1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 2 00:00:03,555 --> 00:00:06,144 [upbeat music] 3 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 4 00:00:08,215 --> 00:00:09,837 ♪ Buddy, you're a boy, make a big noise ♪ 5 00:00:09,871 --> 00:00:13,427 ♪ Playing in the street, gonna be a big man someday ♪ 6 00:00:13,461 --> 00:00:15,877 ♪ Mud on your face, big disgrace ♪ 7 00:00:15,912 --> 00:00:18,708 ♪ Kicking your can all over the place, singin' ♪ 8 00:00:18,742 --> 00:00:22,263 ♪ We will, we will rock you 9 00:00:22,298 --> 00:00:23,816 ♪ Yeah, sing it 10 00:00:23,851 --> 00:00:27,682 ♪ We will, we will rock you 11 00:00:29,098 --> 00:00:30,616 - [Interviewer] You have a very extrovert stage act 12 00:00:30,651 --> 00:00:31,824 by any standards. 13 00:00:31,859 --> 00:00:33,723 Will you be able to go on with- 14 00:00:33,757 --> 00:00:34,793 - You mean I flaunt it? 15 00:00:34,827 --> 00:00:35,828 - [Interviewer] You're over the top. 16 00:00:35,863 --> 00:00:38,590 [upbeat music] 17 00:00:41,593 --> 00:00:43,560 - Each song that we do has a different sort 18 00:00:43,595 --> 00:00:44,699 of meaning to it. 19 00:00:44,734 --> 00:00:45,838 So I mean it is rock and roll, 20 00:00:45,873 --> 00:00:48,082 it has that sort of label from the 1920s 21 00:00:48,117 --> 00:00:51,775 Vaudeville to the heavy, the real sort of raw rock and roll 22 00:00:51,810 --> 00:00:54,088 to the ballad to, you know. 23 00:00:54,123 --> 00:00:55,296 [upbeat music] 24 00:00:55,331 --> 00:00:56,849 ♪ School babe 25 00:00:56,884 --> 00:00:58,368 ♪ Your Mamma says you don't 26 00:00:58,403 --> 00:00:59,818 ♪ Your Daddy says you won't 27 00:00:59,852 --> 00:01:01,337 ♪ And I'm boilin' up inside 28 00:01:01,371 --> 00:01:03,649 - People wanna know about Freddie above all that. 29 00:01:03,684 --> 00:01:05,686 No one's asking me questions about Roger 30 00:01:05,720 --> 00:01:08,275 or Brian's private life [chuckles]. 31 00:01:08,309 --> 00:01:09,759 [upbeat music] 32 00:01:09,793 --> 00:01:12,831 - And I think as time went on the stage persona 33 00:01:12,865 --> 00:01:15,799 really took over from the original individual. 34 00:01:15,834 --> 00:01:19,527 And he lived this larger-than-life character. 35 00:01:19,562 --> 00:01:21,771 ♪ Give me all your love tonight ♪ 36 00:01:21,805 --> 00:01:23,807 - He would be thrilled to know that I've been asked 37 00:01:23,842 --> 00:01:26,707 to talk about him years after his death. 38 00:01:26,741 --> 00:01:30,228 ♪ We are the champions 39 00:01:30,262 --> 00:01:33,955 ♪ No time for losers 40 00:01:33,990 --> 00:01:37,821 ♪ 'Cause we are the champions 41 00:01:44,449 --> 00:01:47,417 ♪ Of the world 42 00:01:47,452 --> 00:01:50,144 [crowd cheering] 43 00:01:56,012 --> 00:01:59,291 [attendees chattering] 44 00:01:59,326 --> 00:02:01,914 [gentle music] 45 00:02:06,816 --> 00:02:10,475 - The manager of the group Queen Jim Beach 46 00:02:11,890 --> 00:02:13,305 decided it would be a good idea 47 00:02:13,340 --> 00:02:16,619 to do a photo collection of my brother. 48 00:02:17,792 --> 00:02:20,968 But naturally, he only had all the pictures 49 00:02:21,002 --> 00:02:23,143 from when he was famous. 50 00:02:25,455 --> 00:02:28,009 So he approached my mom to see 51 00:02:28,044 --> 00:02:31,461 that if she'd got any old photographs 52 00:02:31,496 --> 00:02:33,808 if she would like to help out in this. 53 00:02:33,843 --> 00:02:36,535 And naturally, my mom loved the idea 54 00:02:36,570 --> 00:02:40,643 and started digging in, delving into the old photographs. 55 00:02:40,677 --> 00:02:43,266 [gentle music] 56 00:02:44,888 --> 00:02:47,857 - I've always been intrigued by show business artists 57 00:02:47,891 --> 00:02:49,859 who become their own image. 58 00:02:49,893 --> 00:02:51,826 Very few people who were Freddie Mercury fans 59 00:02:51,861 --> 00:02:54,312 know he was Farrokh Bulsara. 60 00:02:56,797 --> 00:02:59,800 And indeed, if you bear in mind that I got to know him 61 00:02:59,834 --> 00:03:03,355 in 1974, I never heard anybody call him Farrokh. 62 00:03:03,390 --> 00:03:06,876 It's rather like Elton John, you didn't call him Reg. 63 00:03:06,910 --> 00:03:09,361 Once he decided he wanted to be Elton, 64 00:03:09,396 --> 00:03:12,537 you called him Reg at your apparel. 65 00:03:12,571 --> 00:03:15,919 And Farrokh wanted to be called Freddie. 66 00:03:15,954 --> 00:03:19,060 Within music, everyone was calling him Freddie. 67 00:03:19,095 --> 00:03:21,960 - By the time I met him, he was definitely Freddie. 68 00:03:21,994 --> 00:03:25,377 And in fact, it was some time before I realized 69 00:03:25,412 --> 00:03:27,966 what his original name was 70 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:32,591 because he still had a passport in his birth name. 71 00:03:32,626 --> 00:03:34,938 But he lived his character. 72 00:03:34,973 --> 00:03:39,598 He was Freddie Mercury and that was all he wanted to be. 73 00:03:39,633 --> 00:03:43,706 ♪ One voice, one hope, one real decision ♪ 74 00:03:43,740 --> 00:03:47,054 ♪ Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa ♪ 75 00:03:47,088 --> 00:03:49,643 ♪ Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah 76 00:03:49,677 --> 00:03:50,885 [upbeat music] 77 00:03:50,920 --> 00:03:53,612 - His parents had come from India. 78 00:03:53,647 --> 00:03:55,856 They'd only gone to Zanzibar so that his father 79 00:03:55,890 --> 00:03:59,791 could continue his job with the British government. 80 00:03:59,825 --> 00:04:02,656 And when Zanzibar won its independence, 81 00:04:02,690 --> 00:04:04,796 they then moved to England. 82 00:04:04,830 --> 00:04:06,901 They were Zoroastrians. 83 00:04:06,936 --> 00:04:09,939 And I know that to many Zoroastrians 84 00:04:12,044 --> 00:04:15,945 is a matter of great pride that Freddie Mercury 85 00:04:15,979 --> 00:04:18,016 is their great rockstar. 86 00:04:18,050 --> 00:04:21,122 - I was at a place called the Chateau Del Aviv, 87 00:04:21,157 --> 00:04:23,677 which was just outside Paris. 88 00:04:23,711 --> 00:04:26,852 And Bowie was recording Pin Ups 89 00:04:26,887 --> 00:04:31,788 and his co-producer and engineer was a guy called Ken Scott 90 00:04:33,445 --> 00:04:35,344 and he was affiliated with a company called 91 00:04:35,378 --> 00:04:39,727 Trident Audio Productions who had Trident Studios 92 00:04:39,762 --> 00:04:41,660 in the middle of London Soho 93 00:04:41,695 --> 00:04:44,076 where they recorded Transformers, 94 00:04:44,111 --> 00:04:47,114 Ziggy Stardust, All the Young Dudes, 95 00:04:47,148 --> 00:04:49,461 a whole bunch of slew of stuff around that time. 96 00:04:49,496 --> 00:04:51,912 Anyway, they also, they had a studio 97 00:04:51,946 --> 00:04:54,466 but as a sidebar, they had a production company 98 00:04:54,501 --> 00:04:57,642 and they signed a few acts to the production company. 99 00:04:57,676 --> 00:05:00,783 And during that visit, Freddie mentioned to me 100 00:05:00,817 --> 00:05:03,958 that they were interested in working with me. 101 00:05:03,993 --> 00:05:08,998 This would've been, I suppose like August, September of '73. 102 00:05:10,448 --> 00:05:14,969 And for whatever, you know, I was like in my own modest way, 103 00:05:16,454 --> 00:05:19,457 a hot photographic commodity for what 104 00:05:19,491 --> 00:05:21,390 that was worth back then which was a lot less 105 00:05:21,424 --> 00:05:23,978 than it is now because of the glam thing. 106 00:05:24,013 --> 00:05:26,084 And especially because of David, Lou, and Iggy, 107 00:05:26,118 --> 00:05:29,674 and my connection there, so they were big fans, 108 00:05:29,708 --> 00:05:31,365 and especially Freddie. 109 00:05:31,400 --> 00:05:33,988 I think Freddie, well he was always the driving force 110 00:05:34,023 --> 00:05:37,129 behind the visual aspects of Queen. 111 00:05:37,958 --> 00:05:39,891 [upbeat music] 112 00:05:39,925 --> 00:05:43,964 - Freddy being interested in music from an early age 113 00:05:43,998 --> 00:05:47,485 would've known that there had never been a pop star 114 00:05:47,519 --> 00:05:49,003 called Farrokh. 115 00:05:49,038 --> 00:05:52,490 When you think that Freddie persuaded Brian and Roger 116 00:05:52,524 --> 00:05:54,354 to rename Smile Queen, 117 00:05:57,080 --> 00:05:58,496 taking it up a level 118 00:05:58,530 --> 00:06:03,501 of both audaciousness [chuckles] and status. 119 00:06:05,572 --> 00:06:08,057 So similarly changing your name from Bulsara to Mercury 120 00:06:08,091 --> 00:06:10,715 while you're choosing the name of one of the gods. 121 00:06:10,749 --> 00:06:12,820 So you are elevating yourself 122 00:06:12,855 --> 00:06:16,099 in terms of your image at least. 