11-26-1991 – The Star – Fear Over Star’s Legacy of AIDS
How Many More Freddie?
Tragic rock star Freddie Mercury’s “Russian Roulette” sex life is likely to kill scores of his lovers, a top doctor claimed yesterday. Bisexual Freddie admitted sleeping with at least 100 people – and close friends believe there were many more.
The singer could have been HIV positive for 10 years or more. His many lovers – both male and female – could have gone on to infect other unwitting victims. The worst fear is that Freddie was tangled in a lethal web of disease involving 500 people or more. AIDS expert Dr Richard Keenlyside said last night: “Anyone who had full unprotected sex with Freddie will be in that boat.”
A number of Freddie’s old flames are understood to have been contacted by doctors since he was diagnosed HIV positive five years ago. But many more cannot be traced because the star could not remember their names – or where they came from. At least three of Freddie’s former lovers are already known to have died of AIDS.
Anxious
Brian Bastin from Brighton, Sussex, who had a two-year fling with the star died in 1986 aged 35. Airline steward John Murphy, 37 who had a one-night fling with Freddie in 1980, also fell victim to the disease, and the singer’s former personal assistant, Dubliner Paul Prenter died last August.
Dr Keenlyside, of London’s Middlesex Hospital said: “It’s tragic that Freddie has died, but his death has raised again the point that AIDS isn’t going away. It’s being transmitted silently by people who don’t have any illness for a very long time.
Don’t Let My Music Die
Rock star’s death-bed plea to pal
Tragic rock star Freddie Mercury’s dying wish was: “I want my fans to keep my music alive forever.” The 45-year-old singer made the poignant plea to close friends just before slipping into unconsciousness.
Choking back the tears, Sixties pop star Dave Clark said: “I was with him when he died. He wanted his music to last forever. It’s his legacy. His music and wonderful videos will go on and on.” Dave had been a close friend since the Seventies said: “It was very peaceful at the end. I am sure he is now looking down on all of us from a peaceful place. There will never be another Freddie – he was a one-off. He was like a rare gem or a rare painting. There will never be another like him. I’m proud to have called him a friend. We all feel blessed to have known him.”
The Queen star died barely a day after admitting he had AIDS following moths of speculation about his frail appearance. Mary Austin, Freddie’s former lover and loyal companion for 21 years, had left his £4million London home only 10 minutes before, after a long bedside vigil.
Suffering
She said: “His parents didn’t see him before he died. I had to tell them.” Then Mary told of Freddie’s terrible suffering as his life ebbed away. She said: “Having witnessed what this illness can do. I wouldn’t wish it on anybody. He had terrible suffering – mental and emotional suffering as well as physical, especially in the last few days. He couldn’t eat and he was under heavy sedation. Sometimes we would talk if he had the energy but he would listen.”
“He didn’t want his parents to see him suffer. His mother saw him eight days before he died. He became ill very quickly and he didn’t really want then to see him. I think his parents did accept him. They were very close, but Freddie was always away.
Love
She continued: “So few people really knew him. My strength came from knowing him. I feel very much for the people that are looking after people and love people that are going to die of this disease, because it is dreadful. I would like to say to the fans that my heart goes out to them and they are not forgotten.
Last night the rest of rock group Queen were planning a celebration of Freddie’s life. Guitarist Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor, bass player John Deacon and manager Jim Beach said: “We have lost the greatest and most beloved member of our family. We feel overwhelming grief that he has gone, sadness that he should be cut down at the height of his creativity, but above all great pride in the courageous way he loved and died. It has been a privilege for us to have shared such magical times. As soon as we are able we would like to celebrate his life in the style to which he was accustomed.”
Meanwhile, Freddie’s loyal followers were paying their own respects. Fans – many in tears – gathered outside his Kensington home to lay flowers. Mrs June Stern, 50, and her daughter Wendy, from Bushey, Herts, placed a bouquet on the letterbox. Said June: “Freddie gave his fans15 wonderful years.” Wendy, 21 added: “He was special.”
