31 Freddie Mercury Pictures That Capture The Rock Icon S Glory Days

These amazing Freddie Mercury photos capture the rock ’n’ roll icon as the show-stopping star that he was.

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1 of 32At the age of 17, Mercury and his family fled from Zanzibar for safety reasons due to the 1964 Zanzibar Revolution.

File photo taken in the U.K. Circa 1970.Photo by Chris Walter/WireImage 2 of 32Freddie Mercury showing his raw emotions at the piano.Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images 3 of 32The release of Queen’s debut album in 1973 was hailed as one of the most exciting developments in rock music.

With bandmate Brian May, on stage in the U.K. Ian Dickson/Redferns 4 of 32Members of Mercury’s former English group Ibex pose in Bolton, Lancashire on August 23, 1969.Mark and Colleen Hayward/Redferns 5 of 32In addition to his music, Freddie Mercury will always be remembered for his dramatic fashions.Hulton-Deutsch/Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis via Getty Images 6 of 32Mercury had a wide range of artistic interests and influences, including ballet, opera, and theatre.Ian Dickson/Redferns 7 of 32Freddie Mercury performing circa 1970.Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

8 of 32Freddie Mercury with a nearly naked guest at one of Queen’s famous parties. John Rodgers/Redferns 9 of 32The Queen frontman performing live at Congresgebouw in The Hague, Netherlands on December 8, 1974. Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns 10 of 32Using his background in graphic design, Freddie Mercury made Queen’s crest logo, which featured the zodiac signs of all four band members.Deviant Art/MabMeddowsMercury 11 of 32Freddie Mercury performs with Queen in June 1979 in Paris, France.Georges De Keerle/Getty Images 12 of 32Freddie Mercury getting training from a ballet instructor. August 1979.Mark and Colleen Hayward/Getty Images 13 of 32Rocking on stage in a kimono. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images 14 of 32Freddie Mercury’s flamboyant stage performances led journalists to speculate about his sexuality. Some claim that he was openly gay, but others say he tried to hide his sexuality, as homosexual acts between adults had only recently been decriminalized in the U.K.Flickr/clender 15 of 32To this day, Queen’s Greatest Hits remains the biggest selling album in British history, ahead of the likes of The Beatles and Adele.Flickr/clender 16 of 32Queen live at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo. March 22, 1976.Koh Hasebe/Shinko Music/Getty Images 17 of 32Wikimedia Commons/Carl Lender 18 of 32Many artists looked up to Freddie Mercury — both during and after his time. Tragically, Kurt Cobain’s suicide note mentioned how he both admired and envied the way Mercury “seemed to love, relish in the love and adoration from the crowd.“Fin Costello/Redferns 19 of 32Freddie Mercury on stage in 1985. Dave Hogan/Getty Images 20 of 32Queen performing at Madison Square Garden in New York City on September 30, 1980.Waring Abbott/Getty Images 21 of 32In a 1986 interview, Mercury said, “I hate doing the same thing again and again and again. I like to see what’s happening now in music, film, and theatre and incorporate all of those things.“Brian Rasic/Getty Images 22 of 32Throughout his career, Freddie Mercury performed an estimated 700 concerts around the world with Queen.Photo by Express Newspapers/Getty Images 23 of 32Freddie Mercury with Jane Seymour during Fashion Aid. November 6, 1985.Dave Hogan/Hulton Archive/Getty Images 24 of 32Getting a mustache trim in 1982. Steve Wood/Express/Getty Images 25 of 32On stage at Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. June 5, 1982.Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images 26 of 32Queen was the first foreign rock band ever to play in South American stadiums.Suzie Gibbons/Redferns 27 of 32Freddie Mercury is embraced by fellow musician Mark O’Toole (a former member of the band Frankie Goes to Hollywood) while sitting next to another musician named Belouis Some. 1986.Dave Hogan/Getty Images 28 of 32Despite writing numerous songs with intricate melodies, Mercury claimed that he was not able to read music very well.Flickr/a a 29 of 32Freddie Mercury was a cat lover. While on tour, he would often call home to talk to his feline friends on the phone.Flickr/Summer1978 30 of 32Queen’s performance at Live Aid in 1985 has been voted by a group of music executives as the greatest live performance in the history of rock music.Flickr/kentarotakizawa 31 of 32On the evening of November 24, 1991, a little over 24 hours after he told the media that he was suffering from AIDS, Freddie Mercury died at the age of 45. Flickr/nico7martin 32 of 32Like this gallery?Share it:

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Freddie Mercury’s Larger-Than-Life Career In 31 Photos View Gallery

It’s hard to imagine Freddie Mercury as anything other than the frontman of Queen. And yet, he worked at an airport, sold secondhand clothing, and studied graphic design long before he met his future bandmates.