123 00:06:16,134 --> 00:06:21,139 And this is an amazing case of personal reinvention, 124 00:06:21,691 --> 00:06:23,175 but it worked. 125 00:06:23,210 --> 00:06:24,970 - We were told that there was a really good band playing 126 00:06:25,005 --> 00:06:26,524 at Imperial College. 127 00:06:26,558 --> 00:06:28,940 And I went along with some of my friends from EMI 128 00:06:28,974 --> 00:06:30,493 and one of two other people 129 00:06:30,528 --> 00:06:32,599 not really knowing what to expect. 130 00:06:32,633 --> 00:06:35,636 This would've been November 1973. 131 00:06:35,671 --> 00:06:38,156 And I was absolutely blown away. 132 00:06:38,190 --> 00:06:41,608 I don't think I've ever seen a new band play like that. 133 00:06:41,642 --> 00:06:43,679 The place was absolutely packed. 134 00:06:43,713 --> 00:06:46,682 - You can see it's this microscopic stage. 135 00:06:46,716 --> 00:06:50,720 And Freddie is performing like he's already in a stadium. 136 00:06:50,755 --> 00:06:53,654 I mean he's big, he projected big. 137 00:06:53,689 --> 00:06:55,898 - In the early days, there was a tradition 138 00:06:55,932 --> 00:06:59,004 that they always wore black and white on stage 139 00:06:59,039 --> 00:07:02,214 and Freddie would be incredibly careful. 140 00:07:03,561 --> 00:07:06,218 Everything matched, everything fitted. 141 00:07:06,253 --> 00:07:10,050 He would have black and white painted fingernails 142 00:07:10,084 --> 00:07:11,707 and he loved what was always referred 143 00:07:11,741 --> 00:07:13,536 to as Freddie's frocks. 144 00:07:13,571 --> 00:07:18,127 And he would come out in the most amazing things. 145 00:07:18,161 --> 00:07:21,786 Zandra Rhodes designed some for him in the early days, 146 00:07:21,820 --> 00:07:24,961 one with wings like an angel. 147 00:07:24,996 --> 00:07:28,586 And it was a long time before they changed that 148 00:07:28,620 --> 00:07:29,587 for a very long time. 149 00:07:29,621 --> 00:07:31,140 It was always black and white. 150 00:07:31,174 --> 00:07:33,314 The others weren't quite as flamboyant, 151 00:07:33,349 --> 00:07:35,213 but that was their theme. 152 00:07:35,247 --> 00:07:37,008 - In those days, you didn't necessarily 153 00:07:37,042 --> 00:07:40,149 have great expectations of the first album. 154 00:07:40,183 --> 00:07:43,117 And quite often if you had a hit, 155 00:07:43,152 --> 00:07:45,050 it kind of skewed the process. 156 00:07:45,085 --> 00:07:47,294 We released "Keep Yourself Alive" off the first album 157 00:07:47,328 --> 00:07:49,469 and the album went okay. 158 00:07:50,642 --> 00:07:54,266 And by, I guess three or four months into it, 159 00:07:54,301 --> 00:07:57,822 we'd made a modest impact because by that time 160 00:07:57,856 --> 00:08:00,514 the Imperial College gig had happened 161 00:08:00,549 --> 00:08:02,827 and the first press started 162 00:08:02,861 --> 00:08:05,864 and it was just a little whisper building. 163 00:08:05,899 --> 00:08:08,522 - Well, Roger was in a way 164 00:08:08,557 --> 00:08:11,352 the most obvious rockstar material. 165 00:08:11,387 --> 00:08:13,216 I mean the girls loved him. 166 00:08:13,251 --> 00:08:15,702 This cute little blonde fellow. 167 00:08:15,736 --> 00:08:20,016 And Brian was more cerebral but looked terrific 168 00:08:20,051 --> 00:08:22,571 and he's still got that incredible mop of hair. 169 00:08:22,605 --> 00:08:25,884 Freddie, of course, was the flavor of the time 170 00:08:25,919 --> 00:08:28,162 because he was Mr. Androgyny. 171 00:08:28,197 --> 00:08:30,993 His bisexuality was pretty much acknowledged, 172 00:08:31,027 --> 00:08:33,167 but that was very fashionable at the time. 173 00:08:33,202 --> 00:08:38,241 I mean, David had made sure that androgyny and bisexuality 174 00:08:38,276 --> 00:08:39,864 were extremely fashionable. 175 00:08:39,898 --> 00:08:43,212 So even all kinds of people that weren't the least bit gay 176 00:08:43,246 --> 00:08:45,663 would be running around acting like they were gay 177 00:08:45,697 --> 00:08:48,838 because you actually got the hottest babes that way. 178 00:08:48,873 --> 00:08:50,978 - Anyone looking back at the early years of Queen 179 00:08:51,013 --> 00:08:55,120 have to understand the context of the time. 180 00:08:55,155 --> 00:08:58,710 Being in a group was like participating 181 00:08:58,745 --> 00:09:01,817 in the social network of that time. 182 00:09:01,851 --> 00:09:04,060 This is before the internet so there were none 183 00:09:04,095 --> 00:09:05,199 of the social networks. 184 00:09:05,234 --> 00:09:07,408 And the way that young people related to each other 185 00:09:07,443 --> 00:09:10,273 and communicated was through music. 186 00:09:10,308 --> 00:09:14,312 And you expressed your views through the type 187 00:09:14,346 --> 00:09:17,660 of music you liked through the earnest 188 00:09:19,386 --> 00:09:21,664 and excited communications you had with your friends 189 00:09:21,699 --> 00:09:23,770 about the latest records. 190 00:09:25,185 --> 00:09:28,740 The DJs on the radio were the human incarnations 191 00:09:29,845 --> 00:09:32,641 of Facebook or Twitter or LinkedIn. 192 00:09:34,401 --> 00:09:37,404 And the music had a role in society. 193 00:09:40,165 --> 00:09:43,686 - Queen and Freddie's writing in particular 194 00:09:43,721 --> 00:09:46,344 was very different from other people 195 00:09:46,378 --> 00:09:49,899 in that he could explore so many different avenues. 196 00:09:49,934 --> 00:09:53,903 The fact that he could relatively early in his career 197 00:09:53,938 --> 00:09:55,871 write something like "Killer Queen" 198 00:09:55,905 --> 00:09:58,908 which is actually really an unusual record. 199 00:09:58,943 --> 00:10:01,773 You didn't fit what was going on at the time. 200 00:10:01,808 --> 00:10:04,258 You couldn't put it alongside, you know, 201 00:10:04,293 --> 00:10:06,951 other comparable bands like Roxy Music or whatever 202 00:10:06,985 --> 00:10:10,023 and say, well that's kind of that sort of thing. 203 00:10:10,057 --> 00:10:12,404 It was just a unique record. 204 00:10:13,751 --> 00:10:18,652 ♪ She keeps her Moet et Chandon in her pretty cabinet ♪ 205 00:10:18,687 --> 00:10:20,792 ♪ Let them eat cake, she says 206 00:10:20,827 --> 00:10:23,001 ♪ Just like Marie Antoinette 207 00:10:23,036 --> 00:10:25,038 ♪ A built-in remedy 208 00:10:25,072 --> 00:10:27,350 ♪ For Khrushchev and Kennedy 209 00:10:27,385 --> 00:10:32,390 ♪ At anytime an invitation you can't decline ♪ 210 00:10:33,287 --> 00:10:34,841 ♪ Caviar and cigarettes 211 00:10:34,875 --> 00:10:36,843 ♪ Well versed in etiquette 212 00:10:36,877 --> 00:10:38,361 ♪ Extraordinarily nice 213 00:10:38,396 --> 00:10:41,157 ♪ She's a Killer Queen 214 00:10:41,192 --> 00:10:43,228 ♪ Gunpowder, gelatine 215 00:10:43,263 --> 00:10:45,265 ♪ Dynamite with a laser beam 216 00:10:45,299 --> 00:10:48,509 ♪ Guaranteed to blow your mind 217 00:10:48,544 --> 00:10:50,995 - They wanted a black and white theme. 218 00:10:51,029 --> 00:10:54,861 They wanted a gatefold and they wanted to feature the band. 219 00:10:54,895 --> 00:10:56,379 So that was my brief. 220 00:10:56,414 --> 00:10:59,382 I was working with Mott the Hoople at the time, 221 00:10:59,417 --> 00:11:02,765 David had put them on the map with All the Young Dudes, 222 00:11:02,800 --> 00:11:04,940 he's song he wrote and the production of it 223 00:11:04,974 --> 00:11:07,459 and Queen got some gigs supporting them. 224 00:11:07,494 --> 00:11:10,393 I photographed both bands performing live. 225 00:11:10,428 --> 00:11:13,707 And afterwards, I sat with Freddie 226 00:11:13,742 --> 00:11:16,399 and I showed him this picture of Marlene Dietrich 227 00:11:16,434 --> 00:11:19,471 and suggested that that should be the approach 228 00:11:19,506 --> 00:11:22,336 for the black shot of the band. 229 00:11:22,371 --> 00:11:23,544 Well, he loved it. 230 00:11:23,579 --> 00:11:25,201 I mean, whether it was the shot 231 00:11:25,236 --> 00:11:28,342 or whether it was the fact that it was Marlene Dietrich, 232 00:11:28,377 --> 00:11:29,965 "I should be Marlene, you know." 233 00:11:29,999 --> 00:11:31,794 I mean he, he immediately responded. 