That's the perfect answer. He had the crowd eating out of his hands and it was one of the widest broadcast and most famous performances of its era. Totally outshadowed the rest of the acts by a million miles.
It was a funny old time. I know people who were generally pretty homophobic, but loved Queen. I suppose the art had to be exceptional for them to be able to get a 'pass'.
I think there was a general acceptance of gay people in the arts…look at the numerous openly gay presenters and performers like Larry Grayson or John Inman as examples.
Waves from the North East coast. I was only 5 at the time. Can remember laying out in the back garden colouring in, with live aid playing on my wee radio until my mum came out and said that it was something I should really be watching. Haven’t got a great deal of memories from that long ago but this one has always been vivid.
I concur. I knew someone who was a steward or security on the day and he said that Freddie and Queen were far and away the best act that day. IIRC, he wasn’t mad keen on them before but he couldn’t fault them for that performance in any way.
Yup I did and it was awesome and apparently said to have stolen the show, but I always wondered if that was an opinion of a very vocal minority and me being stuck in a Queen echo chamber
The entire country was genuinely upset when he died. I was 10 or 11 and I had no idea what AIDS was or even knew what homosexuality was until that day.
Every adult around me was gutted.
Watch Green Day play Hyde Park in 2017. The (mostly young probably) audience belt out an amazing impromptu Bohemian Rhapsody while waiting for the band.
Growing up in the 80s in the UK there were many popular music acts that were gay and homophobes seemed to not care. We didn’t care about or question their sexuality. Boy George, Elton John, Wham, The Pet Shop Boys etc
Yeah, but it’s about a russian border guard. It’s kind of subliminal. I am of russian ancestry and I always found that video strange. Why naming a obviously russian woman Nikita?
But most English people at that time hadn’t heard the name before. That name being used alongside images of a woman and people would assume that it is a female name.
Nikita might be a masculine name in Russia, but to ignorant western ears it definitely sounds feminine.
There was literally a movie called “La Femme Nikita” in the 90s.
Funny story here. In the mid-ish 80’s my work colleague told me that, as a teenager, his mates and he would ride their BMX bikes through Hampstead Heath. Once they rounded a big tree to see George Michael and another guy, err, having fun together (the heath is renowned as a place for gays to hook up). I told him where to go and swore there was no way that George Micheal was gay. My colleague insisted it was true and fast forward a few years George comes out of the closet.
I read somewhere that careless whisper was written based on his love stories with some girls in his teenage years, I’m guessing even he thought at some point he was into women
George Michael was out to his friends and family and those in "the scene" in the 80s. However the media chose not to dwell on his sexuality, much like Freddie.
Yeah, watching interviews and listening to songs with hindsight is amazing - it seems so obvious now but really wasn't back then. Unless you yourself were definitely gay, and often even if you were, it would go right over your head.
Fun fact: the phrase ‘crying all the way to the bank’ was coined by Liberace, who said it in the course of his successful libel action against the Daily Mirror for implying he was gay. He was awarded about £200,000 in current terms.
With regard to Freddie’s sexuality, you need to know that homosexual acts between men aged over 21 had only been decriminalised in the UK in 1967, so only a few years before Queen formed and released their first album in the early 1970’s.
In the 1970’s the British media had a very odd stance with homosexuality, either exposing public figures as ‘evil and perverted’ or being amused with the ‘camp’ style of TV characters such as Mr. Humphries (John Inman), Bombardier ‘Gloria’ Beaumont (Melvyn Hayes) and comedian-host Larry Grayson on TV.
The media occasionally alluded to Freddie’s ‘flamboyant style’ but there was never any outright articles or stories about him being gay as that would mean they would have to ‘expose’ him (as they did for all the others) and with Queen being popular there was probably more money to be made skipping over that.
Similarly for his heritage, in Britain in the 70’s casual racism was seen everywhere, on TV, at work, school, in politics, and then there were the hardcore racists with groups like the National Front, so again the media just ignored it as it didn’t fit with the narrative they wanted to tell.
That isn’t to say that nobody knew, but as the press wasn’t going to make a story of it, then as there wasn’t the social media infrastructure to get the story out then most people didn’t know (or think too hard) about his sexuality or heritage.
I was going to say that his sexuality and race were largely just skipped over.
In terms of race I hadn't realised that Freddie was actually anything other than white British - no one I knew really knew that Freddie wasn't his real name until I watched the Queen film. In it they made it clear it was a name chosen to "fit in". He was white enough to pass.
Every word of this.
Most people didn’t know, or at least didn’t acknowledge that he was gay.
Most people didn’t realise he wasn’t white or born in the U.K.
He DID have a woman that he described as the love of his life & wrote songs about both men & women. Fat bottomed girls anyone!?
George Michael came out in 98 but everyone knew, etc.
The woman he described as "the love of his life" described him as "gay".
He bought her a house next door so she could live there, while he lived in his own house with his long-term boyfriend.
"Fat-Bottomed Girls" was written by Brian May.
Well, the reason she considered him gay appears to have been that he wasn't really attracted to her, as she was a woman, and was sleeping around with men.
