Rock

The Musician Freddie Mercury Called His Idol

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Vocalist of the band Queen, Freddie Mercury is one of the most loved rock frontmen in the history of rock. He was known for his flamboyant stage persona and his artistic influences. One of the biggest heroes in the world of music, Freddie wasn’t really open about his influences.

Mercury was the smell of mint in the rock world. And he totally revolutionalized live and stage performances. Hit songs like ‘We Will Rock You’, ‘I Want To Break Free’, Bohemian Rhapsody’, and other queens were basically essential back then. Freddie was a guy with great musical feats. And he loved Jimi Hendrix.

While Jimi Hendrix and Freddie Mercury may not connect, Freddie was a big Jimi Hendrix fan. Before he was a rockstar, he was an art and design student with photos of Hendrix in his bedroom mirror. He also drew the artist and dressed like him.

He once said, “Jimi Hendrix was just a beautiful man, a master showman and a dedicated musician. I would scour the country to see him, whenever he played, because he really had everything any rock’n’roll star should have; all the style and presence.”

Back in his early days he also wanted to be a guitarist but because of his musical incapabilities, he focused on piano. However, this led to the creation of the icon, Freddie Mercury. According to Mercury, there has never been any other guitar player like Jimi too. He really admired him.

Also, in an interview with Circus Magazine in 1975 when asked about Jimi Hendrix, Mercury said, “Jimi Hendrix is very important. He’s my idol. He sort of epitomizes, from his presentation onstage, the whole works of a rock star. There’s no way you can compare him. You either have the magic, or you don’t. There’s no way you can work up to it.” He also added,

“There’s nobody who can take his place.”

But later on, when Jimi Hendrix died in 1970, he was already performing with Roger Taylor and Brian May. They paid tribute to the guitarist the night he passed away and played his greatest hits like ‘Voodoo Child’, ‘Purple Haze’ and ‘Foxy Lady’.

Two decades later, Mercury also wrote some lyrics to pay his respect to his idol. In the lyrics of ‘The Miracle’, he says,

“We’re having a miracle on earth
Mother nature does it all for us
The wonders of this world go on
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
Captain Cook and Cain and Able
Jimi Hendrix to the Tower of Babel
It’s a miracle it’s a miracle it’s a miracle
It’s a miracle”

Jimi had a big impact on defining Mercury. Jimi’s guitar and his art really had an iconic effect on him, which he showcased later on in his own career as a rockstar. He also once said,

“He (Hendrix) didn’t have to force anything. He’d just make an entrance and the whole place would be on fire. He was living out everything I wanted to be.”

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