234 00:11:31,829 --> 00:11:34,417 He corralled the rest of the band 235 00:11:34,452 --> 00:11:36,178 and they went along with it. 236 00:11:36,212 --> 00:11:39,422 There was the black shot and then there was the white shot. 237 00:11:39,457 --> 00:11:43,875 I did both setups and I had to light them very carefully 238 00:11:43,910 --> 00:11:47,223 'cause I wanted to make it a little bit more dramatic 239 00:11:47,258 --> 00:11:48,811 than the Marlene Dietrich shot. 240 00:11:48,846 --> 00:11:53,436 So I wanted to hood the eyes so that the shadow 241 00:11:53,471 --> 00:11:55,956 really encompassed the eyes and I had to get them, 242 00:11:55,991 --> 00:11:59,063 all four of them arranged in the correct way 243 00:11:59,097 --> 00:12:00,271 so I could do this. 244 00:12:00,305 --> 00:12:03,792 And I was up and down on a ladder and they were buzzing up 245 00:12:03,826 --> 00:12:06,035 and down in the makeup. 246 00:12:06,070 --> 00:12:08,175 I mean, they were very like, you know, 247 00:12:08,210 --> 00:12:09,521 wanted to look fabulous. 248 00:12:09,556 --> 00:12:11,523 And of course, I wanted them to look fabulous too. 249 00:12:11,558 --> 00:12:13,905 And I actually did a lot of shots. 250 00:12:13,940 --> 00:12:16,977 And afterwards we reviewed them and for quite a while 251 00:12:17,012 --> 00:12:19,014 the rest of the band were a little bit, 252 00:12:19,048 --> 00:12:21,154 they thought maybe that word pretentious 253 00:12:21,188 --> 00:12:24,260 was sticking in their head and they weren't sure 254 00:12:24,295 --> 00:12:26,780 that the black shot was the right shot. 255 00:12:26,815 --> 00:12:29,127 I think because it was a very powerful image, 256 00:12:29,162 --> 00:12:31,164 obviously it was. 257 00:12:31,198 --> 00:12:35,478 Of course, they duplicated it two or three years later 258 00:12:35,513 --> 00:12:37,618 for the "Bohemian Rhapsody" video. 259 00:12:37,653 --> 00:12:40,829 ♪ Is this the real life 260 00:12:40,863 --> 00:12:44,625 - When we got "Bohemian Rhapsody", we were concerned. 261 00:12:44,660 --> 00:12:48,181 ♪ Is this just fantasy 262 00:12:48,215 --> 00:12:49,596 - Everyone was in shock. 263 00:12:49,630 --> 00:12:52,530 ♪ Caught in a landslide 264 00:12:52,564 --> 00:12:56,499 ♪ No escape from reality 265 00:12:56,534 --> 00:12:57,466 - It was crazy. 266 00:12:57,500 --> 00:13:00,469 ♪ Open your eyes 267 00:13:00,503 --> 00:13:04,335 ♪ Look up to the skies and see 268 00:13:05,508 --> 00:13:07,165 - What on earth do they think they're doing? 269 00:13:07,200 --> 00:13:10,548 It's so long, it's three records in one. 270 00:13:10,582 --> 00:13:11,825 - Never heard anything like it. 271 00:13:11,860 --> 00:13:15,104 ♪ I'm just a poor boy ♪ Poor boy 272 00:13:15,139 --> 00:13:16,865 ♪ I need no sympathy 273 00:13:16,899 --> 00:13:18,521 - Just a song. 274 00:13:18,556 --> 00:13:22,594 You can't call it something as grand as an opera. 275 00:13:22,629 --> 00:13:25,287 It's a piece, it's a mini-opera. 276 00:13:26,495 --> 00:13:29,498 - I was the idiot who said, why don't we ask them 277 00:13:29,532 --> 00:13:31,086 to do an edit? 278 00:13:31,120 --> 00:13:35,090 And the response was a couple of words. 279 00:13:35,124 --> 00:13:37,126 ♪ To me 280 00:13:40,405 --> 00:13:43,477 - [John] And of course the rest is history. 281 00:13:43,512 --> 00:13:46,446 ♪ Mamma 282 00:13:46,480 --> 00:13:49,863 ♪ Just killed a man 283 00:13:49,898 --> 00:13:52,659 ♪ Put a gun against his head 284 00:13:52,693 --> 00:13:57,043 ♪ Pulled my trigger, now he's dead ♪ 285 00:13:57,077 --> 00:13:58,941 ♪ Mama 286 00:14:00,149 --> 00:14:01,564 - I don't think there was ever a disagreement 287 00:14:01,599 --> 00:14:06,190 because nobody ever asked our opinion and didn't need to. 288 00:14:06,224 --> 00:14:09,469 - He said to me, "Oh, we made a short film 289 00:14:09,503 --> 00:14:13,162 yesterday afternoon with Bruce Gowers. 290 00:14:13,197 --> 00:14:15,095 And of course the reason they'd made it was 291 00:14:15,130 --> 00:14:18,443 because they couldn't do it on "Top of the Pops" 292 00:14:18,478 --> 00:14:20,687 because they couldn't do that many overdubs, 293 00:14:20,721 --> 00:14:24,622 they couldn't do the segments of styles, and so forth. 294 00:14:24,656 --> 00:14:27,625 But to be on "Top of the Pops", 295 00:14:27,659 --> 00:14:29,489 they wanted to give them this clip. 296 00:14:29,523 --> 00:14:31,456 So they made a short film. 297 00:14:31,491 --> 00:14:34,114 Well, that short film happened to revolutionize 298 00:14:34,149 --> 00:14:36,427 the way that music is consumed. 299 00:14:36,461 --> 00:14:39,637 Because neither MTV or VH1 would exist 300 00:14:41,639 --> 00:14:43,606 had it not been for that short film. 301 00:14:43,641 --> 00:14:47,541 - The whole thing was quite extraordinary. 302 00:14:47,576 --> 00:14:50,544 And again, I think people weren't quite sure how to take it 303 00:14:50,579 --> 00:14:54,686 but once they saw it, they realized just how good it was. 304 00:14:54,721 --> 00:14:59,243 - The point about Freddie was that he was, you know, 305 00:14:59,277 --> 00:15:02,280 he obviously had some strand of eccentricity 306 00:15:02,315 --> 00:15:10,185 about his lyric writing and some very left-field things. 307 00:15:10,219 --> 00:15:12,463 I mean, the music itself was so bizarre 308 00:15:12,497 --> 00:15:16,398 that you had no idea what the lyrics meant 309 00:15:16,432 --> 00:15:18,193 and really who cared. 310 00:15:18,227 --> 00:15:19,573 - I think one of the interesting things about Queen 311 00:15:19,608 --> 00:15:22,507 is that their songs wrote into such interpretation, 312 00:15:22,542 --> 00:15:23,474 but I'm not gonna say on camera 313 00:15:23,508 --> 00:15:25,545 who I think it's about [laughs]. 314 00:15:25,579 --> 00:15:28,720 - Bohemian Rhapsody was basically, I was writing three songs 315 00:15:28,755 --> 00:15:29,721 and they were going to be different 316 00:15:29,756 --> 00:15:32,793 and I just couldn't finish them. 317 00:15:32,828 --> 00:15:34,312 And I just thought, oh, damn it, 318 00:15:34,347 --> 00:15:35,624 I'll just put the three together. 319 00:15:35,658 --> 00:15:38,213 [gentle music] 320 00:15:42,355 --> 00:15:45,634 ♪ Any way the wind blows 321 00:15:49,741 --> 00:15:51,502 - We just about do all our own production. 322 00:15:51,536 --> 00:15:56,403 And we have Roy Baker who sort of co-producers with us 323 00:15:56,438 --> 00:15:59,579 and all the four albums have been a co-production with him. 324 00:15:59,613 --> 00:16:00,994 - Do you feel that the "A Night at the Opera" 325 00:16:01,029 --> 00:16:03,031 is perhaps you're reaching now, 326 00:16:03,065 --> 00:16:04,377 you've reached a climax at a certain stage 327 00:16:04,411 --> 00:16:05,619 in your career? 328 00:16:05,654 --> 00:16:07,449 'Cause I believe it's definitely the best 329 00:16:07,483 --> 00:16:09,037 that you've ever done. 330 00:16:09,071 --> 00:16:10,176 - Thanks. - Yes. 331 00:16:10,210 --> 00:16:12,454 - I think it's possibly the peak so far 332 00:16:12,488 --> 00:16:13,662 because it's the most successful. 333 00:16:13,696 --> 00:16:15,077 But I mean, we hope we're gonna get better. 334 00:16:15,112 --> 00:16:17,010 - Next one will be better. 335 00:16:17,045 --> 00:16:18,529 - It is gonna be difficult, 336 00:16:18,563 --> 00:16:22,257 especially with "Bohemian Rhapsody" being as large as it is. 337 00:16:22,291 --> 00:16:23,637 - [Interviewer] Well, a kid wrote me a letter about that 338 00:16:23,672 --> 00:16:26,847 and said, "I study demonology and Satanic things. 339 00:16:26,882 --> 00:16:29,505 Why do they use Beelzebub?" 340 00:16:29,540 --> 00:16:30,679 - Oh. 341 00:16:30,713 --> 00:16:32,025 - [Interviewer] I suppose that's a legitimate question. 342 00:16:32,060 --> 00:16:33,268 - Why do we use it? - Yeah. 343 00:16:33,302 --> 00:16:34,821 - It's just a, I mean, why do we use anything? 344 00:16:34,855 --> 00:16:38,652 I mean it doesn't necessarily mean I study demonology 345 00:16:38,687 --> 00:16:39,757 and things. 346 00:16:39,791 --> 00:16:42,691 I just love [laughs] the word Beelzebub. 347 00:16:42,725 --> 00:16:44,520 [all laughing] 348 00:16:44,555 --> 00:16:45,728 Great word, isn't it? 349 00:16:45,763 --> 00:16:47,420 [drowned out by laughter] 350 00:16:47,454 --> 00:16:48,593 - [Interviewer] Actually the letter was signed 351 00:16:48,628 --> 00:16:50,112 at the Cloven Hooves at the time. 352 00:16:50,147 --> 00:16:52,080 - Oh. - Same sect. 353 00:16:52,114 --> 00:16:53,322 I belong to that one. 354 00:16:53,357 --> 00:16:54,875 - Are you sticking pins in effigies and that? 355 00:16:54,910 --> 00:16:56,222 - [Interviewer] The next single 356 00:16:56,256 --> 00:16:57,395 is coming off "A Night at the Operas" 357 00:16:57,430 --> 00:16:58,707 "You're My Best Friend", I understand 358 00:16:58,741 --> 00:17:00,709 and already we're getting a lot of requests for that. 359 00:17:00,743 --> 00:17:02,676 But it's entirely different in structure 360 00:17:02,711 --> 00:17:04,299 to "Bohemian Rhapsody" and that's what makes 361 00:17:04,333 --> 00:17:05,610 the album attractive to me. - Yes. 362 00:17:05,645 --> 00:17:06,646 This is Johnson. - Yeah, 363 00:17:06,680 --> 00:17:07,819 John wrote the track. - Yes. 364 00:17:07,854 --> 00:17:09,442 - I mean that's probably one thing in the group 365 00:17:09,476 --> 00:17:11,340 that we all do write, which lends to the variety 366 00:17:11,375 --> 00:17:12,721 of our albums, you know. 367 00:17:12,755 --> 00:17:13,687 It's a very good thing, I think. 