Freddie Mercury was born in 1946
Freddie Mercury was born on this day in 1946, he passed away from an AIDS-related-illness in 1991 at the age of 45. If he’d still been with us today would have been his 80th birthday.
Born Farrokh Bulsara, in the British protectorate of Zanzibar in Africa, his parents were from the Parsi community of western India. As a youngster he spent most of his time in India until 1964 when the family fled to England due to a political uprising in the African nation where his father worked for the British colonial administration.
In the late 1960s he was a member of several short-lived-bands. In 1970 he joined forces with Brian May and Roger Taylor, who were then performing as Smile. In 1971 bassist John Deacon joined and they changed their name to Queen – well aware of the word’s gay connotations.
Mercury achieved international fame in the 1970s and 1980s with his flamboyant style, while his 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.
Rumours about Mercury’s health intensified after he appeared noticeably thinner in promotional videos for Queen’s final releases during his lifetime. Less than 24 hours later, news broke that he had died.
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.
The band have continued on, first teaming up with vocalist Paul Rodgers, and in more recent years Adam Lambert has been their singer.
The film adaptation of ‘Maurice’ made its debut in 1987
E.M. Forster finished the first draft of his novel Maurice in 1913, but the novel was not published until 1971, a year after his death.
The novel follows Maurice Hall, a young man who develops a romantic relationship with his university friend Clive Durham. After Clive marries, Maurice is left heartbroken and seeks ways to suppress or change his sexuality in response to the social attitudes of the time. He later falls in love with Alec Scudder, a gamekeeper on Durham’s estate. The book explores class differences and attitudes towards homosexuality while remaining, at its heart, a same-sex love story.
Forster showed the manuscript to only a small circle of trusted friends. He revised it several times, first in 1932 and again in 1959-60. The author believed it was not publishable because of prevailing attitudes towards homosexuality in Britain.
Forster died in 1970 at the age of 91. Among his papers was a note attached to the manuscript that read: “Publishable, but worth it?”
During his lifetime, Forster achieved literary success with works including A Room with a View, A Passage to India, Howards End, Where Angels Fear to Tread and The Longest Journey. He also wrote numerous short stories, plays, travel essays and literary criticism.
Maurice was adapted into a feature film by Merchant Ivory Productions. It was one of the earliest screen roles for Hugh Grant, who played Clive. James Wilby portrayed Maurice, while Rupert Graves played Alec Scudder.
The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival on this day in 1987. Its cast also included Denholm Elliott, Simon Callow, Billie Whitelaw and Ben Kingsley. Eagle-eyed viewers may also spot an uncredited appearance by Helena Bonham Carter. Actor Julian Sands was originally cast as Maurice but withdrew shortly before filming began.
The film was a major success at the festival. James Ivory shared the Silver Lion for Best Director with Ermanno Olmi for Long Live the Lady!, while James Wilby and Hugh Grant jointly received the Volpi Cup for Best Actor.
Today, Maurice is widely recognised as a groundbreaking depiction of a gay love story and an influential work in the history of LGBTQIA+ literature and cinema.
Culture Club’s ‘Karma Chameleon’ was released on this day in 1983
In 1983, Culture Club scored one of the biggest hits of their career when they released Karma Chameleon.
The band had released their debut album Kissing to Be Clever in October 1982. Their first singles, White Boy and I’m Afraid of Me, failed to chart, but they achieved their first UK number one with Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?
They followed that success with Time (Clock of the Heart), I’ll Tumble 4 Ya and Church of the Poison Mind, but Karma Chameleon, which featured on their second album Colour by Numbers, would become their signature song.
The track spent six weeks at the top of the UK charts and became the highest-selling single of 1983 in Britain. It remains among the country’s bestselling singles of all time. Globally, it sold more than seven million copies and reached number one in Australia, the United States, Canada, Belgium, Switzerland, Norway and many other countries.
Boy George has previously said he wrote the song while holidaying in Egypt, and the other members of the band were initially hesitant about recording it because of its strong country-pop influence.
OIP Staff, This post was first published in 2021 and has been updated.
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