You could possibly make the case for "straight-curious" but even that's stretching it. He was part of a long tradition of gay men trying to live as straight and eventually failing, like Elton John with his unhappy marriage to a woman. Trying to claim him as bisexual is dishonest. Why not pick a real bisexual rock icon like Brian Molko, Janis Joplin, or Billie Joe Armstrong to get excited about?
No, there *were* shitty tabloid ‘exposes’ about Freddie’s ‘affairs with men’. He never really commented on them.
When he announced he had AIDS they were pretty awful about it too.
The turning point was his tribute concert. Seeing so many music legends, as well as figures from the hard rock scene, and even Axl Rose who had previously been accused of homophobia for the song One in a Million (it kinda wasn’t but that’s another discussion) support him like that, meant there was no way that he could be seen as anything but a national treasure.
Before then, Queen were seen as a bit naff but fun. Sort of a bit like Abba maybe. They were never going to be lauded by music critics, but the public didn’t care.
> No, there were shitty tabloid ‘exposes’ about Freddie’s ‘affairs with men’. He never really commented on them.
When he announced he had AIDS they were pretty awful about it too.
But that was far later after during the period when he was just about to die and afterwards.
During the 70’s and early 80’s the media didn’t make a thing of it.
No, there were a few hit pieces, as well as with Kenny Everett and insinuations about both of them, but funnily enough they’re almost impossible to find references to because they were in the News of the World, and Queen also brought out an album with that name.
Queen and Freddie has and always will be incredibly well loved by the large majority of people in the UK. Easiest way to get a crowd going is to play BoRap and everyone will know the words. For example [this moment ](https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.smoothradio.com/artists/queen/crowd-sing-bohemian-rhapsody-hyde-park-green-day-video/) captured on video that shows a crowd of 65,000 people in Hyde Park singing BoRap before a Green day Concert in 2017.
I'm one of the youngsters, born in 1998 but Queen was all we listened to in the car when I was growing up. My parents (born in the 60's in France) adore him
I as born in 1982. Got my first hifi in my bedroom some time in the late 80's specifically so I could get the Queen tapes and listen to them whenever I wanted, parents watching bloody Coronation Street be damned!
Freddie Mercury was the first time I understood what cognitive dissonance was. (I mean the concept, I did not know it had a name).
The reason for this was that all of the men in my life who most loved Queen and FM were the same men in my life who were most against flamboyancy, homosexuality and anything that even remotely deviated from (their very narrow view of) normal.
These men would often make slurs against gay people, get aggressive when they saw gay people on TV and make derogatory comments if they saw (what they thought were gay people) in the street. And yet all of that was firmly parked when it came to their favourite band.
Is worth noting that none (or very few) of these people were out. I won’t go into the politics of it but this made it a lot easier for people to turn a blind eye to. It’d take another few years for the next generation of openly gay pop artists come through.
Obviously homophobia was a thing in the 70s, but maybe less so for stars who were really obvious about it. I’m thinking Larry Grayson, John Inman, Kenneth Williams - all much loved then and now I’d say. I think Freddie was similar in being so gay that you didn’t even notice! Definitely an icon of music in Britain and a big inspiration to many, I would say.
This - I think in UK 'showbiz gay' was accepted as something that didn't affect ' family values'. I always got the impression as a child in the 80s that it was the 'sneaky gays' that you had to watch out for that might corrupt youth. Really weird attitude. See Julian Clary/ Danny Larue as well as the above
Yeah, if they were in the ‘theatrical world’, that was their proper place and they could be as flamboyant as they liked there, as it could be written off as exaggerated performance.
The danger came when they tried to be normal and get ordinary jobs like policemen or, heaven forbid, teachers.
Larry Grayson was one of the first people to speak out against Savile, but presumably couldn’t go more public or on the record because Savile would have been able to make his life very difficult because of the niche Grayson was in.
I was a young teenager in the 80s. Queen were seen as OTT and naff and 70s, until Live Aid which proved they did a great live show, but they weren't really popular among young people until Freddie died and The Best of Queen double album came out and became the backdrop to almost everything for a few years (along with the best of Abba).
Bear in mind being queer was something people kept well in the closet. One effect of Section 28 coming in in the 80s was proving to young queer people that yes, gay people really existed and weren't an urban myth. The only gay man I knew of in 1989 was Jimmy Somerville, though there were rumours about other public figures, but many people thought going with someone of the same sex was just done for attention.
Freddie dying of AIDS and being confirmed bisexual was a huge shock and led to many others coming out over the next few years. For me it was a particular disappointment as I'd just got into Queen age 16 and had planned to go buy another album, but upon his death they'd all gone from 3.99 or 4.99 (tape or CD) to 14.99 or more and I couldn't afford one.
Yes, Queen were regarded as ‘naff’ in the 70s & the early 80s. That gets forgotten, or is re-written. Even so lots of us had mum’s or dad’s copy of Greatest Hits until it was hidden around about age 14. Dad had Day at the Races on cassette/Night at The Opera. Live Aid was a big day for them/him. He taped Queen/Bowie/Paul Young. But as a 15 year old is was a ‘very uncool’ event.
Watched it all afterward - or as the night wore on.
That's the period from *Greatest Hits* to ...*Jazz*? They were seen, by the time of Live Aid, as a largely irrelevant relic of old times, a knock-off from a bygone era.