368 00:17:13,722 --> 00:17:15,103 - [Freddie] Yeah, yeah, yeah. 369 00:17:15,137 --> 00:17:17,174 - There've been several songs on your albums 370 00:17:17,208 --> 00:17:18,830 instead of being involved with death and all this sort 371 00:17:18,865 --> 00:17:20,763 of stuff, is that just an accidental thing or? 372 00:17:20,798 --> 00:17:22,558 - [John] That's Freddie's morbid mind. 373 00:17:22,593 --> 00:17:23,732 [all laughing] 374 00:17:23,766 --> 00:17:25,768 - One of my docile moods actually. 375 00:17:25,803 --> 00:17:28,771 - I think they had this amazing sensibility 376 00:17:28,806 --> 00:17:31,878 and curiosity and it was something about 377 00:17:31,912 --> 00:17:34,329 the chemistry between them. 378 00:17:34,363 --> 00:17:37,746 They were very energetic, they were very curious people. 379 00:17:37,780 --> 00:17:39,403 They were very intelligent. 380 00:17:39,437 --> 00:17:42,199 I think to give due respect, they were very bright 381 00:17:42,233 --> 00:17:44,304 and they fed off their success 382 00:17:44,339 --> 00:17:48,515 that only made them like a band like The Beatles, 383 00:17:48,550 --> 00:17:50,552 they didn't wanna stay stuck anywhere. 384 00:17:50,586 --> 00:17:53,624 - The main problem Queen had with the press 385 00:17:53,658 --> 00:17:56,178 is that they were immediate descendants of the Beatles 386 00:17:56,213 --> 00:17:59,595 because when the Beatles stopped in 1970, 387 00:17:59,630 --> 00:18:03,910 Queen make their chart debut only three years after. 388 00:18:05,463 --> 00:18:09,364 So they wouldn't be taken as revolutionary artists 389 00:18:09,398 --> 00:18:11,228 because they weren't. 390 00:18:11,262 --> 00:18:12,505 So it seemed. 391 00:18:12,539 --> 00:18:15,197 They were working in the same format 392 00:18:16,681 --> 00:18:21,617 as someone who had already been the definitive artist 393 00:18:22,342 --> 00:18:23,792 of popular music. 394 00:18:23,826 --> 00:18:26,933 - To some extent, it's no publicity is bad publicity. 395 00:18:26,967 --> 00:18:30,316 If there's controversy, then you've got profile. 396 00:18:30,350 --> 00:18:33,353 You can build on that you can make a plus out of that 397 00:18:33,388 --> 00:18:35,148 because it's a talking point. 398 00:18:35,183 --> 00:18:37,392 And I think over the years, that was always the case 399 00:18:37,426 --> 00:18:41,637 with Queen until they reached the national treasure status. 400 00:18:41,672 --> 00:18:44,537 - In the early days of popular music, 401 00:18:44,571 --> 00:18:49,231 the two greatest stars were Enrico Caruso and Al Jolson. 402 00:18:50,991 --> 00:18:53,580 And that is because both of them could be heard 403 00:18:53,615 --> 00:18:57,895 in every corner of the theater without amplification. 404 00:18:59,034 --> 00:19:01,347 'Cause they were working before amplification. 405 00:19:01,381 --> 00:19:02,520 [upbeat music] 406 00:19:02,555 --> 00:19:05,385 ♪ Don't cry, Tootsie, don't cry, ah ♪ 407 00:19:05,420 --> 00:19:08,837 ♪ Goodbye Tootsie, goodbye 408 00:19:09,872 --> 00:19:12,737 - Freddie's voice can be heard. 409 00:19:12,772 --> 00:19:16,396 ♪ Pressure, pushing down on me 410 00:19:16,431 --> 00:19:19,572 ♪ Pressing down on you, no man ask for ♪ 411 00:19:19,606 --> 00:19:21,194 - He would walk out on stage 412 00:19:21,229 --> 00:19:24,542 and he could control the audience immediately. 413 00:19:24,577 --> 00:19:25,854 There was something about him. 414 00:19:25,888 --> 00:19:29,202 And of course, especially a little while later, 415 00:19:29,237 --> 00:19:32,964 a lot of their songs were anthems in a way. 416 00:19:32,999 --> 00:19:35,001 I don't think I ever met anybody who came out 417 00:19:35,035 --> 00:19:37,245 of a Queen concert disappointed. 418 00:19:37,279 --> 00:19:39,868 Now, perhaps I'm biased because I suppose 419 00:19:39,902 --> 00:19:42,353 in a way, I became a fan. 420 00:19:42,388 --> 00:19:44,804 I tried to be objective, it's kind of hard. 421 00:19:44,838 --> 00:19:47,565 I think that they just wanted to do the best 422 00:19:47,600 --> 00:19:49,878 they possibly could for as much of the time 423 00:19:49,912 --> 00:19:50,879 as they possibly could. 424 00:19:50,913 --> 00:19:52,708 And I think they achieved that. 425 00:19:52,743 --> 00:19:55,332 [upbeat music] 426 00:19:58,887 --> 00:20:01,959 ♪ Hey 427 00:20:01,993 --> 00:20:04,548 ♪ Radio 428 00:20:04,582 --> 00:20:05,928 - Everybody 429 00:20:05,963 --> 00:20:09,967 ♪ All we hear is radio ga ga 430 00:20:10,001 --> 00:20:11,934 ♪ Radio goo goo 431 00:20:11,969 --> 00:20:13,936 ♪ Radio ga ga 432 00:20:13,971 --> 00:20:17,906 ♪ All we hear is radio ga ga 433 00:20:17,940 --> 00:20:20,840 ♪ Radio blah blah 434 00:20:20,874 --> 00:20:21,737 [crowd cheering] 435 00:20:21,772 --> 00:20:23,981 ♪ Ay-oh 436 00:20:24,015 --> 00:20:25,707 ♪ Ay-oh 437 00:20:25,741 --> 00:20:27,329 ♪ Ay-oh 438 00:20:27,364 --> 00:20:29,020 ♪ Ay-oh 439 00:20:29,055 --> 00:20:30,677 ♪ A-a-a-a-a-ay-oh 440 00:20:30,712 --> 00:20:32,334 ♪ A-a-a-a-a-ay-oh 441 00:20:32,369 --> 00:20:33,024 ♪ Ay-oh 442 00:20:33,059 --> 00:20:34,025 ♪ Ay-oh 443 00:20:34,060 --> 00:20:34,854 ♪ Ay-oh 444 00:20:34,888 --> 00:20:35,682 ♪ Ay-oh 445 00:20:35,717 --> 00:20:36,511 ♪ Ay-oh 446 00:20:36,545 --> 00:20:37,339 ♪ Ay-oh 447 00:20:37,374 --> 00:20:41,343 ♪ Ay 448 00:20:41,378 --> 00:20:42,033 ♪ Oh 449 00:20:42,068 --> 00:20:43,932 ♪ Ay 450 00:20:46,624 --> 00:20:50,387 - I think Freddie was a very affectionate person. 451 00:20:50,421 --> 00:20:52,458 He was a very kind person. 452 00:20:52,492 --> 00:20:55,426 He would always come 'round, make sure people were okay, 453 00:20:55,461 --> 00:20:56,910 he just liked people. 454 00:20:56,945 --> 00:20:59,292 And if you were a friend or family of Freddie's 455 00:20:59,327 --> 00:21:00,983 then he was wonderful. 456 00:21:01,018 --> 00:21:02,985 And I think he felt like, I genuinely think 457 00:21:03,020 --> 00:21:05,091 he felt like that about his fans. 458 00:21:05,125 --> 00:21:06,989 He was talking directly to them. 459 00:21:07,024 --> 00:21:08,819 And I think that they felt that. 460 00:21:08,853 --> 00:21:10,648 And I think that's why he had 461 00:21:10,683 --> 00:21:13,548 such amazing control over the audience. 462 00:21:13,582 --> 00:21:14,928 Even if it was just for those few moments. 463 00:21:14,963 --> 00:21:16,102 He absolutely loved them. 464 00:21:16,136 --> 00:21:17,931 And I think it was mutual. 465 00:21:17,966 --> 00:21:19,899 - And when I asked to think of a verb 466 00:21:19,933 --> 00:21:22,488 to describe Freddie on stage, 467 00:21:22,522 --> 00:21:24,455 I think of strut. 468 00:21:24,490 --> 00:21:28,425 Like a peacock or some beautiful rare creature, 469 00:21:30,496 --> 00:21:33,602 just strutting across the stage, 470 00:21:33,637 --> 00:21:35,570 not afraid to dominate. 471 00:21:36,467 --> 00:21:39,401 ♪ One, one, one 472 00:21:39,436 --> 00:21:42,093 - The way he had that unique mic thing 473 00:21:42,128 --> 00:21:44,958 with the bit hanging down, but not on a stand. 474 00:21:44,993 --> 00:21:49,515 He moved about the whole time and that gave him the freedom. 475 00:21:49,549 --> 00:21:52,518 I don't recall him ever standing there. 476 00:21:52,552 --> 00:21:55,348 He used that mic, that mobile mic. 477 00:21:57,488 --> 00:22:01,768 He was a great instinctive performer 478 00:22:01,803 --> 00:22:05,807 who loved to be in front of an audience. 479 00:22:05,841 --> 00:22:09,017 - He has very good annunciation 480 00:22:09,051 --> 00:22:12,400 so everyone can understand what he is saying. 481 00:22:12,434 --> 00:22:15,092 And you can hear it a long way away. 482 00:22:15,126 --> 00:22:18,923 Well, this turned out to be immensely useful 483 00:22:18,958 --> 00:22:23,411 when Queen would do stadium gigs or beach gigs 484 00:22:23,445 --> 00:22:27,794 or outdoor gigs where they had tens of thousand 485 00:22:27,829 --> 00:22:29,727 or even over a hundred thousand people. 