What the legend said
"Roger, the drummer, and Brian, the bass guitarist, used to be in a band called 'Smile' with another friend of mine who was a singer, and I used to be in another band, and John (bassist, John Deacon) used to be in another band. We were getting our various University degrees together and were in these semi-pro bands. We got to know each other through these bands and exchanged our musical ideas and felt that if we could sort of sit down and work together it would come together -- it would, y'know, blend. So after 'Smile' broke up, Brian and Roger approached me, our ideas came together, and we thought we should take the plunge. So it was basically Brian, Roger and myself who formed Queen and we then got John afterwards.
About the pictures for the "SHA" sleeve: "God, the agony we went through to have the pictures taken, dear. Can you imagine trying to convince the others to cover themselves in Vaseline and then have a hose of water turned on them ?""We'd had a hectic day at 'Top Of The Pops' and our promotion man Eric Hall invited us out for a meal. Unfortunately the others in the band couldn't come as they had to go back to the studio. Anyway, I had rather a lot to drink and I seem to remember at some point in the evening that someone removed my shoes and socks and hung them on a lampshade. Then I said something along the lines of 'well, if you're going to take everything off I shall remove my trousers...' "
"For God's sake, if I want to make big confessions about my sex life, would I go to The Sun, of all papers, to do it? There's no fucking way I'd do that. I'm too intelligent."
"I enjoy being a bitch. I enjoy being surrounded by bitches. Boredom is the biggest disease in the world, darling. Sometimes I think there must be more to life than rushing round the world like a mad thing getting bored."
We don't believe in having any session men, we do everything ourselves, from the high falsetto to the low bassy farts ; it's all us.
"I don't like to do interviews, because if you plonk a tape-recorder in front of me, I just clam up, you know."
"The thing is, I believe in personalities, not papers. I'm not interested in us versus the NME, I'm just here talking to you. People do think that because I don't do interviews, I've got this thing about the press. And it's not true."
"When I look back on all that black varnish, chiffron, satin and that, I think, God, what was I doing?"
"I can't relax in bed all day, I think that is a waste of time. I hardly read books, I think that is a waste of time. People are gonna kill me for this!"
"Love is Russian roulette for me. No one loves the real me inside, they're all in love with my fame, my stardom...l have this hard, macho shell, which I project on stage, but there's a much softer side too, which melts like butter."
"The concept of Queen is to be regal and majestic. Glamour is a part of us, and we want to be dandy."
"I want my privacy, and I feel I've given a lot for it. It's like Greta Garbo isn't it? Virgo, same star sign."
"I've made no effort to become a guitar hero because I can't play the fucking guitar!"
"I want to do it my way. I sound like Frank Sinatra!!"
"Does it mean this, does it mean that, that's all anybody wants to know. F**k them, darling. I say what any decent poet would say if you dared ask him to analyse his work: If you see it, dear, then it's there."
"I love New York. When I am there, I just slut myself. It is Sin city with a capital S."
"I'm going to relax for a while. Maybe I'll get a blow job. Hell, it's Halloween, right?"
"John is doubling as our accountant at the moment. If God forsakes us, we won't do anything unless John says it's okay."
"I'll go to bed with anything."
"I'm just an old slag who gets up in the morning, scratches his head, and wonders who he wants to f**k."
"The reason we're successful, darling? My overall charisma, of course..."
"Rod Stewart, Elton John and I were going to form a band called Hair, Nose & Teeth after the three of us. But it hasn't happened because none of us can agree on the order of the words!"
"I'm simply dripping in money, darling. It's vulgar, but it's wonderful. All I want from life Is to make lots of immey and spend it."
"I just love being pampered it's just something that's grown with me. I mean, I can't even make myself a cup of tea. I'm useless at it, so I have someone else to do it for me. That's the kind of environment I live in, my dear! "
"I don't like the way my teeth protrude. I'm going to have them done, but I just haven't had the time. Apart from that - I'm perfect."
"It's not a question of money anymore. I spend money like it's nothing. You know, I could be penniless tomorrow. But I'd get back somehow."
"I'd like to be buried with all my treasures, just like the Pharaohs. If I could afford it, I'd have a pyramid built in Kensington."
"I have to go around the world living in hotels. You can have a whole shoal of people looking after you, but in the end they all go away."
"I was wearing a white scarf and holding a glass of wine when I was introduced to Prince Andrew. But I was so nervous I didnt realize that my scarf was dangling in the drink. There I was trying to be really cool and suddenly the Prince said, 'Freddie, I don't think you really want this getting wet.' He squeezed out the scarf and that broke the ice between us. I said, 'Thank goodness you've put me at ease. Now I can use the odd bit of dirty language.' He really got into the spirit of things and even had a dance. He's really quite hip in those sort of situations. I have a lot of respect for Royalty, I'm a tremendous patriot."
"I shall be Marlene. What a delicious thought!"