As the singer’s sad staff collected the hundreds of bouquets, fans played his music in the street outside. Others pinned a poster outside with a love poem.
Godson Paul’s Million
Almost all of Freddie Mercury’s millions will be spent on fighting AIDS – the disease that killed him. But there will be a slice of about £1million for long-time love Mary Austin and her two-year-old son Dominic. Freddie looked on the boy – his godson – as the son he never had. Mary 36, had wanted a baby by Freddie but he told her: “I’d rather have another cat.”
Mary and Dominic – the son of an interior designer friend – live in a £500,000 flat bought for them by the star. He had left ALL his fortune to them in his will.
Fortune
But during the past year, he decided the bulk of his cash should help those who follow his painful path to death. Freddie reckoned to have earned about £30million from his glittering career. But he blew a fortune on his wild lifestyle and showered cash on family and friends.
The question now is: How much cash is left? At the end, his estate was mostly tied up in his £4million West London mansion and a hideaway home in Switzerland.
The flamboyant star loved to spend. But he is believed to have set up a trust fund to handle his earnings after death.
May’s Double Grief
Queen guitarist Brian May’s new single released yesterday, has, by sheer coincidence, a tribute to a dead pal on the b-side. The song, Just One Life is dedicated to actor Philip Sayer, who died of cancer two years afo when, like Freddie, he was in his forties. One line goes: Just one life that is born and gone – I was so glad to know you.
The Star Says: Tragic waste of a genius
The showbiz mafia must NOT be allowed to turn Freddie Mercury into a saint. An angel on stage, he was a sinner in the alleyways of his private life away from the spotlight. He debauched his enormous talent by pressing his own self-destruct button.
We’re busy trying to educate the young that dabbling in drugs and visiting the wilder shores of sex – with both genders – is deadly in this age of AIDS.
He boasted of doing both, in a big way too. There is a terrible price tag on that behavior. Freddie has now paid it. He was peerless as an entertainer and millions were enthralled by his magical music. Richly deserved success bred a fortune that he’s willed to research into beating this devastating disease. At least that’s the one decent thing he did.
But there is only ONE way to stop the killer plague spreading. By practicing safe sex and saying no to drugs. It would be the finest tribute to Freddie’s memory if his legions of admirers remembered that. And just listened to the songs, not the singer.
Man, Woman or Beast
The wild life and gay times of the master of excess
Freddie Mercury died in the cruel embrace of the two nightmares that he dreaded – loneliness and AIDS. Ironically his final, helpless months were spent confined to the huge, canopied bed which had been the crossroad of his fatally promiscuous private life.
“Come up and see my bed.” he would say to a prospective partner. “It sleeps six, so if we get bored with each other we can send for help,”
There were thousands of sexual encounters – but as Freddie often morosely reflected, there were very few lovers. “You can have everything in the world – and I have – but still be bitterly alone. There have been only two people who have given back as much love as I gave to them: Mary Austin with whom I had a long affair and our cat, Jerry.”
Fear
“Fame and success have brought me everything, except a loving, on-going relationship. I seem to eat people up and destroy them no matter how hard I try to make things work. Sometimes I wake up in a cold sweat, screaming with fear because I’m so alone. That’s why I go out looking for someone who will love me, even if it’s just for a one-night stand. I fall in love far too quickly, and I end up getting hurt and scarred. It seems I just can’t win.”
His obsessive fear of AIDS was all the more desperate because he was convinced it would never happen to him. Ten years ago, as the first warnings of AIDS began to be heard, Freddie shrugged it off. “It’s a disease that has picked off a few gays in San Francisco and that’s no reason to panic. Anyway, I simply wouldn’t fall for anyone who looked as if they’d got it.”
Clean
Five years later it was a different story. “Oh God, I pray I’ll never get AIDS. So many friends have it. Some have died, others won’t be last much longer. I’m terrified that I’ll be next. Immediately after each time I have sex I think, ‘Suppose that was the one? Suppose the virus is now in my body? I jump in the shower and scrub myself clean, although I know it’s useless and anyway it’s too late.”