486 00:22:29,762 --> 00:22:32,005 - There are very few people whose voices 487 00:22:32,040 --> 00:22:34,905 are immediately recognizable. 488 00:22:34,939 --> 00:22:36,838 And I think Freddie is one of them. 489 00:22:36,872 --> 00:22:39,875 Freddie had the most incredible voice. 490 00:22:39,910 --> 00:22:42,499 He had a wonderful range, he had a depth, 491 00:22:42,533 --> 00:22:46,572 he had a richness and a power in it, I think 492 00:22:46,606 --> 00:22:50,541 that meant that the songs they'd written, 493 00:22:50,576 --> 00:22:52,854 I don't think anybody else could have sung. 494 00:22:52,888 --> 00:22:56,167 And I find it very interesting that there have been 495 00:22:56,202 --> 00:22:58,653 very few cover versions of Queen songs. 496 00:22:58,687 --> 00:23:01,138 And I suspect they frightened people 497 00:23:01,172 --> 00:23:03,934 because it would be very hard to copy what Freddie did. 498 00:23:03,968 --> 00:23:07,178 - Several of the great singers of all time 499 00:23:07,213 --> 00:23:09,526 consciously use their voices as an instrument. 500 00:23:09,560 --> 00:23:14,047 Frank Sinatra, for example, learned to use his voice 501 00:23:14,082 --> 00:23:17,672 from listening to Tommy Dorsey, who was the leader 502 00:23:17,706 --> 00:23:20,778 of the band that he was in in 1940. 503 00:23:20,813 --> 00:23:25,818 ♪ I long to kiss you 504 00:23:27,060 --> 00:23:31,099 ♪ But I would not dare 505 00:23:31,133 --> 00:23:36,035 ♪ I'm so afraid 506 00:23:36,069 --> 00:23:38,727 ♪ That you may vanish 507 00:23:38,762 --> 00:23:42,179 - [Jim] And he noticed that Dorsey, a trombone player, 508 00:23:42,213 --> 00:23:43,594 had great breath control, 509 00:23:43,629 --> 00:23:46,079 which enabled him to draw out long notes. 510 00:23:46,114 --> 00:23:49,117 And he wanted to draw out long notes in singing 511 00:23:49,151 --> 00:23:51,706 so he learned breath control. 512 00:23:51,740 --> 00:23:53,121 And Freddie could do the same thing 513 00:23:53,155 --> 00:23:55,088 because he realized his 514 00:23:55,123 --> 00:23:57,539 voice was like an instrument. 515 00:23:58,954 --> 00:24:02,199 ♪ If you 516 00:24:02,233 --> 00:24:06,065 ♪ Are but 517 00:24:06,099 --> 00:24:07,929 ♪ A dream 518 00:24:07,963 --> 00:24:10,103 [gentle music] 519 00:24:10,138 --> 00:24:15,074 - Freddie was extremely interested in people who had power. 520 00:24:15,108 --> 00:24:18,215 Liza Minnelli was an obvious influence. 521 00:24:18,249 --> 00:24:20,804 Her style of belting. 522 00:24:20,838 --> 00:24:22,253 He loved a belter. 523 00:24:22,288 --> 00:24:25,084 The ultimate, of course, was Montserrat Caballe. 524 00:24:25,118 --> 00:24:26,948 [singing in foreign language] 525 00:24:26,982 --> 00:24:31,124 I went to the Covent Garden Opera House to see a recital 526 00:24:31,159 --> 00:24:34,990 by Montserrat Caballe, the great Spanish diva. 527 00:24:36,164 --> 00:24:39,132 And I looked to my left and not far away, 528 00:24:39,167 --> 00:24:43,102 there's Freddie in a box seat and he's going. 529 00:24:44,690 --> 00:24:46,277 And he's so excited. 530 00:24:46,312 --> 00:24:48,141 He's like a schoolboy. 531 00:24:49,936 --> 00:24:51,973 ♪ Barcelona 532 00:24:52,007 --> 00:24:54,320 ♪ It was the first time that we met ♪ 533 00:24:54,354 --> 00:24:56,633 ♪ Barcelona 534 00:24:56,667 --> 00:24:59,877 ♪ How can I forget 535 00:24:59,912 --> 00:25:02,362 ♪ The moment that you stepped into the room ♪ 536 00:25:02,397 --> 00:25:05,987 ♪ You took my breath away 537 00:25:07,298 --> 00:25:11,164 - He's thrilled to be in the presence of this woman 538 00:25:11,199 --> 00:25:12,787 whose voice he loved. 539 00:25:12,821 --> 00:25:15,375 Well it was no surprise to me at all 540 00:25:15,410 --> 00:25:18,689 that he shortly there afterwards recorded with her 541 00:25:18,724 --> 00:25:20,691 'cause he was into it. 542 00:25:20,726 --> 00:25:23,314 ♪ Let the songs begin 543 00:25:23,349 --> 00:25:25,800 [singing in foreign language] 544 00:25:25,834 --> 00:25:28,319 ♪ Let the music play 545 00:25:28,354 --> 00:25:30,218 ♪ Ah 546 00:25:30,252 --> 00:25:33,877 - He loved the way that this woman 547 00:25:33,911 --> 00:25:36,155 who did not look glamorous, 548 00:25:37,363 --> 00:25:40,953 could become a glamorous character 549 00:25:40,987 --> 00:25:45,267 strictly through the use of her voice and her attitude. 550 00:25:45,302 --> 00:25:48,685 This was Freddie par excellence. 551 00:25:48,719 --> 00:25:53,103 Freddie at "Live Aid" is probably the best domination 552 00:25:53,137 --> 00:25:55,623 of an audience I've ever seen. 553 00:25:55,657 --> 00:25:58,246 [crowd cheering] 554 00:26:01,283 --> 00:26:04,666 - They were looking around saying, "Well, they've done it, 555 00:26:04,701 --> 00:26:05,598 haven't they?" 556 00:26:05,633 --> 00:26:07,255 You know, it was extraordinary. 557 00:26:07,289 --> 00:26:10,914 ♪ We will, we will rock you 558 00:26:10,948 --> 00:26:11,984 ♪ One more time 559 00:26:12,018 --> 00:26:15,608 ♪ We will, we will rock you 560 00:26:15,643 --> 00:26:17,299 [upbeat music] 561 00:26:17,334 --> 00:26:19,163 - They're stealing the show. 562 00:26:19,198 --> 00:26:21,096 All the artists backstage who had 563 00:26:21,131 --> 00:26:24,790 of course their own egos, their own sense of pride, 564 00:26:24,824 --> 00:26:27,137 they're stealing the show [laughs]. 565 00:26:27,171 --> 00:26:28,241 And they were. 566 00:26:28,276 --> 00:26:30,416 ♪ Shivers down my spine 567 00:26:30,450 --> 00:26:34,040 ♪ Body's aching all the time 568 00:26:34,075 --> 00:26:36,318 - And you hear the audience going completely nuts. 569 00:26:36,353 --> 00:26:40,046 And you see on the monitor, 570 00:26:40,081 --> 00:26:45,431 Freddie doing this impromptu duet 571 00:26:45,465 --> 00:26:47,364 with a BBC cameraman. 572 00:26:48,330 --> 00:26:52,058 ♪ Every night, every day 573 00:26:52,093 --> 00:26:55,337 ♪ A little piece of you is falling away ♪ 574 00:26:55,372 --> 00:26:59,376 ♪ But lift your face the western way ♪ 575 00:26:59,410 --> 00:27:00,791 [upbeat music] 576 00:27:00,826 --> 00:27:02,137 - And everybody said they stole the show. 577 00:27:02,172 --> 00:27:03,794 It just proved that they were undoubtedly 578 00:27:03,829 --> 00:27:05,934 one of the best live band's there's ever been. 579 00:27:05,969 --> 00:27:10,974 - Queen really did rule the world for a short period. 580 00:27:11,422 --> 00:27:13,701 [upbeat music] 581 00:27:13,735 --> 00:27:16,324 [crowd cheering] 582 00:27:19,154 --> 00:27:21,916 - The media get excited about all kinds of things. 583 00:27:21,950 --> 00:27:24,953 I mean, you can argue it's none of their bloody business 584 00:27:24,988 --> 00:27:26,921 but they're gonna make it their business anyway. 585 00:27:26,955 --> 00:27:28,336 So what are you gonna do about it? 586 00:27:28,370 --> 00:27:31,235 - Freddie and indeed the band generally 587 00:27:31,270 --> 00:27:34,756 were very single-minded and also didn't necessarily 588 00:27:34,791 --> 00:27:36,171 suffer fools gladly. 589 00:27:36,206 --> 00:27:39,243 The band, and Freddie in particular, is very flamboyance, 590 00:27:39,278 --> 00:27:42,730 if you like, invited negative comments from people 591 00:27:42,764 --> 00:27:46,975 who like their rock and roll to be more down and dirty. 592 00:27:47,010 --> 00:27:50,841 - Freddie was as nice a person as you'll find. 593 00:27:52,118 --> 00:27:55,432 Extremely generous to his friends. 594 00:27:55,466 --> 00:27:57,296 Threw great parties. 595 00:27:57,330 --> 00:27:59,816 And consumed too much of life. 596 00:28:04,372 --> 00:28:08,341 He took to the gay scene in New York in the late '70s, 597 00:28:08,376 --> 00:28:12,691 like David Attenborough would take to a nature film, 598 00:28:13,415 --> 00:28:15,935 to forms of wildlife. 599 00:28:15,970 --> 00:28:18,006 - When I first went to Freddie's home, 600 00:28:18,041 --> 00:28:21,872 he was living in a flat in the Kensington area 601 00:28:23,080 --> 00:28:25,807 with his girlfriend, Mary Austin. 602 00:28:27,084 --> 00:28:28,361 And he was still the best of friends 603 00:28:28,396 --> 00:28:30,294 with her 'till the day he died. 604 00:28:30,329 --> 00:28:33,263 Even as she and Freddie grew apart in some ways 605 00:28:33,297 --> 00:28:36,059 they became the very best of friends. 606 00:28:36,093 --> 00:28:38,475 And she married, she had children, 607 00:28:38,509 --> 00:28:41,512 but their relationship never really changed. 608 00:28:41,547 --> 00:28:43,929 He just had other relationships as well. 609 00:28:43,963 --> 00:28:46,966 - Freddie, over the years, got more remote. 