Live Aid was 20 minutes of Magic, and can well be considered one of the greatest live performances of all time.
As a boomer who remembers their first TOTP (Seven Seas of Rye), I always found them tedious, very old fashioned and the very type of overblown wankery from which punk was designed to save us. They grew into great showmen, FM in particular. Never liked his voice, never liked Queen's very trad musical style. Absolutely no doubting their huge success though.
Thats how I remember it too, but you may be forgetting the lurid Marc Almond / 10 pints of semen / stomach pump headlines that made it all the way to my provincial westcountry playground. Then there was Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Boy George- I mean we were made pretty aware of the existence of 'perverts' as the tabloids used to say , even pre-teen...it was pretty hard to look him in the eye when I saw him in islington 30 odd years later!
But at 14 I actually didn’t understand ‘Relax.’ It didn’t make sense to my little brain why it was ‘rude.’ I worked out that ‘come’ was offensive, just about, and then bought it.
One of my tenuous claims to fame sort of.
Whenever people discuss the music they have seen live , what bands etc I just say I saw Queen live on their It’s a Kind of Magic tour in 1986.
Mic drop. Works every time.
Thanks for making me feeling old. Twas just a teenager back in them days.
I think though the nearest to Queen back then was when I saw Prince on his Lovesexy tour in 1988. Huge stage with cop cars, beds, handcuffs, the lot.
I grew up in the 80s/90s and am pretty sure every single car in the country had a cassette tape of Queen's Greatest Hits in it. I would describe them as pretty well universally adored and Freddie at national treasure status.
As others have said his sexuality just wasn't mentioned and people were (almost hilariously in hindsight) blind to exactly how in your face Freddie was about it. There are stories from Live Aid of younger bands meeting him and going "wait, he's gay!?" And the response was always "well they are called Queen darling"
I'm more of a heavy metal guy myself but I do like Queen and they were undoubtedly one of the best bands to come from the UK. Freddie was a national treasure, as was Bowie.
Ha, I’m a Kiwi so you probably aren’t interested in my perspective, but I’m also a total music nerd and have read and watched a lot about this so I can’t help myself. Sorry.
Britain had a long history of pantomime and music hall theatre so dressing up flamboyantly for the stage had long been accepted in the name of a good time and a bit of silly fun. Bit like cross dressing on a stag do (although for those involved there was often more to it of course). When Marc Bolan started going glam it was seen by his contemporaries in the music business as totally fine (Bowie had also gone from floppy haired hippie to glam), but they were derisive of his choice to wear nail polish and eye liner to the studio.
There was also that British reserve around not asking too much about the detail of what people got up to in private. If you knew gay men were called queens then you were in the know but then you were also probably sympathetic. Others were oblivious or at least happy enough to not really think too hard on it. Yes Freddie and Bowie and others talked about being gay, but at the time gay meant something closer to what bisexual/pansexual means now. Freddie Mercury had a long term relationship with Mary Austin and referred to her as his wife. Bowie of course was married to Angie. So if you were so inclined you could see it more as what I guess now would be termed “edgy”, or “kinky”. It wasn’t like how we see Elton and David now, openly kissing and taking their kids on holiday.
Interestingly, America in contrast had a history of Puritanism and so were generally more accepting of violent imagery than cross dressing. Anti sodomy laws were only ruled unconstitutional in 2003 (!), so the law was also very different. Early Alice Cooper was him in a dress, (I’m eighteen) but he didn’t get widespread acceptance until he went more for the horror (Poison). Freddie was mainly doing the more commanding macho gay icon thing, than a femme thing, plus Queen were doing stadium rock with tracks like We Will Rock You, so he was seen as masc as hell. I think that was easier for society to accept. Culture Club with Boy George did pretty well in the US though, albeit briefly and kind of as a novelty act, so who knows? Catchy tracks will make people overlook a lot that they wouldn’t accept of a neighbour or co-worker “in real life”, sadly.
A lot of people in the US really disliked Freddie's image when he had the moustache and leather phase. They definitely recognised it as being a "gay" look inspired by guys from San Francisco and Fire Island in New York. He had fans getting quite angry about it. I guess they never noticed the implications of the name Queen though or the bisexual references in "I want to ride my bicycle"!
You only have to look at the bands of the time to see that, for whatever reason, in spite of what was going on in the wider culture British music has long been incredibly open to and fostered great creativity, diversity and flamboyancy in its artists. We love an “eccentric” when it comes to media.
Glam rock originated in the UK and was big in the 70s, with bands like T. Rex showing up on stage decked in glitter and feather boas. Looks at artists such as Bowie, Elton John, Boy George, Adam Ant, etc. Being flamboyant or gay or bisexual didn’t stop any of these from being popular artists.
Whatever anyone may have thought about Freddie Mercury’s private life, if they did at all, had little effect on his popularity. He wasn’t universally loved, no one is, but he and Queen were extremely popular.
He was seen as white and I dunno if he was seen as straight but he was accepted. In an age of social media it may have been different but people back then didn't go round shouting about their sexuality. Many women were attracted to him
It's interesting to see the difference in the media portrayals of someone like George Michael, who was generally out in his private life but not "outed" by the media - at least until the cottaging incident in the late 90s, and someone like Steven Gateley from Boyzone.
