Freddie Mercury is never going to be forgotten, but now that the biopic Bohemian Rhapsody is about to hit cinemas, there’s plenty of chatter around the life of the musical icon.

Everybody knows Freddie liked a good time, but according to biographer Lesley-Ann Jones, who toured with Queen when the band was at the peak of their fame, “there were lots of Freddies”.

Quite a line from Lesley here:

“He was quite shy. But he lived fast, died young and left a beautiful corpse.”

Anyway, moving on.

NewsAU have detailed some stories from Freddie’s, and the band’s, wild days, and it’s pretty interesting reading. Off we go:

Queen became known in the industry for throwing the most outrageous events, including a notorious bash at New Orleans’ Fairmont Hotel in 1978.

The party, to celebrate the release of the album Jazz, reportedly featured naked waiters and waitresses, an entertainer biting heads off live chickens, nude models wrestling in a bath and an army of dwarfs walking around the venue with trays of cocaine strapped to their heads.

Is ‘army’ the correct collective term for dwarfs? I doubt it. Still, I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall during that party.

Let’s move on to Freddie’s 41st birthday bash, at the Pikes Hotel in Ibiza, which was apparently one of the wildest parties the island has ever seen:

Freddie invited 700 guests, including Kylie Minogue, Bon Jovi and Boy George, to witness a fireworks display so spectacular that it could be seen over 160km away in Majorca.

A staggering 350 bottles of Moet & Chandon champagne were poured over the course of the evening, and the final bar bill — presented to Queen’s manager, Jim Beach, included the cost of 232 glasses which had been smashed.

700 guests and only 232 broken glasses? Raise your game. I’ve been known to take out an entire set of glasses on my own at a jol.

How about Freddie, the King of Pop, and his llama:

The two musical titans spent time recording together in 1983, but it was reported that some of Jackson’s quirky behaviour pushed Freddie over the edge before they could finish anything.

Jim Beach has spoken about a memorable phone call where Freddie begged to put and end to recording.

“Michael’s bringing his pet llama into the studio every day and I’m really not used to recording with a llama,” Freddie said. “I’ve had enough and I’d like to get out.”

MJ clearly transgressing the classic ‘no llamas in the studio’ rule. Rookie error.

Freddie also had a cat obsession, amongst other things:

He filled his home with them, and found it so difficult to be apart from his furry brood while Queen was touring that he would often phone home just to speak to them.

In 1991, the year he died, Freddie’s tortoiseshell cat Delilah was so close to his heart that he named a song after her.

He also had other obsessions, amassing huge collections of stamps and Japanese art which he kept in his home.

“He was passionate about everything he did and obsessive as well,” Lesley-Ann said. “His home was like a museum.”

Well, Freddie sure did enjoy his 45 years on this earth. One of his most famous quotes was when he was asked if he is careful about who he has sex with, and he replied ‘Darling, I’m doing everything with everybody’.

In case you’ve missed the trailer for Bohemian Rhapsody, the biopic starring Rami Malek as the musician, here you go:

[source:newsau]