610 00:28:47,001 --> 00:28:48,519 Changing lifestyle really. 611 00:28:48,554 --> 00:28:51,005 When you first knew him actually personally, 612 00:28:51,039 --> 00:28:52,144 quite a private person. 613 00:28:52,178 --> 00:28:53,386 He was quite shy, 614 00:28:53,421 --> 00:28:54,560 I don't think necessarily really comfortable 615 00:28:54,594 --> 00:28:57,183 with new people and strangers. 616 00:28:57,218 --> 00:29:00,117 But his other side was the flamboyant stage presence. 617 00:29:00,152 --> 00:29:02,602 And I think as time went on, 618 00:29:02,637 --> 00:29:05,398 the stage persona really took over 619 00:29:05,433 --> 00:29:07,159 from the original individual. 620 00:29:07,193 --> 00:29:11,266 And he lived this larger-than-life character all the time. 621 00:29:11,301 --> 00:29:14,442 So I think by the early '80s and especially when they 622 00:29:14,476 --> 00:29:16,375 were spending so much time abroad, 623 00:29:16,409 --> 00:29:18,998 his whole approach to life changed. 624 00:29:19,033 --> 00:29:21,449 [gentle music] 625 00:29:30,527 --> 00:29:34,600 - It was fairly obvious that there was this tension 626 00:29:34,634 --> 00:29:36,464 that was unresolved in him. 627 00:29:36,498 --> 00:29:40,261 And even in the end, 'cause Mary came back at the end 628 00:29:40,295 --> 00:29:41,503 and looked after him. 629 00:29:41,538 --> 00:29:43,885 I mean, when he talks about Mary as being 630 00:29:43,920 --> 00:29:47,924 the one person in his life that he truly trusted 631 00:29:49,270 --> 00:29:53,515 and I've seen her on film talking about him, 632 00:29:53,550 --> 00:29:56,070 when he came out of the closet and first spoke 633 00:29:56,104 --> 00:29:57,519 to her about it. 634 00:29:57,554 --> 00:30:01,903 Obviously, there was a battle going on inside of him. 635 00:30:01,938 --> 00:30:05,010 But I'm not, that was when he came out of the closet. 636 00:30:05,044 --> 00:30:08,289 But I know I have pictures of the guy 637 00:30:08,323 --> 00:30:10,498 that he was hanging around already 638 00:30:10,532 --> 00:30:13,294 with someone he was having a relationship with 639 00:30:13,328 --> 00:30:15,123 before he finally told Mary. 640 00:30:15,158 --> 00:30:18,575 So he was hanging around in '74, this particular guy. 641 00:30:18,609 --> 00:30:21,336 [gentle music] 642 00:30:23,062 --> 00:30:24,892 He certainly didn't wanna talk about it publicly, 643 00:30:24,926 --> 00:30:26,134 any of that. 644 00:30:26,169 --> 00:30:28,619 He would discuss things privately. 645 00:30:30,449 --> 00:30:32,623 And I could name a couple of interesting names, 646 00:30:32,658 --> 00:30:35,074 but I won't, that I happen to know 647 00:30:35,109 --> 00:30:36,627 he had relationships with. 648 00:30:36,662 --> 00:30:39,389 But that's not for me to discuss. 649 00:30:40,666 --> 00:30:43,842 I do believe even for public figures, 650 00:30:45,326 --> 00:30:47,638 that there is, you know, there's an area of privacy 651 00:30:47,673 --> 00:30:49,606 that I may be privileged to have certain knowledge 652 00:30:49,640 --> 00:30:53,541 but if they want to talk about it's up to them. 653 00:30:53,575 --> 00:30:55,474 So I don't want people talking about 654 00:30:55,508 --> 00:30:58,028 all the lured things in my youth either. 655 00:30:58,063 --> 00:30:59,650 It's none of their fucking business. 656 00:30:59,685 --> 00:31:01,929 Not that people are as interested, they are 657 00:31:01,963 --> 00:31:04,621 cases like Lou or David or Freddie. 658 00:31:04,655 --> 00:31:08,107 [gentle music] 659 00:31:08,142 --> 00:31:11,939 - I think perhaps Freddie was always looking for love 660 00:31:11,973 --> 00:31:14,596 which he found in many ways over his life. 661 00:31:14,631 --> 00:31:16,288 I think he was always looking for perfection 662 00:31:16,322 --> 00:31:19,601 which is probably a harder thing to find. 663 00:31:20,775 --> 00:31:23,502 And I think he was ultimately curious. 664 00:31:23,536 --> 00:31:28,265 He wanted to know what was out there to experience a lot. 665 00:31:29,577 --> 00:31:31,406 And he found a lot of the things he was looking for 666 00:31:31,441 --> 00:31:32,683 but perhaps not all of them. 667 00:31:32,718 --> 00:31:34,927 - There was "Don't Stop Me Now" 668 00:31:34,962 --> 00:31:39,345 which has become a very, very popular song in Britain. 669 00:31:39,380 --> 00:31:43,591 ♪ Don't stop me now 670 00:31:43,625 --> 00:31:45,558 ♪ Don't stop me 671 00:31:45,593 --> 00:31:47,595 ♪ 'Cause I'm having a good time ♪ 672 00:31:47,629 --> 00:31:48,941 ♪ Having a good time 673 00:31:48,976 --> 00:31:53,325 ♪ I'm a shooting star, leaping through the sky like a tiger ♪ 674 00:31:53,359 --> 00:31:54,567 - And of course to this day, 675 00:31:54,602 --> 00:31:55,844 Brian feels a bit uncomfortable about it 676 00:31:55,879 --> 00:32:00,401 because it's a celebration of Freddy's hedonistic lifestyle. 677 00:32:03,611 --> 00:32:05,371 Which was to kill him. 678 00:32:05,406 --> 00:32:08,236 [heartfelt music] 679 00:32:13,655 --> 00:32:15,312 I've said this several times before, 680 00:32:15,347 --> 00:32:18,453 but it's just a key moment in my life 681 00:32:23,562 --> 00:32:26,323 with Freddie and as a gay person. 682 00:32:27,669 --> 00:32:30,258 In Heaven in the nightclub in early 1983, 683 00:32:30,293 --> 00:32:32,640 I had returned from the United States 684 00:32:32,674 --> 00:32:35,160 and I said, "Have you adjusted your behavior 685 00:32:35,194 --> 00:32:37,231 in light of the new disease?" 686 00:32:37,265 --> 00:32:39,509 'Cause, it had no name then. 687 00:32:40,751 --> 00:32:43,685 And he said, with one of his flourishes, and he said, 688 00:32:43,720 --> 00:32:46,723 "Darling, my attitude is fuck it. 689 00:32:46,757 --> 00:32:49,968 I'm doing everything with everybody." 690 00:32:51,107 --> 00:32:53,695 And I had that sinking feeling. 691 00:32:55,663 --> 00:32:58,804 There literally is a sinking feeling. 692 00:32:58,838 --> 00:33:00,737 I've had it twice in my life. 693 00:33:00,771 --> 00:33:02,221 And that was once. 694 00:33:03,602 --> 00:33:08,572 And I just felt at that moment, we're gonna lose Fred. 695 00:33:09,815 --> 00:33:12,680 And I also thought that even though he's putting up 696 00:33:12,714 --> 00:33:17,098 this great front, probably in the back of his mind, 697 00:33:20,584 --> 00:33:22,552 he thinks it's too late. 698 00:33:22,586 --> 00:33:25,141 [gentle music] 699 00:33:34,633 --> 00:33:37,498 But what was tremendously unfair 700 00:33:37,532 --> 00:33:41,709 to the first wave of people who died from HIV AIDS 701 00:33:42,882 --> 00:33:46,058 was that they became infected when it was not known 702 00:33:46,093 --> 00:33:47,853 that the virus existed. 703 00:33:49,406 --> 00:33:54,239 So they couldn't know that what they were doing was unsafe. 704 00:33:55,378 --> 00:33:58,208 They didn't know there was any risk. 705 00:33:59,830 --> 00:34:04,421 It's very easy for people to look back on a previous era 706 00:34:04,456 --> 00:34:07,355 with the mores and morals of today. 707 00:34:08,425 --> 00:34:10,082 But we have to remember that the '70s 708 00:34:10,117 --> 00:34:14,431 was this incredible era of sexual expression. 709 00:34:14,466 --> 00:34:17,814 There was about a quarter of a century 710 00:34:17,848 --> 00:34:20,782 where everything was, if not safe, 711 00:34:20,817 --> 00:34:24,821 at least treatable because once you had penicillin, 712 00:34:24,855 --> 00:34:28,514 knocked syphilis on the head in the 1940s, 713 00:34:29,688 --> 00:34:31,172 there was no sexually transmitted disease 714 00:34:31,207 --> 00:34:32,794 that was going to kill you. 715 00:34:32,829 --> 00:34:34,762 So in the '70s, particularly 716 00:34:34,796 --> 00:34:36,764 with the emancipation movements, 717 00:34:36,798 --> 00:34:39,249 the women's liberation and the gay liberation, 718 00:34:39,284 --> 00:34:43,460 people were having sex like there was no tomorrow. 719 00:34:45,704 --> 00:34:48,741 It's easy to forget that today. 720 00:34:48,776 --> 00:34:51,606 And then, of course, millions paid. 721 00:34:53,815 --> 00:34:56,646 [heartfelt music] 722 00:35:07,691 --> 00:35:10,384 Now I know that Freddie did not have a test 723 00:35:10,418 --> 00:35:14,388 until the late '80s and did not demonstrate symptoms 724 00:35:14,422 --> 00:35:17,839 until the second half of the '80s. 725 00:35:17,874 --> 00:35:21,602 But remember there was a 10-year incubation period 726 00:35:21,636 --> 00:35:25,123 on average between infection and symptoms. 