Freddie Mercury: A Kind of Magic
Freddie Mercury: A Kind of Magic

Author: Mark Blake

Publisher: Omnibus Press

Published: 2016-09-12

Total Pages: 270

ISBN-13: 1783237783

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Freddie Mercury was rock’s most dazzling showman, a legendary entertainer who in 1991, at the age of just forty-five, became the first major music star to die of AIDS. Mercury’s soaring four-octave voice was a defining element in Queen’s unique sound, crucial to the success of the band’s fifteen studio albums, from Queen (1973) to Made in Heaven (1995). He was also a supremely talented songwriter and musician who wrote many of the band’s greatest hits, including ‘Killer Queen’, ‘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 Spanish soprano Montserrat Caballé in 1988. Mercury’s extraordinary charisma was perhaps best seen in his imperious live performances, in which he’d 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’. He pushed the limits of camp in everything he did. His extreme behaviour, in a society in which being gay was only starting to be accepted, just added to Freddie Mercury’s allure. With expert understanding, Mark Blake traces Mercury’s life from his childhood in Zanzibar and India to his untimely death, and charts his astonishing achievements including in Queen’s world-conquering performance at Live Aid in 1985. In the year that marks what would have been his seventieth birthday, Freddie Mercury: A Life celebrates a remarkable life, lived to the fullest. Featuring revealing interviews with fellow musicians, producers and collaborators, and a detailed discography and timeline, this is a memorable tribute to a unique recording artist and an irreplaceable performer who rocked the world.

A Kind of Magic
A Kind of Magic

Author: Sarah Hue-Williams

Publisher:

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781910787816

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After 1918, post-war euphoria spread across Europe and America. Technology was changing the pace of life and aeroplanes, motorcars and ocean liners were making the world a smaller place with improved communications. Some were making their fortunes, and for those who could afford it, it was an exciting time of cocktail parties, nightclubs and jazz. Fashion was Paris, elegance, the Paris Expo of 1925 and Art Deco with the lure of the avant-garde; but much of the wealth was in America, represented by the jazz age, glamour, The Great Gatsby and Hollywood. And the emancipated, wealthy, fashionable woman of means wanted newly-designed jewellery and accessories decorated with contemporary motifs to reflect her new status. The vanity case, the ultimate jewelled fashion accessory, was designed and made mostly in Paris by the skilled designers and craftsmen who understood that the fashionable modern woman needed a practical solution to containing her lipstick, powder compact, cigarettes, lighter, theatre tickets, keys and all the other small paraphernalia about her person.0Made of precious metals including platinum and gold, with inlays of lacquer, gemstones, mother of pearl, jade, or enamel, these 'reticules' took hundreds of hours of patient craftsmanship to complete and were very, very expensive. Objects of desire to be passed round and shown off at gatherings of the super-rich, they became miniature status symbols to be seen with at the opera or restaurant.

Is This the Real Life?
Is This the Real Life?

Author: Mark Blake

Publisher: Da Capo Press, Incorporated

Published: 2011-03-22

Total Pages: 434

ISBN-13: 0306819597

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Draws on interviews with producers, managers and ex-girlfriends and boyfriends to provide a history of the band, including how lead singer Freddie Mercury's untimely death from AIDs challenged the band to reinvent itself.

Queen a Kind of Magic
Queen a Kind of Magic

Author: Michael A. O'Neill

Publisher: Danann Books

Published: 2018-10

Total Pages: 112

ISBN-13: 9781912332229

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Queen are one of the biggest stadium rock bands in the world. "Another One Bites the Dust" (1980) became their best-selling single, while their 1981 compilation album Greatest Hits is the best-selling album in the UK and is certified eight times platinum in the US. Their record sales range from 150 million to 300 million records, making them one of the world's best-selling music artists. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001. In 2018 they were presented the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Queen
Queen

Author: Queen (Musical group)

Publisher:

