Queen fans discover the inspiration behind Freddie Mercury's name

Queen legends Brian May and Roger Taylor surprised their younger legion of fans on Monday evening by revealing the origins of Freddie Mercury's iconic stage name. 

Born Farrokh Bulsara, the late singer spent the fist 18-years of his life in Zanzibar before political and social unrest resulted in his family fleeing the African archipelago in 1964 and moving to the United Kingdom. 

He would go on to become one of the world's best known performers with Queen, enjoying more than two decades of prolonged success before his death of AIDS related bronchial pneumonia in 1991, aged just 45. 

But while seasoned Queen fans will likely know all there is to know about Mercury's career, his life and his iconic band, those of a younger persuasion were surprised on Monday after discovering the inspiration for his name change.

Addressing guests while launching a remixed and remastered edition of their self-titled debut album on Monday evening, guitarist May and drummer Taylor revealed it was lifted from 1973 track My Fairy King, which includes the fan-favourite line 'My mother Mercury.' 

'He didn't call himself Mercury at that point,' recalled May. 'He was still Freddie Bulsara. To his mum he was Farook Bulsara, so we were quite surprised with the mother Mercury line. 

'We wondered if it was biographical, and shortly after that he said, "I'm changing my name, I'm going to be Freddie Mercury from now on."' 

Taylor added: 'It was in our management office actually, which was just down the road in Wardour Street at the time, I think above the Flamingo Club. 

'We were about to go to Manchester for a show and he just turned round to us all and said, "Dears, from now on I'm called Mercury." 

I said, "Right, shall we get on the bus then?"' 

The two founding band-members also paid tribute to Mercury's extraordinary legacy and his unique ability to impact the lives of fans across the world. 

'He found his voice and he found the means to use it,' said May. 'He was a colossal force, but as you've seen, he became front-man didn't he? Prophetic really.

'He became this wonderful emblem in front of us, and a great musician, a great writer, a person who could reach to the back of any gig, whether it was the Marquee or the back of an arena in Argentina, he reached every person in that show.' 

Despite his obvious strengths, Taylor admitted Mercury sang like a 'manic goat' when they first got together. 

The drummer, 75, explained how the late singer's famously operatic singing voice left his mother horrified when the band first started out.

Roger said Freddie - who died in 1991 of bronchial pneumonia resulting from AIDS -  'turned out to be wonderful', but the distinctive vibrato for which he is known took some fine tuning. 

Speaking at the launch of the band’s remastered eponymous debut album - originally released in 1973 - he said: 'I don’t think you realise how dreadful he sounded before.

'I mean, he sounded like some manic goat. He sounded extraordinary, his vibrato. My mother’s face when she saw him...' 

Roger added: 'He turned out to be our wonderful Freddie whom we will never forget.

The drummer also admitted they had full confidence in their abilities during those early years. 

'We had confidence and faith,' he said. 'Because we could play, and we believed in Freddie.'   

Despite Queen splitting after Freddie's death at the age of 45, Roger and Brian May have continued to tour under the band's name, with lead vocalist Adam Lambert.

The special launch event at London's Ham Yard Hotel celebrated the newly mixed, mastered, expanded edition release of Queen's iconic self-titled debut album.

Matt Everitt hosted the evening which included a Q&A with Brian and Roger, followed by an album playback. 

The band have completely reworked their debut album, more than 50-years after its original release.

The mammoth six CD release features a rearranged track-listing, alternative takes, demo versions and live recording - notably from their very first gig in 1970. 

Speaking to Guitar.com, Brian admitted the album is now in a better state than it was upon its initial release in1973. 

He said: 'I’m not saying the original version was bad – it just wasn’t what we dreamed of. Freddie  and John, too, were always conscious of this thing in our past which seemed like it couldn’t be fixed.

'Every instrument has been re-examined from the bottom up. The guitars were originally recorded very dry, so we’ve remedied that. 

'I remember my dad saying, "There’s no ambience, Brian. I don’t feel like I’m in the room with you playing next to me."

'But we weren’t in a position to lay down the law, and we felt that if we stepped out of line we would lose the opportunity altogether.'

May also insisted the reworked album is not a remaster.   

'This is a brand new 2024 rebuild of the entire Queen debut album,' the guitarist wrote on his official website.  

'All the performances are exactly as they originally appeared in 1973, but every instrument has been revisited to produce the ‘live’ ambient sounds we would have liked to use originally. 

'The result is Queen as it would have sounded with today’s knowledge and technology – a first.' 