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These 13 Photos Of Freddie Mercury’s Cat Obsession Will Melt Your Heart

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33 Young Betty White Pictures That Capture A Hollywood Star In The Making

1 of 32At the age of 17, Mercury and his family fled from Zanzibar for safety reasons due to the 1964 Zanzibar Revolution.

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And if you liked this post, be sure to check out these popular posts:

These 13 Photos Of Freddie Mercury’s Cat Obsession Will Melt Your Heart

“Love Of My Life”: Inside The Romance Between Freddie Mercury And Mary Austin

33 Young Betty White Pictures That Capture A Hollywood Star In The Making

1 of 32At the age of 17, Mercury and his family fled from Zanzibar for safety reasons due to the 1964 Zanzibar Revolution.

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These 13 Photos Of Freddie Mercury’s Cat Obsession Will Melt Your Heart

“Love Of My Life”: Inside The Romance Between Freddie Mercury And Mary Austin

33 Young Betty White Pictures That Capture A Hollywood Star In The Making

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1 of 32At the age of 17, Mercury and his family fled from Zanzibar for safety reasons due to the 1964 Zanzibar Revolution.

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1 of 32At the age of 17, Mercury and his family fled from Zanzibar for safety reasons due to the 1964 Zanzibar Revolution.

File photo taken in the U.K. Circa 1970.Photo by Chris Walter/WireImage

2 of 32Freddie Mercury showing his raw emotions at the piano.Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

3 of 32The release of Queen’s debut album in 1973 was hailed as one of the most exciting developments in rock music.

With bandmate Brian May, on stage in the U.K. Ian Dickson/Redferns

4 of 32Members of Mercury’s former English group Ibex pose in Bolton, Lancashire on August 23, 1969.Mark and Colleen Hayward/Redferns

5 of 32In addition to his music, Freddie Mercury will always be remembered for his dramatic fashions.Hulton-Deutsch/Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis via Getty Images

6 of 32Mercury had a wide range of artistic interests and influences, including ballet, opera, and theatre.Ian Dickson/Redferns

7 of 32Freddie Mercury performing circa 1970.Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

8 of 32Freddie Mercury with a nearly naked guest at one of Queen’s famous parties. John Rodgers/Redferns

9 of 32The Queen frontman performing live at Congresgebouw in The Hague, Netherlands on December 8, 1974. Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns

10 of 32Using his background in graphic design, Freddie Mercury made Queen’s crest logo, which featured the zodiac signs of all four band members.Deviant Art/MabMeddowsMercury

11 of 32Freddie Mercury performs with Queen in June 1979 in Paris, France.Georges De Keerle/Getty Images

12 of 32Freddie Mercury getting training from a ballet instructor. August 1979.Mark and Colleen Hayward/Getty Images

13 of 32Rocking on stage in a kimono. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

14 of 32Freddie Mercury’s flamboyant stage performances led journalists to speculate about his sexuality. Some claim that he was openly gay, but others say he tried to hide his sexuality, as homosexual acts between adults had only recently been decriminalized in the U.K.Flickr/clender

15 of 32To this day, Queen’s Greatest Hits remains the biggest selling album in British history, ahead of the likes of The Beatles and Adele.Flickr/clender

16 of 32Queen live at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo. March 22, 1976.Koh Hasebe/Shinko Music/Getty Images

17 of 32Wikimedia Commons/Carl Lender

18 of 32Many artists looked up to Freddie Mercury — both during and after his time. Tragically, Kurt Cobain’s suicide note mentioned how he both admired and envied the way Mercury “seemed to love, relish in the love and adoration from the crowd.“Fin Costello/Redferns