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781617130137

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(Book). In 2011, the world celebrated the 40th anniversary of Queen one of the most innovative, glamorous, and influential bands in history. Over the course of the band's career, they have grossed 170 million album sales worldwide, have written 18 number one hits, and performed 700 concerts. While some acts enjoy a forte of incredible showmanship, a virtuoso instrumentalist, a strong, charismatic leader, or a prolific sole songwriter, Queen beholds all of these strengths. Although Freddie Mercury and Brian May are recognized as the prime songwriters, each of the members have penned number one hits, including classics such as "Bohemian Rhapsody" (Freddie Mercury), "Another One Bites the Dust" (John Deacon), "A Kind of Magic" (Roger Taylor), and "We Will Rock You" (Brian May). The fates brought the four creative and cerebral youths together in London in 1971 (Mercury was by then an established fine and graphic artist, May was enveloped in the study of astrophysics, Roger Taylor enrolled in dental school, and John studying electronics). Since then, they have made history with their sophisticated fusion of operatic expression, theatrical performance, symphonic melody, and raw rock-and-roll. Beginning with their debut Queen in 1973 (EMI/Electra Records), the band took the UK by storm, then conquered the United States along with rest of the world, serving as pioneers of stadium rock and enjoying commercial success and momentum well into the 1980s (marked by the famous Live Aid appearance in 1985) through the early 1990s. The whirlwind took a startling pause when singer Freddie Mercury passed away from AIDS on November 24, 1991. The living members have forged ahead and remain great music makers. The Complete Illustrated Lyrics is the first book of its kind. Never before has there been a complete Queen lyric book. The hundreds of images that accompany the songs range from handwritten lyrics to rare photographs from the stage to the studio. Also included is a complete discography, pairing each song to the album on which it was originally released. Designed by the band's longtime creative director, Richard Gray, the book is as true to the band as can be, carrying with it the flamboyance, expression, and depth that Queen embodies as writers and performers. If there is one book for a fan of the band to possess, this is the one.

Somebody to Love
Somebody to Love

Author: Matt Richards

Publisher: Weldon Owen

Published: 2018-05-08

Total Pages: 464

ISBN-13: 1681884097

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For the first time, the final years of one of the world's most captivating rock showman are laid bare. Including interviews from Freddie Mercury's closest friends in the last years of his life, along with personal photographs, Somebody to Love is an authoritative biography of the great man. Here are previously unknown and startling facts about the singer and his life, moving detail on his lifelong search for love and personal fulfilment, and of course his tragic contraction of a then killer disease in the mid-1980s. Woven throughout Freddie's life is the shocking story of how the HIV virus came to hold the world in its grip, was cruelly labelled 'The Gay Plague' and the unwitting few who indirectly infected thousands of men, women and children - Freddie Mercury himself being one of the most famous. The death of this vibrant and spectacularly talented rock star, shook the world of medicine as well as the world of music. Somebody to Love finally puts the record straight and pays detailed tribute to the man himself.

Freddie Mercury - the Great Pretender
Freddie Mercury - the Great Pretender

Author: Richard Gray

Publisher: Carlton Books

Published: 2019-04-04

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781787392588

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This fully authorized, visually stunning tribute to the incomparable Freddie Mercury gives fans unprecedented access to one of the world's greatest performers. Foreword by Rami Malek, Oscar-winning star ofBohemian Rhapsody Widely known as an electric showman with no equal, Freddie Mercury's death in 1991 left the world mourning. This colorful, official volume, filled with rare images and insightful text, painstakingly recounts all aspects of Mercury's colorful, fascinating life. It follows his childhood in Zanzibar, his fame as Queen's lead singer, his solo career, and beyond. The photographs come from the private collections of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Bulsara, band mate Brian May, and the many notable contemporary photographers who shot Mercury.

Queen Unseen - My Life with the Greatest Rock Band of the 20th Century: Revised and with Added Material
Queen Unseen - My Life with the Greatest Rock Band of the 20th Century: Revised and with Added Material

Author: Peter Hince

Publisher: Bonnier Zaffre

Published: 2015-10-11

Total Pages: 292

ISBN-13: 1784188794

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Imagine being alongside one of the greatest bands in the history of rock, touring the world and being there as they perform at some of the best and biggest music venues in the world. Peter Hince didn't have to imagine: for more than a decade, he lived a life that other people can only dream of as he worked with Queen as head of their road crew. In 1973, Queen was the support act for Mott the Hoople, for whom Peter was a roadie. Back then, Queen had to content themselves with being second on the bill and the world had not yet woken up to the flamboyant talent of Freddie Mercury. Peter started working full time for Queen just as they were making A Night at the Opera, the album which catapulted them to international stardom. In this intimate and affectionate book, Peter recalls the highlights of his years with the band. He was with Freddie when he composed 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love'; he was responsible for making sure that Freddie's stage performances went without a hitch - and was often there to witness his famed tantrums! He was also party to the sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll which are invariably part of life on the road with a rock band.