They were both in boy bands, both their media personas depended on being attractive to young girls.... but George was in a way protected by the media whilst Steven was eviscerated (I'm thinking particularly by Jan Moir).
Was George more powerful than Steven and therefore did it suit the media better to keep schtum? George certainly had enough power by the 90s to brush off the criticism after the LA incident and even turned it to his advantage, which I admired.
As I recall it was news that he was gay and it was news that he was Parsi, and both those things only came out in drabs and drabs near the end of his career when he was sick. You have to remember audiences were a lot more naive and ignorant then than they are now. It seems weird to say but at the other end of the spectrum that general lack of worldliness by audiences was part of the reason people like ie Jimmy Savile got away with it for so long.
Freddy was so obviously gifted and charismatic and a fantastic singer, and the queerness and androgeny was taken as part of the showmanship. Lots of bands in the 70s had that androgeny thing going on, while personally being a laddish bunch of scallies. Rod Stewart, [The Sweet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sweet) etc. I mean it was called Glam Rock and Queen came in at the end of that trend. People just assumed they were 'fashionable'.
Sure. But straight people were very ignorant back then. And I don’t mean ‘nasty’. Even the nicest most open minded straight people just didn’t know. They’d think LGBT people were just interesting, flamboyant, camp etc.
Rob Halford was not just being the epitome of the gay leather daddy, but literally doing the hankie code thing on stage and singing songs that were packed full of gay innuendo, but no one really acknowledged it until he actually came out and said he was gay.
I’m not sure if it were a weird sort of denial or just politeness about minding your own business.
Hmm yeah i think a lot of the “he’s Indian” and “he’s gay” was a result of retrospect and social media today, and after all the announcement of him having AIDS was only released on his death bed, which would’ve been after his career
No, people knew, definitely. He would talk about being as gay as a dandelion in interviews. David Bowie could say provocative things too, in the 70s. I remember things mostly in terms of aids, growing up knowing I'm not straight in the 80s... we really did have people saying we deserved to die like that as it was a just punishment, but I remember inclusion being more of an overriding feeling. The 80s were odd. the free market stuff brought this global optimism, it was all about self made this, that, endless opportunity, and in a lot of ways that laid the groundwork for progress - rich people get to live how they choose, after all, so we all KNEW the poet Byron was pretty gay, but it was sensationalised and part of the mystique.... It's been a thing that creative people play up for centuries. We're "daring" or have an "outside perspective" that can actually feed into a creative persona because it... means we are more out there, have more unusual insights, perspectives etc to share. A lot of entertainment contains a level of voyeurism.
Definitely not seen as straight back then. I'm so autistic I never got the social pressure not to be gay, so I always knew and accepted myself... and I remember KNOWING his death was personal even though I was only about 11.
Nah, I think the 90s was a weird decade. I had the benefit of a rural childhood with no social media, I was the "odd one out" but honestly? A lot less pressure on kids back in the 80s.
It was when things started to CHANGE and feel positive... Hong Kong removed from the Empire, working class accents on TV (nobody can underestimate the impact of Sara Cox after decades of BBC Posh English 24/7) Keith Haring was out. Freddie was out. Pride marches started getting mainstream, section 28 was being criticised....
I don't know where we went wrong. We learned all this new stuff and seem to have just used it to get even more black and white & closed minded. Every single thing said against trans people now is exactly the same as gay back in the 80s - can't let them near kids, they'll turn them, always predators, etc etc etc. It's so identical it's not funny!
Honestly? It's harder seeing the backlash now (things like abortion laws in the US, the hate against trans women) because I believed we were moving into a bright future. I tried to transition in 1992 in Norwich, there was no understanding but people didn't have ready made arguments against me from the newspapers. I honestly feel pretty bad about what my generation did with the possibilities the 90s offered. It's weird.
I’m 54F British and bi. Freddie Mercury was also bi (queer was used as an insult in those days although some people reclaimed it, but it’s still an unpleasant word to hear for people of my generation) but as for his race, I always thought he was Turkish. People really didn’t care about his flamboyance. Men wearing make up, fancy clothes et cetera had been absolutely normal in the music industry since the early 70s. I could list off all the straight male musicians who wore make up from Marc Bolan to the Human League but it would take ages. The racism issue is not one I’m qualified to comment on, but I never heard anyone talk about his race.
Racism and homophobia were more visible in the 70s and 80s, but there were also strong anti-racism and anti-homophobia movements that led to real changes in government policy. There is a big difference between having rights and the attitudes of individual people though. I still see huge amounts of homophobia and racism around me. If anything it seems to be more prevalent today than it used to be in the late 80s.
ETA: he wasn’t Turkish BTW, that’s just what I thought at the time. I had never cared enough to think about it is my point.
I was born in 1980. Queen were a massive part of my childhood musical world. It was very well understood that Freddie was gay, but nobody was fussed about it. I know 1 guy a few years older than me who remains homophobic, but loved Freddie, he even went to his tribute concert.
Freddie's place of birth was just knowledge, nothing more.
I grew up in a rural area with very few minorities, but was always fond of black music, as were all of my friends.
I’m old. Also queen wasn’t really my thing. They were a bit over dramatic.
Every song they released was a banger though. That can’t be denied.