19 of 32Freddie Mercury on stage in 1985. Dave Hogan/Getty Images

20 of 32Queen performing at Madison Square Garden in New York City on September 30, 1980.Waring Abbott/Getty Images

21 of 32In a 1986 interview, Mercury said, “I hate doing the same thing again and again and again. I like to see what’s happening now in music, film, and theatre and incorporate all of those things.“Brian Rasic/Getty Images

22 of 32Throughout his career, Freddie Mercury performed an estimated 700 concerts around the world with Queen.Photo by Express Newspapers/Getty Images

23 of 32Freddie Mercury with Jane Seymour during Fashion Aid. November 6, 1985.Dave Hogan/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

24 of 32Getting a mustache trim in 1982. Steve Wood/Express/Getty Images

25 of 32On stage at Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. June 5, 1982.Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

26 of 32Queen was the first foreign rock band ever to play in South American stadiums.Suzie Gibbons/Redferns

27 of 32Freddie Mercury is embraced by fellow musician Mark O’Toole (a former member of the band Frankie Goes to Hollywood) while sitting next to another musician named Belouis Some. 1986.Dave Hogan/Getty Images

28 of 32Despite writing numerous songs with intricate melodies, Mercury claimed that he was not able to read music very well.Flickr/a a

29 of 32Freddie Mercury was a cat lover. While on tour, he would often call home to talk to his feline friends on the phone.Flickr/Summer1978

30 of 32Queen’s performance at Live Aid in 1985 has been voted by a group of music executives as the greatest live performance in the history of rock music.Flickr/kentarotakizawa

31 of 32On the evening of November 24, 1991, a little over 24 hours after he told the media that he was suffering from AIDS, Freddie Mercury died at the age of 45. Flickr/nico7martin

32 of 32Like this gallery?Share it:

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Freddie Mercury’s Larger-Than-Life Career In 31 Photos View Gallery

Freddie Mercury’s Larger-Than-Life Career In 31 Photos

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Even before all of that, Mercury was a little boy named Farrokh Bulsara. Born in the central African Sultanate of Zanzibar in 1946, he was raised by Parsi parents who were originally from India. The family stayed in Zanzibar until Farrokh was 17 years old. Then, they moved to Middlesex, England, in the mid-1960s. And that’s when Farrokh’s metamorphosis into Freddie began.

Soon, after enrolling in the Ealing College of Art, he met Roger Taylor and Brian May, who were already in a band called Smile. Mercury joined the pair, and with the addition of bassist John Deacon, the band Queen was born.

Mercury’s range — both in terms of musical genres and vocal abilities — remains unrivaled to this day. Incredibly, Mercury was able to hit a bass low F and a soprano high F. A talented writer, he also penned most of Queen’s greatest hits, which ranged all the way from heavy metal to disco.

Wikimedia CommonsFrom famous pictures of Freddie Mercury onstage to rarely-seen images of him at home, the gallery above captures the iconic reign of the Queen frontman.

While Mercury was an extremely extroverted performer, he preferred to keep his personal life out of public view. He was romantically involved with actress Barbara Valentin, DJ Kenny Everett, and hairdresser Jim Hutton, but Mercury’s “greatest love” was a woman named Mary Austin.

As he said of Austin in a 1985 interview, “All my lovers asked me why they couldn’t replace Mary, but it’s simply impossible. The only friend I’ve got is Mary and I don’t want anybody else. To me, she was my common-law wife. To me, it was a marriage. We believe in each other, that’s enough for me.”

And when Freddie Mercury tragically died of AIDS in November 1991, he left his home to Austin. He also left her this note: “You would have been my wife and it would have been yours anyway.”

As we reach the 30th anniversary of his passing, these Freddie Mercury pictures help outline the contours of his life — one cut far too short.

After looking through these incredible pictures of Freddie Mercury, check out the crazy stories behind your favorite Beatles songs. Then, take a look at 28 iconic images of Johnny Cash.

These amazing Freddie Mercury photos capture the rock ’n’ roll icon as the show-stopping star that he was.#

These amazing Freddie Mercury photos capture the rock ’n’ roll icon as the show-stopping star that he was.