It was this particular morning of 24th November 1991 that the front pages were dominated by the death of Freddie Mercury. It was only the day before, which for the purpose of narrative we'll assume to be Sunday, that Mercury had announced that he had A.I.D.S. I remember being upset in a way*, but not mortified as such, more shocked that someone wasn't going to be around anymore.
*I have only been tearfully upset by the demise of a famous person (it doesn't seem right to use the word 'celebrity' to describe them), on three occasions; Jim Henson, John Peel, and Ronnie Barker. I imagine Eric Sykes to be my next 'proper' upset.
Queen were one of the bands, along with Black Sabbath (thumbs up), Led Zeppelin (thumbs down- sorry I just find them boring) and Deep Purple, (thumbs up) that I learned about from my dad. He had a Sunday morning ritual (it is believed that I get my love of ritual and tradition from the Oliver side of the family) of listening to Queen's Greatest Hits (on vinyl in them days***- although it was one of the first purchases when the first compact disc player came into our house), over breakfast and newspapers. This was the beginning of my musical education and a lifelong fandom.
***I still possess that very same LP
The band reached their peak, (as a live act at least) around 1985-86, sadly as we know now, Freddie already he knew he was on borrowed time. In the early hours of this morning I tweeted the video from YouTube of their Live Aid performance, which I only briefly mentioned here, that in my opinion shows Queen how they should be remembered. Their concert at Wembley the following year, (released as Live At Wembley '86 on whatever formats were being used at the time of release in 1992), was the last great show they did. In fact, they didn't play live together again, although they recorded sporadically until Freddie's death.
Greatest Hits Two was released in 1991*, one month before Freddie's death, (one imagines with the benefit of hindsight that this was a knowingly timed release) and contained their 1980s output, which is where the legacy should really have ended. The third Greatest Hits collection, released in 1999 was a mess of remixes, collaborations, and studio floor sweepings that should never have happened.
The good name of Queen will live on; the famous 'Bohemian Rhapsody' sequence from the 1992 film Wayne's World is one of the most recognisable scenes in movie history which deserves to sit alongside the shower scene in Psycho, or George Taylor kneeling before the Statue Of Liberty in Planet of The Apes. Perhaps as a result of this scene, the simple act of selecting 'Bohemian Rhapsody' on a pub jukebox, or the wedding DJ slipping it on at the end just before 'New York, New York', will suddenly make everyone sing along and simultaneously break into the headbanging bit that introduces the fourth act of the song.