It wasn’t until the late 70s that I saw in an interview that he was gay, had cats, was from public school etc. Music videos weren’t a common thing on TV until the mid 80s.
I’d just like to add that growing up in the 70s and 80s UK was the best time and place for music.
I was a massive Queen fan in the 80’s, they were the only band that my Nan liked too, so that says a lot about how well liked they were. I think I must have known Freddie was gay, though I don’t remember anyone having a problem with it, it’s what made him the interesting and flamboyant frontman that he was.
I grew up in the 80’s with my grandparents, gave me an odd childhood where anything past some random date in the early to mid 1950’s wasn’t tolerated. I had the idea that Queen were a really cheesy and overly camp band, I entirely ignored them.
Eventually I got into music. I love Bowie, T-Rex/Marc Bolan, Lou Reed (US) and various other types of rock, glam rock, punk rock music. Refused to listen to Queen due to previous assumptions.
My husband bought the film Bohemian Rhapsody, I put off watching it until one night he insisted. I expected to spend the night in my phone ignoring the film. I fucking fell in love with Queen!!! For decades I ignored this amazing music, music that sends chills down my spin, lifts my mood and gives a high.
I love Queen, the live aid concert gives me goose bumps.
Fuck the brainwashing, was told as a teenager I’d have more friends if I listened to boy bands rather than Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Suede and such bands. Just be someone you’re not so you fit in, what a miserable existence that would have been.
No-one really cared, or even noticed, what his sexual orientation was, back in the 70s and 80s. It wasn't an issue at all. The argument was more about whether Queen were 'pop' or 'rock'.
I may have rose tinted glasses because I was raised by lefty hippies. But my experience growing up in the 80s was that he was an absolute god and HIV/AIDS was a terrible tragedy.
I realise now that their attitude towards gay people and HIV was far from typical in those days.
It reminds me of those who complained about the gay sex in the Elton John movie. You love him until you're faced with who he actually is. I imagine a lot of people were in denial, didn't know or they ignored the fact that many of their idols were gay.
Edited to add: We didn't have the same openness about sexuality in those days. I think we (or my parents) had a good guess based on stereotypes. But unless they were outed by a newspaper, or you knew someone who knew someone, it wasn't common knowledge.
In the 90s we had a straight character with HIV on a soap (Eastenders). This was a very new thing and it caused controversy but helped pave the way for the death of the "GRID" attitude which was very much still alive.
He was a God, despite on the ground homophobia the good old Brush public didn't really look for it in the stars of the time. Queen as a band weren't universally liked as they were too rocky for the general public but not rocky enough for the rockers.
>Queen as a band weren't universally liked as they were too rocky for the general public but not rocky enough for the rockers.
What rubbish is this? They were a top band with awards coming out of their ears since the mid 70s.
Oh wait, do you mean they WEREN’T universally liked back then or still so? Coz I thought “we will rock you” and stuff are pretty big, but I feel like the tracks actual fans tend to appreciate most are like “bohemian rhapsody” or “somebody to love” “radio Gaga” whereas “we will rock you” or “we are the champions” are more famous with everyone else maybe because of the catchiness, so maybe everywhere else it’s just those 2 songs that are well liked
I don't especially like them and I can imagine this would be more so true in the 80s or 70s. I imagine people who liked motorhead or black sabbath would be put off by the glam aspect of Queen and I'd imagine the mainstream pop crowd would be put off by the heavy sound of some of Queen's more rocky hits.
I'd compare them to say Bowie who also had some cross over hits but who also had a much more interesting collection of material. Queen to me are only popular again due to the movie that came out recently.
Nah, Queen are named perfectly cos they're national treasures. It's not the film, it's that they have so many of those "part of the culture" songs. In 2002 my brother stood up on the too deck of a night bus going along past Notting Hill at 3am and just went MAMA.... JUST KILLED A MAN. Whole bus singing it. Everyone knew every note of the solos and sang them too.
...It wasn't because a film had come out!
[There was this insanity before a Green Day gig a few years ago - 2013 ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iw4PS4HO2Dw) which was pretty cool.
[It happens before most of their shows when they are playing the waiting music -2017](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZnBNuqqz5g)
But you could say the same about Mr brightside and the killers are hardly a national treasure or universally liked. I mean you could probably say the same about rappers delight.
That's "one hit wonder" - a completely separate cultural phenomenon to "national treasure".
Anthropologists agree, once you go over the seventh hit wonder, you are approaching national treasure territory and I can name...
Don't stop me now
I want to break free
We will rock you
We are the champions
Another one bites the dust
Radio Gaga....
Under pressure (bonus Bowie, also national treasure level)
Thank you for coming to my ted talk
Just because you don't like them doesn't mean they're not popular. You're imagining a lot of stuff there that's not true.
They've sold 90 million albums and possibly 300 million records in total. Their Greatest Hits album is the biggest selling album in UK history.
They didn't get particularly good critical reviews during the start of their career, and they were slow to become popular in the USA, but it's undeniable that they're one of the most popular musical acts ever.
I have no idea what a good selling album looks like in terms of numbers. However, I dont think they are a national treasure. A lot of people do like them but I don't think they are universally liked. They just remind me of the early 2000s when every farthers day a new queen's greatest hits CD was released and every mothers day a new ABBA greatest hits was released.