"I can be very soft, slushy and mushy." On the subject of children: "I'd rather get another cat."
"I need the extra teeth!"
"I think I'm going to go mad in a few years time. I'm going to be one of those insane musicians.""We aimed for the top slot. We were not going to be satisfied with anything less."
"Fuck them, darling, if they just don't get it."
"I love to surround myself with strange and interesting people because they make me feel more alive. Extremely straight people bore me stiff. I love freaky people around me. By nature I'm restless and highly-strung, so I wouldn't make a very good family man. Deep down inside I am a very emotional person, a person of real extremes, and often that's destructive both to myself and others."
"Most of the songs I write are all love ballads and things having to do with sadness and torture and pain: at the same time it's frivolous and tongue in cheek. That's basically my whole nature, I guess."
"I am a very loving person, you know"
about Mary and him:
"Our love affair ended in tears, but a deep bond grew out of it, and that's something nobody can take away from us. It's unreachable."
"I don't give a shit what people say about me.."
"I have a nervous energy that needs to be doing something. I can't relax in bed all day and just do nothing. I think it's a waste of time."
"I'm a very hated person, but I hate the Press as well. So that goes both ways, but to me I think I've learned to live with it."
"I'm a man of extremes, you know, I sort of change from day to day like a chameleon and each day is different to me and I look forward to that. I don't want to be the same person every day."
"Ah! I'm not supposed to talk to you!"
"I just feel I'm not a very good partner for anybody and I just think that's what my love is. I think my love is dangerous, who wants their love to be safe? Can you imagine writing a song 'My Love Is Safe'? It would never sell!"
"I do deliver sex appeal. It's part of modern Rock. I sell sex appeal with my body movements on stage."
I have to win people over, otherwise it's not a successful gig. It's my job to make sure people have a good time. That's part of my duty. It's all to do with feeling in control. That song We Are The Champions has been taken up by football fans because it's a winners' song.
"I was also pleased with my voice. I like it husky. It's all the smoking. That's why I smoke -- to get that husky voice."
to Brian and Roger, 1970:
"Why are you wasting your time doing this? You should be more demonstrative in the way you put music across. If I was your singer, that's what I'd be doing."
"Have I got upper class parents who put a lot of money into me? Was I spoilt? No. My parents were very strict. I wasn't the only one, I've got a sister. I was at boarding school for nine years so I didn't see my parents that often. That background helped me a lot because it taught me to fend for myself."
...
"It's stupid to say there is no such things in boarding schools. All the things they say about them are more or less true. All the bullying and everything else. I've had the odd schoolmaster chasing me. It didn't shock me because somehow boarding schools.. you're not confronted by it, you are just slowly aware of it. Its going through the life."
"I'm a man of extremes. I have a soft side and a hard side with not a lot between. If the right person finds me I can be very vulnerable, a real baby, which is invariably when I get trodden on. But sometimes I'm hard, and when I'm strong no-one can get to me."
"I don't really think we'll ever break up. I guess if people stopped buying our records, we'd call it a day. And then I'll go off and be a striptease artist or something." "I used to think we'd go on for five years, but it's got to a point now where we're actually too old to break up. Can you imagine forming a new band at 40? Be a bit silly wouldn't it?"
"I'm not going to dance around on stage when I'm fifty. I'd look ridiculous!"
"I can't carry on rocking the way I did in the past. It's all too much. It's no way for a grown man to behave. I've stopped my nights of wild partying. That's not because I'm ill but down to age. I'm no spring chicken. Now I prefer to spend my time at home. It's all part of growing up."
"What will I be doing in twenty years' time? I'll be dead, darling! Are you crazy?"
"I don't think I'll make old bones and I don't care. I've lived a full life. I really have done it all and if I'm dead tomorrow I don't care a damn." "When I'm dead who cares? I don't..."
"I lived for sex. Amazingly, I've just gone completely the other way. AIDS changed my life. I have stopped going out, I've become almost a nun. I was extremely promiscuous, but I've stopped all that. What's more, I don't miss that kind of life. Anyone who has been promiscuous should have an AIDS test. I'm fine, I'm clear."
(I don't know about you people, but I'm in doubt those are his words)
"I've got a few good friends, a big house and I can go wherever I want whenever I want... but the more money you make the more miserable you get. It just so happens that I have a lot of money."
Freddie's official statement concerning his illness, made on November 23rd, 1991
"Following the enormous conjecture in the press over the last two weeks, I wish to confirm that I have been tested HIV positive and have AIDS. I felt it correct to keep this information private to date to protect the privacy of those around me. However, the time has come now for my friends and fans around the world to know the truth and I hope that everyone will join with my doctors and all those worldwide in the fight against this terrible disease. My privacy has always been very special to me and I am famous for my lack of interviews. Please understand this policy will continue. "
Back to my Freddie Mercury/Queen page