Freddie Mercury: An Intimate Memoir by the Man who Knew Him Best
Freddie Mercury: An Intimate Memoir by the Man who Knew Him Best

Author: Peter Freestone

Publisher: Omnibus Press

Published: 2010-01-07

Total Pages: 354

ISBN-13: 0857121278

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An intimate memoir of the flamboyant Queen singer by the man who knew him best. Peter Freestone was Freddie Mercury’s Personal Assistant for the last 12 years of his life. He lived with Mercury in London, Munich and New York, and he was with him when he died. In this book, the most intimate account of Mercury’s life ever written, he reveals the truth behind the scandalous rumours, the outrageous lifestyle and Mercury’s relationships with men, women and the other members of Queen. From the famous names – including Elton John, Kenny Everett, Elizabeth Taylor and Rod Stewart – to the shadowy army of lovers, fixers and hangers-on, Peter Freestone saw them all play their part in the tragi-comedy that was Freddie Mercury’s life. Freestone lived with Mercury in Europe and America for over a decade. From the East 50s apartment in New York to Kensington Lodge, the house in London where Mercury died – not to mention innumerable international hotel rooms and apartments in between – Freestone was always on hand to serve and protect the man he had first met in the Biba department store in the early 1970s. Then Queen was a largely unknown band. Soon it would be the most glitzy of glam rock bands. Freestone saw the fame arrive and with it the generosity, the excess, and the celebrity friends who came and went. “I was chief cook and bottle washer, waiter, butler, valet, secretary, amanuensis, cleaner, baby-sitter… and agony aunt,” he writes. “I shopped for him both at supermarkets and art markets, I travelled the world with him, I was with him at the highs and came through the lows with him. I saw the creative juices flow and I also saw the frustration when life wasn’t going well. I acted as his bodyguard when needed and in the end, of course, I was one of his nurses.” Freestone’s bet-selling account of a talented and extravagant star’s life and death is compelling, entertaining and ultimately, very touching. Illustrated with many photos from personal and Freestone’s own archives. Press Reviews“An entertaining and thought provoking read” – PRS for Music Sales “This collection of Freddie’s own words is the closest thing there is to an autobiography of a man with no regrets. The foreword is written by his mother” – reFRESH magazine, Leading Gay mag in the UK

Bohemian Rhapsody
Bohemian Rhapsody

Author: Lesley-Ann Jones

Publisher: Hachette UK

Published: 2011-10-13

Total Pages: 317

ISBN-13: 1444733702

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'Exactly the sort of tribute Mercury himself would have wanted' SPECTATOR 'No one has captured better than Lesley-Ann Jones the magical, enchanting dualism of Freddie Mercury' THE TIMES 'Truly definitive, truly Freddie, an energetic, entertaining and essential account' SIR TIM RICE 'This book grabs you with its opening, then builds. Insight and anecdote in perfect harmony' SIMON NAPIER-BELL 'At last a massive tribute to a massive talent' STEVE HARLEY, COCKNEY REBEL This is the definitive biography of Freddie Mercury. Written by an award-winning rock journalist, Lesley-Ann Jones toured widely with Queen forming lasting friendships with the band. Now, having secured access to the remaining band members and those who were closest to Freddie, from childhood to death, Lesley-Ann has written the most in depth account of one of music's best loved and most complex figures. Meticulously researched, sympathetic, unsensational, the book will focus on the period in the 1980s when Queen began to fragment, before their Live Aid performance put them back in the frame. In her journey to understand the man behind the legend, Lesley-Ann Jones has travelled from London to Zanzibar to India. Packed with exclusive interviews and told with the invaluable perspective that the twenty years since Mercury's death presents, Freddie Mercury is the most up to date portrait of a legendary man.