727 00:35:27,780 --> 00:35:29,610 So if you were to say Freddie 728 00:35:29,644 --> 00:35:32,544 starts showing symptoms late '80s, 729 00:35:32,578 --> 00:35:35,926 if he were an average case, no guarantee that he was, 730 00:35:35,961 --> 00:35:37,307 but if he were an average case, 731 00:35:37,342 --> 00:35:38,791 he would've been infected late '70s. 732 00:35:38,826 --> 00:35:42,830 Which makes sense with his lifestyle enthusiasms 733 00:35:43,934 --> 00:35:46,420 as he'd conveyed them to me. 734 00:35:47,800 --> 00:35:54,635 And that is so cosmically though in no way uniquely unfair. 735 00:35:57,914 --> 00:36:04,990 That sexual experimentation should become a capital matter. 736 00:36:05,991 --> 00:36:07,924 No one thought that was possible. 737 00:36:07,958 --> 00:36:10,616 - By that time, he was being pursued everywhere 738 00:36:10,651 --> 00:36:11,859 by paparazzi. 739 00:36:11,893 --> 00:36:14,793 And, you know, the tabloids were speculating 740 00:36:14,827 --> 00:36:16,829 on a weekly basis, you know, 741 00:36:16,864 --> 00:36:18,245 every time he was seen in public. 742 00:36:18,279 --> 00:36:21,489 So it was that time when there were a lot 743 00:36:21,524 --> 00:36:24,837 of similar casualties in and around the music business. 744 00:36:24,872 --> 00:36:29,877 And most of us knew somebody who was similarly afflicted. 745 00:36:31,430 --> 00:36:34,399 So you kind of had the feeling what was going on. 746 00:36:36,470 --> 00:36:37,712 He wasn't right. 747 00:36:37,747 --> 00:36:39,818 The fact that their activities have been 748 00:36:39,852 --> 00:36:42,959 so much scaled back by them, made it clear 749 00:36:42,993 --> 00:36:46,031 that there was something wrong regardless 750 00:36:46,065 --> 00:36:47,929 of what it was or what caused it. 751 00:36:47,964 --> 00:36:50,622 He was obviously not the same Freddie. 752 00:36:50,656 --> 00:36:54,246 - I think most people knew that he was ill. 753 00:36:55,903 --> 00:36:58,768 I think nobody really knew what was wrong 754 00:36:58,802 --> 00:37:02,461 or how long he'd been ill or how bad it was 755 00:37:05,499 --> 00:37:07,949 until pretty much at the end. 756 00:37:07,984 --> 00:37:11,815 - Freddie was one of those persons with AIDS 757 00:37:16,648 --> 00:37:18,891 who responded by not wishing to be seen. 758 00:37:18,926 --> 00:37:20,721 - [Interviewer] It would be wrong of us not to say 759 00:37:20,755 --> 00:37:22,999 that he has been depicted in certain quarters 760 00:37:23,033 --> 00:37:28,038 as sort of decadent, wild, bisexual, irresponsible lover. 761 00:37:29,350 --> 00:37:30,972 So what was actually the truth of that? 762 00:37:31,007 --> 00:37:33,630 - Yes, that's very, that definitely makes us very angry 763 00:37:33,665 --> 00:37:36,115 because he was certainly, the Freddie we knew 764 00:37:36,150 --> 00:37:37,703 wasn't wildly promiscuous. 765 00:37:37,738 --> 00:37:39,326 He wasn't consumed by drugs. 766 00:37:39,360 --> 00:37:41,362 Any of these things that people are saying. 767 00:37:41,397 --> 00:37:43,916 He had a very responsible attitude to everyone 768 00:37:43,951 --> 00:37:45,297 that he was close to. 769 00:37:45,332 --> 00:37:47,057 And he was a very generous and caring person 770 00:37:47,092 --> 00:37:49,128 to all of the people that came through his life. 771 00:37:49,163 --> 00:37:50,923 And more than that, you can't ask really, you know, 772 00:37:50,958 --> 00:37:53,719 as he moved from a relationship to another one, 773 00:37:53,754 --> 00:37:56,929 he was always very, as I say, you know, aware 774 00:37:56,964 --> 00:37:59,967 of the effect he was having on people's lives. 775 00:38:00,001 --> 00:38:03,108 - We all knew that there were many people. 776 00:38:03,142 --> 00:38:05,352 My PA died for heaven's sake. 777 00:38:05,386 --> 00:38:08,113 I mean, it was, it was in our homes, 778 00:38:08,147 --> 00:38:10,011 it was in our friendly circles, 779 00:38:10,046 --> 00:38:14,119 and it was happening with such suddenness and force 780 00:38:16,017 --> 00:38:20,021 that you couldn't mourn everybody as deeply 781 00:38:20,056 --> 00:38:23,370 as they deserved at the moment they were dying. 782 00:38:23,404 --> 00:38:26,959 In retrospect, whenever you think of one of these people, 783 00:38:26,994 --> 00:38:31,999 then you experience their passing uniquely and individually. 784 00:38:33,069 --> 00:38:35,968 But then because there were so many involved, 785 00:38:36,003 --> 00:38:37,970 you were just trying to keep your head above water 786 00:38:38,005 --> 00:38:39,696 and be good to everybody. 787 00:38:39,731 --> 00:38:42,354 ♪ Time 788 00:38:42,389 --> 00:38:45,012 ♪ Waits for no one 789 00:38:45,046 --> 00:38:48,809 ♪ Best not to be friends with one another ♪ 790 00:38:48,843 --> 00:38:52,606 ♪ Or we'd have no more future at all ♪ 791 00:38:52,640 --> 00:38:57,645 ♪ Time 792 00:38:58,405 --> 00:39:00,924 ♪ Waits for nobody 793 00:39:00,959 --> 00:39:03,651 [gentle music] 794 00:39:03,686 --> 00:39:08,691 ♪ For nobody, nobody, nobody 795 00:39:09,726 --> 00:39:12,177 ♪ For no one 796 00:39:15,732 --> 00:39:20,737 - One of the extraordinary things about Queen and Freddie 797 00:39:21,911 --> 00:39:24,879 was that they had an instinctive commercial 798 00:39:26,122 --> 00:39:28,573 and marketing nous. 799 00:39:28,607 --> 00:39:31,092 With Queen, and I think with Freddie's writing, 800 00:39:31,127 --> 00:39:34,958 it was staggering how year on year at that time 801 00:39:34,993 --> 00:39:38,168 when we in the record company were expecting 802 00:39:38,203 --> 00:39:40,136 and waiting for the new album knowing 803 00:39:40,170 --> 00:39:43,691 that the crucial thing was, is there gonna 804 00:39:43,726 --> 00:39:45,486 be a natural big hit. 805 00:39:48,178 --> 00:39:53,183 That year on year, they came up with the most extraordinary, 806 00:39:54,219 --> 00:39:56,635 always another step into the unexpected. 807 00:39:58,154 --> 00:39:59,914 Something incredibly serendipitous. 808 00:39:59,949 --> 00:40:02,158 When you, one year it was "Killer Queen", 809 00:40:02,192 --> 00:40:05,161 the following year, of course, was "Bohemian Rhapsody". 810 00:40:05,195 --> 00:40:07,094 Then it was "Somebody To Love" the following year. 811 00:40:07,128 --> 00:40:08,958 Then it was "We Are The Champions". 812 00:40:08,992 --> 00:40:12,133 And if you think about those records 813 00:40:12,168 --> 00:40:15,067 which were some of the great anthems of rock, 814 00:40:15,102 --> 00:40:17,656 every year we would breathe the sigh of relief 815 00:40:17,691 --> 00:40:20,210 and say, "Oh, got another one." 816 00:40:20,245 --> 00:40:24,456 - Now for the band, it would've been very difficult 817 00:40:24,491 --> 00:40:29,496 and I give them full points knowing that something was up, 818 00:40:30,220 --> 00:40:31,774 knowing that something was up 819 00:40:31,808 --> 00:40:34,673 that was completely outside their own circle. 820 00:40:34,708 --> 00:40:37,987 Because unlike the theatrical community 821 00:40:39,160 --> 00:40:41,059 or the gay community, 822 00:40:42,336 --> 00:40:45,684 the heterosexual members of Queen wouldn't know 823 00:40:45,719 --> 00:40:47,755 as much about it. 824 00:40:47,790 --> 00:40:49,723 They would just know he's not looking too good. 825 00:40:49,757 --> 00:40:51,138 What's happening? 826 00:40:53,520 --> 00:40:55,901 But because they were very much a quartet, 827 00:40:55,936 --> 00:40:57,524 they stood by him to the very, very end. 828 00:40:57,558 --> 00:40:59,146 And the very, very end, of course, 829 00:40:59,180 --> 00:41:01,804 is that incredibly moving video. 830 00:41:03,564 --> 00:41:08,535 ♪ Those were the days of our lives ♪ 831 00:41:09,605 --> 00:41:11,261 ♪ Yeah 832 00:41:11,296 --> 00:41:16,301 ♪ The bad things in life were so few ♪ 833 00:41:19,649 --> 00:41:24,067 ♪ Those days are all gone now 834 00:41:24,102 --> 00:41:28,140 ♪ But one thing's true 835 00:41:28,175 --> 00:41:32,800 ♪ When I look and I find 836 00:41:32,835 --> 00:41:35,734 ♪ I still love you 837 00:41:36,839 --> 00:41:39,255 [gentle music] 838 00:41:42,085 --> 00:41:44,536 ♪ I still love you 839 00:41:44,571 --> 00:41:46,365 - Well, the one thing he wanted to do 840 00:41:46,400 --> 00:41:49,265 was keep on working in the studio. 841 00:41:49,299 --> 00:41:53,269 He was absolutely determined to keep on, 842 00:41:53,303 --> 00:41:55,858 keep the group going, and to keep working. 