For Freddie, the beginning of the end came when he was at boarding school in Bombay. He was just 13 and had his first homosexual experience – with an older pupil who made him call him Master. “I had a crush on The Master and I’d have done anything for him.” he later confided. “When we went to bed together it didn’t feel wrong and, although I had never had sex with a woman I wondered if it was really worth all the fuss! Over the next 20 years I went to bed with many women, for my sex drive is enormous and I like to live life to the full. But it was only when I was in the arms of a man that I felt truly fulfilled.”
From the first time Freddie strutted out on stage as the lead singer pf Queen, the homosexual community knew he was one of their own and flocked to see him.
Tough
His tough, macho looks got him voted King of the Hard Men on a gay magazine, and he particularly appealed to people to people who had sado-masochistic tendencies. Wherever he went he would be surrounded by men and women, begging him to beat them. Freddie always on the lookout for thrills happily obliged.
With the same disregard for his health that he showed with his early contempt for the dangers of AIDS, he loved to get high on a potentially lethal combination of drink and drugs. On an average night out he’d swig two bottles of the best Russian vodka and snort a gram of Cocaine up his nose. It was costing him £500 a day, but he didn’t care. “I am a manipulator of life.” He boasted. “Booze and Coke will never get a hold on me because I know when to stop.”
But he couldn’t stop and he had to get expert help to wean him off them. On one occasion, he snorted coke on a Concorde flight to New York, claiming that he’d discovered the drugs in his bag and would be sure to be busted if a Customs official found them.
His traveling companion, his then personal manager Paul Prenter said: “Freddie did need the plane. He was so high on drugs he could have flown the Atlantic by himself.”
The search for bigger and more bizarre thrills continued with Freddie’s love of parties. Once he installed naked lift attendants at a hotel where he was partying. At another, the entertainment was provided by naked mud wrestlers. He liked to hire dwarfs to offer bowls of cocaine to guests, and the main attraction at one party was a naked woman cavorting in a bath filled with raw liver.
Still desperately seeking love, he tried to buy affection and friendship. Lovers, even one-night stands, were rewarded with £6,000 Cartier watches. A male Air steward, who was particularly attentive one flight was given a £25,000 Mercedes. Freddie once hired Concorde to to fly 100 friends to New York for a month long bash. “The only thing you’ll have to pay for will be the condoms.” he promised, and he meant it.
But when a medical check-up showed that he was HIV positive, Freddie knew he was on borrowed time. It was, by a grim coincidence his 13th AIDS test.
Change
Freddie withdrew into the seclusion of his Kensington mansion – he paid £500,000 cash for it, but turned down an offer of more than £4million. He spent £2million on antique furniture, Japanese ceramics and French paintings.
He gave up drink, drugs and sex, and instructed his chef, Joe Fanelli to cook only healthy food. “I’m gonna change my lifestyle so that I can live forever.” he said at the beginning of this year. But It was two late.
Raj fantasies of a clerk’s son
The official story is that he was born Frederick Bulsara in Zanzibar, the son of an accountant. He went to school in Bombay and, at the age of 14, the family moved to England. But Freddie, ever theatrical, liked to fantasise.
He claimed that, as a boy, he had white-suited, to tie his shoe laces. The family home according to Freddie, was a white mansion set in grounds filled with golden statues. He was surrounded , he claimed, by the opulence of a Jewel In The Crown lifestyle, His father was either a diplomat or a top civil servant, depending on the extravagance of Freddie’s mood at the time.
Once he confessed to a record company executive that his father was really just a lowly clerk. Whatever the truth, the move to England must have hit Freddie like a bombshell. Home became a tiny, semi-detached house in Feltham, Middlesex, beneath the flight path of Heathrow Airport.
