About this Book

"He was rock's most dazzling personality: a legendary entertainer who in 1991, at the age of just forty-five, became the first pop star to die of AIDS. Freddie's soaring four-octave voice was a defining element in Queen's unique sound, featuring in more than a dozen of the band's million-selling albums through the 1970s to the early 1990s. He was also a supremely talented songwriter and musicians and wrote some of the band's greatest hits, including 'Killer queen' and 'We are the champions' and their biggest triumph, the epic anthem 'Bohemian rhapsody.' As a solo artist he released two acclaimed albums--Mr. Bad Guy in 1985 and the operatic Barcelona with the Spanish soprano Montserrat Caballé, in 1988 (subsequently used as the anthem for the 1992 Olympics held in Barcelona). Freddie used his extraordinary charisma in commanding live performances to hold vast stadium crowds to rapturous attention. His outrageous theatrics, physicality, and over-the-top costumes led one commentator to describe him as a 'performer out to tease, shock, and ultimately charm his audience with various extravagant versions of himself.' Freddie pushed the limits of camp in everything he did, but his extreme behaviour just seemed to add to his allure. In the year that marks what would have been his seventieth birthday, Freddie Mercury: a kind of magic celebrates a remarkable life, lived to the fullest. With expert understanding, Mark Blake traces Freddie's life from his childhood in Zanzibar and India to his untimely death, and charts his astonishing achievements culminating in a world-conquering performance at Life Aid in 1985. Featuring insightful interviews with fellow musicians, producers, and collaborators, rare and spectacular photographs, and a detailed discography and timeline, this is a tribute to a unique recording artist and an irreplaceable performer who rocked the world"--Dust jacket.