                 QUEEN 1 2024 MIX                                  (VINYL TRACKLISTING) 

Side one

1. Keep Yourself Alive

2. Doing All Right

3. Great King Rat

4. Mad The Swine

5. My Fairy King

Side two

1. Liar

2. The Night Comes Down

3. Modern Times Rock 'n' Roll

4. Son and Daughter

5. Jesus

6. Seven Seas of Rhye...

 QUEEN 1 2024 MIX (CD LISTING)  

 Disc one  (2024 mix)

1. Keep Yourself Alive

2. Doing All Right

3. Great King Rat

4. Mad The Swine

5. My Fairy King

6. Liar

7. The Night Comes Down

8. Modern Times Rock 'n' Roll

9. Son and Daughter

10. Jesus

11. Seven Seas of Rhye...

Disc two (De Lane Lea Demos - 2024 Mix) 

1. Keep Yourself Alive" (De Lane Lea Demo) 

2. The Night Comes Down (De Lane Lea Demo)

3. Great King Rat (De Lane Lea Demo) 

4. Jesus (De Lane Lea Demo)

5. Liar (De Lane Lea Demo)

Disc three - (Queen 1 sessions)

1. Keep Yourself Alive (Trident Take 13 - Unused Master)

2. Doing All Right (Trident Take 1 - with Guide Vocal)

3. Great King Rat (De Lane Lea Take 1 - with Guide Vocal) 

4. Mad The Swine (Trident Take 3 - with Guide Vocal)

5. My Fairy King (Trident Backing Track In Development) 

6. Liar (Trident Take 1 – Unused Master) 

7. The Night Comes Down (De Lane Lea Takes 1 & 2 - with Guide Vocal)

8. Modern Times Rock 'n' Roll (Trident Takes 8 & 9)

9. Son and Daughter (Trident Takes 1 & 2 - with Guide Vocal) 

10. Jesus (De Lane Lea Take 2 - with Guide Vocal) 

11. Seven Seas of Rhye... (Instrumental, Trident Take 3) 

12. See What A Fool I’ve Been (De Lane Lea Test Session)

Disc four (Queen 1 backing tracks)

1. Keep Yourself Alive (Backing Track) 

2. Doing All Right (Backing Track)

3. Great King Rat (Backing Track) 

4. Mad The Swine (Backing Track) 

5. My Fairy King (Backing Track) 

6. Liar (Backing Track)

7. The Night Comes Down (Backing Track) 

8. Modern Times Rock 'n' Roll (Backing Track) 

9. Son and Daughter (Backing Track)

10. Jesus (Backing Track) 

11. Seven Seas of Rhye... (Instrumental)

Disc five (Queen 1 at the BBC)

1. My Fairy King (BBC Session 1, February 1973) 

2. Keep Yourself Alive (BBC Session 1, February 1973) 

3. Doing All Right (BBC Session 1, February 1973)

4. Liar (BBC Session 1, February 1973)

5. Keep Yourself Alive" (BBC Session 2, July 1973)

6. Liar (BBC Session 2, July 1973)

7. Son and Daughter (BBC Session 2, July 1973) 

8. Modern Times Rock 'n' Roll (BBC Session 3, December 1973) 

9. Great King Rat (BBC Session 3, December 1973)

10. Son and Daughter (BBC Session 3, December 1973)

11. Modern Times Rock 'n' Roll (BBC Session 4, April 1974)

Disc six (Queen 1 live)

1. Son And Daughter (Live at the Rainbow, 31 March 1974) 

2. Guitar Solo (Live at the Rainbow, 31 March 1974) 

3. Son And Daughter (Reprise) (Live at the Rainbow, 31 March 1974)

4. Great King Rat (Live at the Rainbow, 31 March 1974) 

5. Keep Yourself Alive (Live at the Rainbow, 31 March 1974) 

6. Drum Solo (Live at the Rainbow, 31 March 1974) 

7. Keep Yourself Alive (Reprise) (Live at the Rainbow, 31 March 1974) 

8. Modern Times Rock 'n' Roll (Live at the Rainbow, 31 March 1974) 

9. Liar (Live at the Rainbow, 31 March 1974)

10. Hangman (Live at San Diego Sports Arena, 12 March 1976) 

11. Doing All Right (Live at San Diego Sports Arena, 12 March 1976)

12. Jesus (Live at Imperial College, 23 August 1970)

13. I’m A Man (Live at Imperial College, 23 August 1970)

Speaking at a press conference to launch the album, the band revealed every drum beat had been augmented, because they hated the kit originally used by Roger while recording the album in the early '70s. 

'The performances are exactly as they were,' he explained. 'They have not been replaced, they haven't been added to, but we've just changed the sound, really, just to make it sound better, the way it should have sounded.'  

Heading out after the launch party on Monday evening, Roger did the Can-Can in Soho with his daughters Tigerlily, Rory and Lola. 

The family enjoyed a night out in London, with Tigerlily, 30, sharing the moment they decided to break out and dance down the street on Instagram on Friday. 

The model showed off her long legs as she threw them into the air, with Roger also giving it his all. 

Rory, 38, struggled to keep up, while Lola, 24, giggled in the short clip. 

Tigerlily captioned the post: 'Da da daaaa da da da daaaa BDE, big dork energy. Can-canning around soho with these freaks last night'. 

She added about her sister Rory: 'I can’t. The lack of coordination and look of confusion'. 

Tigerlily is the daughter of Roger and his ex-wife Debbie, who were together for 15 years before splitting in 2004.

The exes also share daughter Lola and a son Rufus, 33 - who is a touring drummer for the Queen + Adam Lambert stage shows. 

Roger is also a father to son Felix, 44, and a daughter Rory, who is a GP, who he shares with Dominique Beyrand.