Queen Tribute For Mercury's 60th

[busybeeburns]

 

Freddie Mercury Video Streams: http://www.contactmusic.com/new/home.nsf/webpages/freddiemercuryx23x08x06

 

On 5 September, had he lived, the instantly recognisable Freddie Mercury would have been 60 years old.

 

To mark the occasion, there are two new collections coming out – one of his solo recordings and another of the videos made as a solo artist.

 

Locally, here in Basingstoke I am working with The Academy to put on a very special tribute show, with the internationally acclaimed band MERCURY, on Saturday 2nd September.

 

Within Queen and as a solo artist, Freddie took all the theatrical skills he could lay his hands on, combined them with a superb rock singing voice, and made something that was hard to resist.

 

Landing on English shores from Zanzibar aged 18, Freddie played in rock 'n' roll bands with friends but, like many, it was Jimi Hendrix that made him think about music in a different way.

 

He found drummer Roger Taylor and guitarist Brian May working with another band, and when that broke up, in stepped Freddie. With the addition of bassist John Deacon, Queen was born.

 

Freddie’s solo career actually started before the first Queen album came out, with a single called I Can Hear Music, released under the slightly incredible name Larry Lurex. It would be more than a decade before we would see another release from him.

 

During that time, Queen established themselves among the leaders in the rock field and stormed through a heart-stopping set at 1985’s Live Aid.

 

It was in 1985 that Freddie's first solo album, Mr Bad Guy, came out, with the title track and Living On My Own performing well as singles. Thereafter, he sporadically released solo singles such as the mountainous Barcelona, which was the official song for the Olympics in that legendary city.

 

Sadly, towards the end of the 1980s, Freddie was diagnosed HIV positive. He went on to develop AIDS but, despite his prognosis, Freddie kept on writing and recording, both with Queen and as a solo artist. And it was posthumously that the majority of Freddie’s solo material came to see the light of day, as video and audio collections appeared during the 1990s.

 

He may have passed away in November 1991, but Freddie’s mark on music has lasted well into the new millennium and is brought to a new generation through tribute shows such as Mercury.

 

Mercury's first gig was played in humble surroundings at the George and Dragon pub in Derbyshire on 19th February 1999. Tolo Pomar of Romantic Corporation in Spain was in England searching for a Queen Tribute Act to play a summer season in Mallorca - so in stepped Mercury.

 

Mercury were catapulted into the limelight and won "Best show in Spain Award 1999", returning to Mallorca for two further seasons gaining 100's of loyal fans who now follow them across the UK.

 

Mercury's performances have been televised live from Holland to Hungary. A New Years Eve concert in Dubai was broadcast live by MTV Asia to millions of homes. But perhaps Mercury's most memorable moment was being invited to perform a live gig for Roger Taylor and his friends.

 

The Legend Lives on...

 

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=12906

[bart]

I am looking forward to this !!