He left school with A levels in Art, history and geography before enrolling at Ealing College of Art. He began singing in two blues bands, Wreckage and Sour Milk Sea but gave them up to join Brian May and Roger Taylor in Smile. Freddie and Roger set up a clothes stall in Kensington Market and they shared a flat with Brian. Then they met bass player John Deacon – and the rest is history.
Making of a Rock Genius
Just 300 fans saw the first gig.
Freddie Mercury, the King of Queen, always knew he was destined for superstardom. The tragic singer once said: “I thought we would be huge – and we were.”
Freddie was born Frederick Bulsara, on the island of Zanzibar in 1946. He spent his childhood living the colonial life in Bombay. Freddie moved to England at 14 to live in Feltham, Middlesex. After getting 3 O’ Levels and an A’ Level in Art, he enrolled at the Ealing College of Art and joined guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor in a band called Smile. Freddie graduated with a diploma in graphic art and design and in 1969 set up a fashion stall with Taylor in London’s Kensington Market.
In 1971, with John Deacon on bass, Queen played their first gig at Hornsey Town Hall, North London in front of 300 people. Two years later they released their first L.P. Queen and single Keep Yourself Alive.
Hits
Two albums, Queen II and Sheer Heart Attack followed in 1974nand they had two Top Ten hits with Seven Seas of Rhye and Killer Queen. In 1975, the band released the L.P. A Night At The Opera, and the single Bohemian Rhapsody, It stayed at No.1 for nine weeks. A year later Queen had four L.P.s in the UK Top 20 at once. In 1978 the band released their Jazz album, and in 1979 they wrote the music to the film Flash Gordon – and released The Game L.P.
They also had a massive hit with Crazy Little Thing Called Love. By the end of the decade, the group had sold more than 45million albums including their new Killer Live (sic) L.P. Queen had their second No.1 single Under Pressure, recorded with David Bowie in 1981 and released their Greatest Hits L.P.
In 1984, Freddie’s solo Love Kills, made the Top Ten and The Works gave Queen four Top Twenty hits. They ended the year with the hit, Thank God It’s Christmas. In 1985, Freddie made his debut L.P. Mr Bad Guy, and the band stole the show at Live Aid.
Their 1986 L.P. A Kind of Magic, went straight into the charts at No.1. In 1987, Freddie had his only solo Top Five hit, The Great Pretender and the next year he released an L.P. with opera singer Montserrat Cabballe. In 1989 The Miracle became their 6th No.1 L.P.
In 1990, Queen threw a massive 20th anniversary party and this year they put out their 17th album, Innuendo and Greatest Hits II. Freddie and Queen’s last single, The Show Must Go On, reached No. 16 on October 14.
How the money rolled in
Queen, one of the most successful groups ever, have generated ONE BILLION POUNDS during their career. The band broke the pop mould with their opera style Bohemian Rhapsody in 1975 – and they’ve been on a money-spinning roller coaster ever since.
Way back in the Seventies, Freddie, Brian May and Roger Taylor became Britain’s highest paid executives – drawing salaries if around £700,000 from their company, Queen Productions Ltd. That’s the equivalent of more than £1.5million today. And that didn’t include record royalties, which were stacking up even faster than the string of Queen hits.
Freddie personally earned more than £20million during his marvelous career and the Queen machine brought in more than £500million for their record company EMI. Merchandising for the kings of pop probably accounted for at least another £500million.
He was a kinda magic
And he will always rule our hearts
His outrageous antics and immense talent mean that Freddie Mercury will live forever in the memories of his millions of fans. For many, real music was born 16 years ago in November, when four ghostly faces appeared on our TV screens to belt out the amazing pop-opera classic Bohemian Rhapsody.
The mesmerising moment caused a sensation on Top of the Pops and instantly enlisted an army of fans for the band and their outrageous frontman.
The single stayed in the number one slot for nine weeks, but for the fans it started a love affair that would last forever.
Glamour
Overnight, showman Freddie and the band had revolutionised the entire music industry with the introduction of the pop video. From then on every single release would have to be accompanied by film. And Freddie was determined to prove that the phenomenal hit was not just a flash in the pan.