843 00:41:55,892 --> 00:41:58,619 And that actually kept him going 844 00:41:58,654 --> 00:42:00,172 for a long time. - You see, 845 00:42:00,207 --> 00:42:01,208 we watched earlier "Those Were The Days Of Our Lives" 846 00:42:01,242 --> 00:42:04,832 and actually watching it was unbearably poignant 847 00:42:04,867 --> 00:42:05,764 just to watch it. 848 00:42:05,799 --> 00:42:07,697 So for you fellas to be in that, 849 00:42:07,732 --> 00:42:10,079 it must have been a difficult session emotionally. 850 00:42:10,113 --> 00:42:11,770 - So incredibly difficult. - Yes. 851 00:42:11,805 --> 00:42:13,185 It was hard, it was really, 852 00:42:13,220 --> 00:42:16,154 but we were sort of trying to support him through it. 853 00:42:16,188 --> 00:42:20,227 And I mean, he was incredibly brave at that time. 854 00:42:20,261 --> 00:42:25,266 Obviously, he knew, you know, and we all knew at that time. 855 00:42:25,301 --> 00:42:27,890 But you know, the best thing is just to get on 856 00:42:27,924 --> 00:42:29,339 with life and to do it. 857 00:42:29,374 --> 00:42:30,996 And he did that. 858 00:42:31,031 --> 00:42:34,344 And I think he carried on very bravely, actually. 859 00:42:34,379 --> 00:42:36,174 - They put out that video and there he is, 860 00:42:36,208 --> 00:42:39,349 and you go, "That's not Freddie, that's a spec." 861 00:42:39,384 --> 00:42:41,351 Although he could still sing. 862 00:42:41,386 --> 00:42:45,079 You know, however sick he was, it was like 863 00:42:45,114 --> 00:42:48,220 seeing that the disgusting-looking blabby Elvis, 864 00:42:48,255 --> 00:42:52,224 I've seen footage of his last concert and he looks horrible, 865 00:42:52,259 --> 00:42:54,364 but he sounds divine still, you know? 866 00:42:54,399 --> 00:42:56,746 So talent is a funny thing. 867 00:42:58,265 --> 00:43:01,130 Disease doesn't necessarily kill the talent 868 00:43:01,164 --> 00:43:03,339 or self-destructive behavior. 869 00:43:04,927 --> 00:43:09,138 And clearly, his talent was intact right up until the end. 870 00:43:09,172 --> 00:43:10,380 That last recording. 871 00:43:10,415 --> 00:43:14,074 - The singles from "Innuendo" are literal. 872 00:43:17,387 --> 00:43:19,182 The "Innuendo" single, which is about 873 00:43:19,217 --> 00:43:20,252 being written about in the press, 874 00:43:20,287 --> 00:43:21,840 well, of course, they were speculating 875 00:43:21,875 --> 00:43:23,324 about him in the press. 876 00:43:23,359 --> 00:43:25,844 "I'm Going Slightly Mad", a direct reference 877 00:43:25,879 --> 00:43:28,226 to having moments of disease 878 00:43:29,676 --> 00:43:32,437 and "The Show Must Go On", which was his philosophy. 879 00:43:32,471 --> 00:43:35,302 [heartfelt music] 880 00:43:42,309 --> 00:43:43,690 - Well, it was a sad thing. 881 00:43:43,724 --> 00:43:45,657 I mean, how could it not be? 882 00:43:45,692 --> 00:43:48,833 He was a very sweet guy who died. 883 00:43:48,867 --> 00:43:51,801 And I know he was in a lot, because Mary told me 884 00:43:51,836 --> 00:43:54,424 that he was in a lot of pain at the end. 885 00:43:54,459 --> 00:43:57,393 It was not an easy death for Freddie. 886 00:43:59,706 --> 00:44:02,812 But apparently, he didn't complain. 887 00:44:02,847 --> 00:44:04,434 Apparently, he was not... 888 00:44:04,469 --> 00:44:07,714 And he didn't feel sorry for himself. 889 00:44:10,406 --> 00:44:11,856 I don't know what else he could have done 890 00:44:11,890 --> 00:44:13,823 because he, you know... 891 00:44:15,791 --> 00:44:17,793 But apparently, he was in a lot of pain. 892 00:44:17,827 --> 00:44:20,416 - When Freddie died, that was the end of Queen. 893 00:44:20,450 --> 00:44:22,142 - There was just great sadness. 894 00:44:22,176 --> 00:44:25,007 [heartfelt music] 895 00:44:29,080 --> 00:44:33,256 You felt that like all the artists that die young, 896 00:44:34,533 --> 00:44:36,259 you say, "Well, what would've been?" 897 00:44:36,294 --> 00:44:39,331 You know, what would Buddy Holly have done? 898 00:44:39,366 --> 00:44:42,300 You know, what would Eddie Cochran have done? 899 00:44:42,334 --> 00:44:45,993 You think, well, what would Freddie be doing now? 900 00:44:46,028 --> 00:44:48,858 [heartfelt music] 901 00:44:52,828 --> 00:44:54,450 - The glamour of the world's rock stars 902 00:44:54,484 --> 00:44:56,348 in a very unglamorous setting. 903 00:44:56,383 --> 00:44:58,281 Rehearsals Studios west of London, 904 00:44:58,316 --> 00:45:01,388 where the final polish is being put on tomorrow's show. 905 00:45:01,422 --> 00:45:03,977 Casual dress was very much the order of the day. 906 00:45:04,011 --> 00:45:06,358 Elton John also sporting a brand new hair look 907 00:45:06,393 --> 00:45:07,808 for the big event. 908 00:45:07,843 --> 00:45:09,983 A succession of stars arrived throughout the day 909 00:45:10,017 --> 00:45:12,744 to practice alongside the surviving members of Queen. 910 00:45:12,779 --> 00:45:15,367 For many, it's a poignant occasion. 911 00:45:15,402 --> 00:45:16,955 Wembley Stadium was the scene of one 912 00:45:16,990 --> 00:45:21,132 of Queen's greatest performances back in 1986. 913 00:45:21,166 --> 00:45:23,168 Today, a team of 400 technicians, 914 00:45:23,203 --> 00:45:25,481 including Freddie Mercury's original road crew, 915 00:45:25,515 --> 00:45:29,416 were back in action preparing the giant stage. 916 00:45:29,450 --> 00:45:31,383 But the organizers here hope that the message 917 00:45:31,418 --> 00:45:33,938 will reach more than half a billion people 918 00:45:33,972 --> 00:45:35,802 in more than 70 countries. 919 00:45:35,836 --> 00:45:37,562 And despite all the glamour and razzamatazz, 920 00:45:37,596 --> 00:45:39,495 it will be a serious message trying 921 00:45:39,529 --> 00:45:44,120 to promote AIDS education on a truly global scale. 922 00:45:44,155 --> 00:45:47,537 ♪ No time for losers 923 00:45:47,572 --> 00:45:51,403 ♪ 'Cause we are the champions 924 00:45:53,509 --> 00:45:56,201 [crowd cheering] 925 00:45:56,236 --> 00:45:57,444 - Thanks, Freddie. 926 00:45:57,478 --> 00:46:01,103 We just wanted to let you know we were thinking about you. 927 00:46:01,137 --> 00:46:01,966 Stay safe. 928 00:46:03,001 --> 00:46:05,555 ♪ Of the world 929 00:46:07,972 --> 00:46:10,560 [crowd cheering] 930 00:46:14,426 --> 00:46:17,257 [heartfelt music] 931 00:46:30,511 --> 00:46:32,030 - He would love it. 932 00:46:32,065 --> 00:46:33,825 He would be thrilled. 933 00:46:36,552 --> 00:46:39,244 He would be thrilled to know that I've been asked to talk 934 00:46:39,279 --> 00:46:41,937 about him years after his death. 935 00:46:43,524 --> 00:46:46,010 He would be so excited [chuckling] 936 00:46:46,044 --> 00:46:48,460 and in a conspiratorial way, 937 00:46:48,495 --> 00:46:50,393 he would say, "Oh, I love this." 938 00:46:50,428 --> 00:46:54,639 You know, he'd have that little shoulder thing. 939 00:46:54,673 --> 00:46:59,333 I once said to him, when "I Wanna Break Free" was new, 940 00:47:00,472 --> 00:47:02,958 there was a point where Freddie, 941 00:47:02,992 --> 00:47:05,615 who was in drag doing the vacuuming, 942 00:47:05,650 --> 00:47:07,514 went from one room to the next 943 00:47:07,548 --> 00:47:10,551 and as he crossed the wall in the set, 944 00:47:11,898 --> 00:47:14,935 he did a little double time so that there was 945 00:47:14,970 --> 00:47:17,973 the minimum time spent out of vision. 946 00:47:18,007 --> 00:47:20,699 It was a very professional thing to do. 947 00:47:20,734 --> 00:47:23,702 So he was almost entirely in camera. 948 00:47:23,737 --> 00:47:25,394 And I said to him, "You know, my favorite part 949 00:47:25,428 --> 00:47:28,569 of 'I Want To Break Free' is when you go into double time 950 00:47:28,604 --> 00:47:29,950 between the rooms." 951 00:47:29,985 --> 00:47:31,262 And he said, "Oh, I'm so glad you noticed that. 952 00:47:31,296 --> 00:47:33,229 It's my favorite part." 953 00:47:34,403 --> 00:47:37,958 You see, he was thrilled to be a professional. 954 00:47:37,993 --> 00:47:41,582 Being Freddie Mercury allowed him to be the professional 955 00:47:41,617 --> 00:47:44,620 and the legend that he wanted to be. 956 00:47:45,655 --> 00:47:49,625 I could say I would love to be Arthur Rubinstein, 957 00:47:52,248 --> 00:47:54,457 the great concert pianist. 958 00:47:54,492 --> 00:47:59,048 Well, although I have a piano, I'm not a great pianist. 959 00:48:00,498 --> 00:48:07,194 But Freddie wanted to be a great diva esque figure, 960 00:48:07,229 --> 00:48:08,057 a legend. 961 00:48:09,196 --> 00:48:12,165 And being Freddie Mercury allowed Farrokh 962 00:48:12,199 --> 00:48:13,649 to be that person. 963 00:48:13,683 --> 00:48:16,514 [heartfelt music] 964 00:49:13,605 --> 00:49:16,436 [heartfelt music]