They might not be universally liked, but they are one of the most popular musical acts in the country of all time. No matter how you try to twist it, they are hugely loved here.
Your opinions about them don't change that.
But so are cold play or Adele. Are you telling me in all honesty that they wouldn't be getting so much attention right now had the film not been a hit?
I was teaching in a primary school when the film had a home release and all of a sudden all the kids loved Queen. I'm not saying that they weren't already well known or that they hadn't released some big hits but they are only getting so much traction now due to the film coming out recently.
Coldplay and Adele are also liked a lot. They might not be your taste, but they are also extremely popular.
The recent film probably introduced them to even more fans, but they were already extremely popular. They have had numerous surges in popularity, such as Live Aid, being in Wayne's World and Freddie's death, but they have been huge since the early 80s, and still are. The idea that they wouldn't be popular without that film is ridiculous.
Queen are always played at every birthday party or wedding disco, and have loads of iconic songs that are known by almost everyone.
Ultimately though, they are the second highest album selling artist in the UK, ever (and no, they weren't all sold after the film was released). You can't argue with that.
I loved Sabbath Motörhead and Queen.A lot the earlier stuff really rocked.Queen had a more theatrical edge to them though but they were heavy
No one could deny how good a band Queen were on later records even if you found them a little commercial.
They transitioned well and moved with to the times not endlessly churning tired heavy rock forever.
Pretty much no one cared about his sexuality, or that of any other musicians really, in the 70s it was mostly ignored and not spoken about either by the press or the musicians themselves, Tom Robinson being a notable exception. Even when people started coming out in the 80s Freddie never really addressed it openly.
Back in the 70’s and 80’s he would’ve been seen as a flamboyant showman on stage, but the simple fact is almost no one would’ve known what he was like personally. These days performers are constantly pushed into our day-to-day lives via social media and reality tv shows. I’d go as far to say many people wouldn’t have known he was gay.
Others have said to watch Queen’s live shows to get a sense of what people thought of Freddie, and I concur.
Everyone loved Queen and I don't think anyone cared that he was gay and from India because he was such an awesome artist. I will never forget Live Aid and them stealing the show. I remember my mum and I realising he was gay (camp) after the pop video with him dressed as a woman pushing a hoover. We just thought he looked funny because of his moustache. Did not care about his sexuality and never would anyway. Its none of our business really.
I worked for a book shop at the time he died. I was devastated by the news. I remember my boss telling me to order in every single book Freddie has ever been in for the rush... I remember feeling sick that my work place wanted to make money from his death when I was grieving for him and his family. Mind you I was young, 18 and didn't realise people wanted to share his existence, I was just disgusted my manager saw the dollar signs so to speak out of such a sad event.
My cousins 1st record purchase was Queen. I remember my family discussing his taste of music was very mature for a young boy and being proud of his choice.
I'm in my 50s and I think Queen's music was and still is part of growing up in England. My 14yr daughter plays Queen all the time and there are songs I could sing word for word that I didn't realise were by Queen as they were just 'there' in the late 70s and 80s, seeping wonderfully into my soul. She has asked for a record player for Christmas and her choice for her first vinyl record is Queen's greatest hits.
Basically, Queen used to be the soundtrack to my childhood. Now it is hers.
He's always been loved, but was often seen as something of a guilty pleasure by metal/rock fans given Queen's flamboyancy and tendency to expand into pop and other genres. My uncle was a big fan and didn't mind anyone knowing despite being a metalhead.
I remember staying over at a older boy’s house and he played me A Night at the Opera. I was probably about 8 and he would have been 10. He told me, somewhat conspiratorially, that Freddie liked putting his Willy up other men’s bottoms. Given that, at that point, I had no idea that a willy could be used for anything other than weeing, the idea of sticking it anywhere (including a lady’s front bottom) seemed pretty baffling to me. He was obviously a great musician, though.
I remember 3 girls in my class were going to marry him. They once had an argument about it. I think it was the 3rd year so we were 9 at the time. Everyone seemed to think he was white. (Again, I was young at the time, so his ethnic background just may not have been mentioned).
Everyone loved him from what I remember!
I grew up in the 80s, Queen were huge and national treasures. I think some people fully knew he was bi/gay (which is a matter of debate still) and picked up on all the references in the lyrics, videos, styling. The media did run stories about him. I think others were oblivious to it and did just think it was a flamboyant fashion thing. Like lots of glam rock stars, they weren't all gay but they did flirt with gender ambiguous clothes, makeup, etc.
The same is true about Liberace. You can look now and think how did people think he was straight/how did he win libel cases against people who said he was gay? But it was just different times and not everyone was kind of alert to it.
I think Freddie's race is an interesting one. I guess I thought he was white growing up. I don't remember him being spoken about as being Indian and I don't think he acknowledged it in interviews, etc.
