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Queen singer Freddie Mercury died on November 24, 1991. A reason for his bandmates to remember their friend.
But drummer Roger Taylor also found a touching message in London in these days, which were not easy for all of us due to the Corona pandemic and perhaps made Queen music more necessary than ever. In 2021, two creative (anonymous) authors who also provide the city with extraordinary decorations posted a homage to Freddie Mercury on an information board on the subway.
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Not only do the words come from the heart, but they are also peppered with references to songs by Queen and Mercury. It says something like: “You were the greatest frontman and showman in this universe. From Barcelona to the Seven Seas of Rye, The Greatest Pretender was more than a rock star”.
Finally, the writers thank you touchingly for the magic with which the singer enchanted the world and perhaps made it a little better. “Freddie Mercury, we will always love you.”
Freddie Mercury made Elton John cry
On Mercury’s birthday, Elton John also remembered a Christmas present that he received from him just days before the Queen frontman’s death and that moved him very much.
“Freddie should have been concerned only with his own well-being in those final days. But he wasn’t like that. He truly lived for others,” John said. Mercury’s selflessness and the present – a painting by his favorite painter, the Briton Henry Scott Tuke – moved him so much that he had to cry, as he now revealed.
Brian May and his problem
In the world of rock music, there are few songs as iconic as Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.” But behind the melody and the powerful vocals lies a challenge. The band’s guitarist, Brian May, has revealed having trouble playing the complex riff on stage. You can find out the reasons for this here.
Freddie Mercury composed the hit on the piano
After Queen + Adam Lambert’s North American tour “Rhapsody” ended in Los Angeles, the musician spoke to Total Guitar magazine about the song. The riff is so complex because the group’s late frontman, Freddie Mercury, wrote it on the piano. This is what makes it so “unusual” and makes it difficult for the guitarist on stage to “contort” his hand into the notes and chords when his adrenaline is pumping in front of the fans.
“(The riff) was more Freddie’s idea. Freddie had this riff in his head and played it on the piano, which is quite difficult because he plays in octaves. I just worked on it and tweaked it slightly to play it the way it needs to be played on a guitar,” said Brian May. He continued: “I’ve been able to do a lot of interesting things with sounds because in ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ I use basically every sound that my guitar can make, plus different ones Pickup combinations.”
The guitar solo starts at 2:37:
Unusual for the guitar
What’s complicated about the piece is that it starts at the sixth fret of the A string, climbs up from the third fret, and involves a tone shift, as the artist explained. He said that this was a testament to Mercury’s skills as a musician and his love of “heavy” rock. “It’s funny – Freddie was a really good riff master.”
“It’s difficult to grab it, it’s very unusual,” said the 76-year-old, adding: “And to be honest, I still don’t find it easy!” At least in the middle of the battle, live on stage, he confessed. However, Brian May can play it well at home.
