What’s even more interesting, Freddie Mercury wasn’t the only band member with a unique mind. Queen’s other band members were quite a special bunch, each holding degrees in different professions.
Queen’s guitarist, Brian May, has a Ph.D. in physics and astronomy (which he completed in 2007); John Deacon, the bassist, has a Bachelor’s degree in electronics; and Roger Taylor, the drummer, went to medical school and studied dentistry, but decided to change to biology and graduated with a BSc from East London Polytechnic. And in came Freddie, with his 2-year diploma in graphic arts. Thankfully, they all decided to dedicate their lives to music, instead of their impressive professions.
Queen created a new sound
Queen started gaining fans and establishing itself as a popular band in 1973. Once people started seeing Mercury on stage, they were mesmerized. He left audiences in awe and they started to fall in love with his stage persona, he would bring the crowds to life with a simple movement of hands.
It was a time when heavy rock was very mainstream, with bands like The Rolling Stones, The Who and Led Zepellin. Even though Queen was considered rock and roll, it had a different sound than the rest of the heavy rock bands of the time, because they created new sounds and melodies that nobody had ever heard before.
Farrokh Bulsara officially changes his name to Freddie Mercury
With the band becoming more popular by the day, Freddie decided that it was time for him to have a name worthy of start status. And so, he decided to officially change his last name from Bulsara to Mercury.
As we mentioned above, Freddie chose the name ‘Mercury’ because of his love for its significance in Persian mythology - which regarded it as a messenger of truth and love, due to the fact that it was the closest planet to Earth. And, Freddie was a firm believer in astrology, and Mercury was his star sign.
Their first album didn't sell
Queen recorded its first album in 1973, titled “Queen”. The band was ecstatic, it was the first time they’d recorded an album and couldn’t wait to see how audiences reacted to this new sound. Unfortunately, not many people bought their records, since Queen wasn’t such a popular, mainstream band yet.
Their second album, however, was an entirely different story. The band released their second album, “Queen II”, in March of 1974. But this time, they’d had the chance to broadcast their music on TV a month before, on a TV show called “Lost Top of the Pops”. Their media exposure helped propel their album sales, and Queen started to enjoy commercial success on a grand scale for the first time.
Queen became famous by playing an opening act
Later on that year, on May 1974, Queen caught their big break by being asked to do the opening act for an English band called Mott the Hoople, which already had a big following in the UK at the time. Mott the Hoople had listened to Queen and liked their sound so much, that they asked them to be their opening act in a concert they had in the US, making this the first time that Queen would perform in front of an American audience.
Unfortunately, the band had to return home before the tour was over, after their guitarist, Brian May, woke up very ill one day with Hepatitis B. The illness was so acute that it almost caused May to lose his arm, but fortunately this wasn’t necessary and he recovered. Can you imagine if they’d amputated Queen guitarist’s arm?!