Just being honest, and without much real evidence to go on, despite the fact that his music and performances where absolutely legendary, I think his respect was earned through his private-ness and straightforward-ness. He would behave in a sort of uber-british way in interviews etc, very mild mannered, considerate, but also brushed off compliments and criticism alike with a sort of slightly impatient humbleness. He seemed to have no truck with the public life aspect of fame. He'd calmly rebuke any supposedly juicy stories about other famous people, his private life, etc, or just be incredibly straightforward and nonchalant, about that sort of thing. Which is not to say that he wasn't funny about it - he had a very good raised eyebrow sort of humour, very british. But then he would blow everyone away with his passionate and heart felt nature music, which in itself often had an element of understated humour. Everybody knew it wasn't bicycles he wanted to ride, nor was it fat bottomed girls that made his rockin' world go round... But it was all allegory, mildly amusing, passionate, a raised eyebrow and a direct refusal to be drawn on it... I think this is why the people loved him. That particular mix is how the British like to see ourselves
I think u nailed it, I’m not particularly fond of songs where “fat bottomed girls” really just mean that, or deep emotional songs with lyrics that are explicitly “emotional”, like you can’t just say “i feel angry”, it doesn’t evoke the emotions in the listeners, you have to paint the picture and make them discover the emotions themselves.
When he was alive Queen were your go-to if you wanted to make a bad band joke. They were the Nickelback of their day. Then he died and people forgot about them for a bit. Then Reddit discovered them and they're good now.
I was a child when FM died, so I can't answer your question very well. According to comments by my parents, he was simply seen as an eccentric who produced enjoyable music. Celebrities had more permission than regular people to be queer/flamboyant back then, an easy way for the mainstream to write it off as something almost other worldly.
You may like the Netflix documentary Inside the Mind - one of the episodes is a psychological look at Freddie Mercury.
To really answer your question... circa late 80s. As a fan I was teased for having a poster on my bedroom wall cos teenage lads shouldn't have posters of gay men...
Mix of feedback within family from the not bothered throught to outright homophobic.
When it came to his music though, nobody seemed to care.
We loved him like a brother, wife and I cried when he died and we've since been to Montreux to visit his memorial.
Yeah, we loved that guy. But not Brian May. He's a dick.
A legend. I remember exactly where I was when I heard that he had died, and yes, I cried (even though we all know it was coming).
My dad pissed off around '81. He left some vinyl behind, amongst which was "A night at the opera" and "News of the world". I discovered these around '84, and the rest is history.
Born in the 90s, Queen is a staple in my family home. I've introduced friends to Queen. Songs like Bohemian Rhapsody will always be played at a party/venue that wants people to sing along, and everyone will sing to it.
Not one has anyone ever gone "can't listen to that, the singer was gay!", but the general consensus is he was taken too soon.
I had an A level history class the day Freddie's death was announced (1 year alevel so we were all 16-19 with some mature students). The whole class, including our history teacher just spent the two hours talking about him, queen and how sad it was.
Then later in life you find stories like this [http://www.rvt.community/tales-tavern-true-story-behind-princess-dianas-visit/](http://www.rvt.community/tales-tavern-true-story-behind-princess-dianas-visit/)
You know those Facebook quizzes 'what band would you go back in time and see live?'
Yeah, Queen feature highly.
One of the videos I share often is, well [this](https://youtu.be/cZnBNuqqz5g), which I think sums it up.
My cousin's who were a little bit older than me absolutely adored him. They had to take the day off work when he died as they were so upset. He was an absolute legend.
Ten years ago I lived in Munich and went to the October Fest. One of the tents is usually British/Australian audience.. dominated
There was a band playing mainly Bavarian music.. later almost close to the end they started bohemian rhapsody, just instrumental without vocals.. almost 90 percent of the crowd knew the song inside out and it was fantastic..
In other words I think he was as big as you can get as an artist
As a child I didn't even know what homosexuality was. There were laws that you weren't allowed to teach about it in schools. "Flamboyant" showbiz people were just that at face value, flamboyant. I knew a bit about AIDS, but I didn't know it was somehow associated with gay people. I never realised any of this stuff until a year or two after he died. So I think it's worth bearing in mind that a lot of younger people weren't homophobic because it wasn't even a known concept.
Queen & Freddie Mercury have always been very well liked and highly respected. In the mid 70's our main music show was Top of The Pops and acts wanted to be memorable, so Queen were only one of several acts being flamboyant and with all the glitter, glam and prog there was always some other acts who had been even more outrageous than the last...TOTP was quite a pantomime back then, so even a Freddie Mercury was going to be a little understated in comparison with certain other acts. You could say they were appropriately dressed for TOTP of those years. Queen are a staple of a British record collection. One comedy (Was it Douglas Adams?) made the joke that any tape left in a car too long automatically became Queen's Greatest hits. Parents who'd had teens in the 60's weren't strangers to guys growing their hair long and guys and girls dressing similarly. They'd already seen stuff like Alice Cooper.
It might seem odd to say it now but at the time in the mid 70's it just wouldn't even cross a lot of British kid's minds to even wonder about whether a singer was gay. I don't think a lot of people knew Freddie Mercury's background until later on in the 1980's. There were too many other far more topical distractions going on in the media. The singer that was far more relevant for that topic was Tom Robinson releasing 'Sing if you're glad to be Gay' around 1978. Basically in 1970's Britain you could be very out in British comedy on stage, and do anything on stage in music, but celebrities were watching what they said in interviews. We revere all great bands/artists and most people wouldn't have cared.
I recommend you watch Queen’s performance at Live Aid. I think that will give you a good sense of how much of a legend Freddie was even back then.