The star, who reveled in live performances set out to stage a huge camp-rock cabaret for a breathless world audience desperate for glamour. His flamboyant costumes ranged from a full drag outfit of lurex mini-dress, high-heels bob wig and trash make-up to a fruity banana creation which balanced precariously on his head as he was dragged around the stage by muscle men.
Disgusted
His choice of trousers alone could set off heated debate in living rooms around the country and cause the TV to be switched off by disgusted parents. He loved to shock in tighter than tight, all revealing white shorts, or sometimes just tights as he sang his twisted love song Now I’m Here or the sing-a-long Love of My Life.
For a change he would opt for day-glo, spray-on elephant flares, complete with feather boa frills and bare chest as he minced around the stage giving his all on numbers like Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Flash, or We Are The Champions.
He had a panache and style that offered fans thrills and fantasies and won him the kind of admiration usually reserved for Hollywood idols. His pop policy was based on surprise and whether it was a live concert or yet another of their awe-inspiring videos for classics like I Want To Break Free or Radio Ga Ga you could be sure what outrageous costume Freddie would have in store.
As Queen pumped out highly polished renditions of their hits, Freddie would cavort around the stage with his mike stand, giving performances unequalled in the world of rock. During their 15-minute set as part of Bob Geldof’s Live Aid day at Wembley Stadium in 1985, other superstars could only look on in admiration as Freddie led the crowd through a soaraway Radio Ga Ga.
Freddie’s love of the bizarre and dramatic on a huge scale was not confined to the stage. His private life was just as over the top. In 1978 Freddie and the band hired Wembley Stadium and staged a nude bicycle race for 50 girls for one of the most outrageous publicity pictures ever.
Talent
And in New Orleans Freddie threw a party to celebrate the band’s Jazz album with naked mud wrestlers, dwarfs, magicians and jugglers. But there was more to Freddie than a colourful image. It was his devastating talent as a singer, musician and songwriter that will make him immortal.
His unique soaring voice could scale operatic heights and leave his audiences begging for mercy as he tried to bully them into joining his impossible scales during concert singalongs. For many the death of the 45 year old flamboyant superstar at 7PM on Sunday, is the death of an era.
But the sheer talent of the man means Freddie Mercury will live forever his spirit will never die.
Is the Reign over?
Fans and insiders were wondering last night how Queen could possibly continue without Freddie Mercury. For While new guitarists and drummers could easily be brought in Freddie was in a class of his own. And the chances of the group that has reigned supreme for almost two decades splitting up must be very real.
Deal
Even so, names are being banded about. Among them were Extreme’s Gary Cherone – who idolised Freddie, Iggy Pop, Robert Plant, Roger Daltrey and even David Bowie who teamed up with Queen for their number one smash hit Under Pressure.
Whatever happens the remaining members of Queen will not be left high and dry. Drummer Roger Taylor already has a record deal for his energetic rock outfit The Cross, who have successfully toured Europe.
Last year he said: “I could never give up Queen full-time for The Cross because Queen is my job, my full-time band. But some insiders now expect him to put all his energies into his off-shoot rock band where he can take over the role as band singer and main songwriter.
Roger’s rock outfit lacks the pomp and punch of Queen, but instead pumps up the volume with a driving rhythm and blues beat against Roger’s powerful vocals. It has already won a huge following outside the UK.
Solo
Guitarist Brian May has already forged a successful solo career as a hot producer/songwriter. And he is being tipped for a 1991 Christmas No.1 with his single Driven By You which was the theme for a series of Ford TV adverts. Last year he won praise for writing the score for an unknown theatre group’s production of Shakespeare’s MacBeth, which was staged at London’s Riverside Studios.
Brian has also become involved in charity work, and last year launched an appeal to boost the national bone marrow register.
Bass player John Deacon is also working on a brace of secret solo music projects. A spokesman for the group said last night: ” It is just too soon to say what’s going to happen as the band are all in a state of severe shock.” But a statement from Queen about their future is expected shortly.