex workers, oral sex, and drug use. Name checked in the tune are many of the luminaries from Andy Warhol’s New York studio The Factory, including Holly Woodlawn, Candy Darling, Joe Dallesandro, Jackie Curtis and Joe Campbell.
The Names Project is formed and leads to the AIDS Memorial Quilt
In 1985 at an AIDS Candlelight vigil in San Francisco activist Cleave Jones conceives the Names Project. It resulted in the creation of the AIDS Memorial Quilt which has become one of the largest community art projects of all time. The final quilt as of 2020 if assembled weighs an estimated 54 tones.
Learn more about the AIDS Memorial Quilt here.
OIP Staff, this post was first published in 2021 and has been updated.