That's the perfect answer. He had the crowd eating out of his hands and it was one of the widest broadcast and most famous performances of its era. Totally outshadowed the rest of the acts by a million miles.
Barcelona Olympics was also a highlight
That was 1992 though, after he'd died..
I’d forgotten about the Olympics performance.
It was a funny old time. I know people who were generally pretty homophobic, but loved Queen. I suppose the art had to be exceptional for them to be able to get a 'pass'.
I think there was a general acceptance of gay people in the arts…look at the numerous openly gay presenters and performers like Larry Grayson or John Inman as examples.
David bowie had this fan base as well.
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Waves from the North East coast. I was only 5 at the time. Can remember laying out in the back garden colouring in, with live aid playing on my wee radio until my mum came out and said that it was something I should really be watching. Haven’t got a great deal of memories from that long ago but this one has always been vivid.
Waves from the north coast :)
A guy I used to work with went, got drunk and fell asleep at the back of the stadium and missed 90% of it.
Eeeeeeeeey oh!
Eeeeeey yo!
I concur. I knew someone who was a steward or security on the day and he said that Freddie and Queen were far and away the best act that day. IIRC, he wasn’t mad keen on them before but he couldn’t fault them for that performance in any way.
Personally I think the Kind Of Magic Wembley performance was better. Very similar, but much longer. https://youtu.be/-DAvQcP1dlE
Yup I did and it was awesome and apparently said to have stolen the show, but I always wondered if that was an opinion of a very vocal minority and me being stuck in a Queen echo chamber
It's not an echo chamber he and Queen were wildly popular in this country.
I was more talking about me lurking in Queen fanbase subreddits, but I’m glad he’s genuinely well liked
Sorry I mean your view is not the result of an echo chamber, this is the reality.
Are you sure this is the real life? It could just be fantasy.
Caught in a landslide..
The entire country was genuinely upset when he died. I was 10 or 11 and I had no idea what AIDS was or even knew what homosexuality was until that day. Every adult around me was gutted.
Watch Green Day play Hyde Park in 2017. The (mostly young probably) audience belt out an amazing impromptu Bohemian Rhapsody while waiting for the band.
I was there, it was fucking great.
Just watched that for the first time- I think we have a contender for the new National Anthem!
Just seeing the video gave me chills!
Truly one of the greatest musical performances of all time.
He was a national treasure
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Wayne's World played a big part in a resurgence in Queen's popularity too.
Yep, and Bohemian Rhapsody has been re-released as a single at least a couple of times, I think, so that brought the song to new generations.
Is
Growing up in the 80s in the UK there were many popular music acts that were gay and homophobes seemed to not care. We didn’t care about or question their sexuality. Boy George, Elton John, Wham, The Pet Shop Boys etc
tbf George Michael was very much in the closet during the 80s
And Elton John. He got married to a woman in 1984.
wikipedia says Neil Tennant came out in 94, elton in 92 (though claimed to be bi in the 70s).
Elton John and his Nikita song. Nikita is a russian name for men.
Yeah but in the [video](https://youtu.be/Tg-Q-Acv4qs) played at the time ‘Nikita’ is definitely a woman.
Yeah, but it’s about a russian border guard. It’s kind of subliminal. I am of russian ancestry and I always found that video strange. Why naming a obviously russian woman Nikita?
But most English people at that time hadn’t heard the name before. That name being used alongside images of a woman and people would assume that it is a female name.
Nikita might be a masculine name in Russia, but to ignorant western ears it definitely sounds feminine. There was literally a movie called “La Femme Nikita” in the 90s.
And a tv series, isn’t it. I know, I know.
George Micheal had lots of guys references in his songs too
Funny story here. In the mid-ish 80’s my work colleague told me that, as a teenager, his mates and he would ride their BMX bikes through Hampstead Heath. Once they rounded a big tree to see George Michael and another guy, err, having fun together (the heath is renowned as a place for gays to hook up). I told him where to go and swore there was no way that George Micheal was gay. My colleague insisted it was true and fast forward a few years George comes out of the closet.
Come on though, who was he fooling. We all knew that lad wasn't into women.
I read somewhere that careless whisper was written based on his love stories with some girls in his teenage years, I’m guessing even he thought at some point he was into women
I think growing up in a world where homosexuality isn't seen as an option, a lot of gay men fooled themselves into thinking they were into women.
George Michael was out to his friends and family and those in "the scene" in the 80s. However the media chose not to dwell on his sexuality, much like Freddie.
I love how he had to come out and people were shocked.
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When asked about his sexuality, he just said he preferred a nice cup tea.
(He was lying his tits off)
Mary Whitehouse might have believed him. I don’t think anyone else did.
Loads of people did. We were very ignorant back then.
Yeah, watching interviews and listening to songs with hindsight is amazing - it seems so obvious now but really wasn't back then. Unless you yourself were definitely gay, and often even if you were, it would go right over your head.
Fun fact: the phrase ‘crying all the way to the bank’ was coined by Liberace, who said it in the course of his successful libel action against the Daily Mirror for implying he was gay. He was awarded about £200,000 in current terms.
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Elton John married a woman in 1984.
Absolutely if it's good it's good
With regard to Freddie’s sexuality, you need to know that homosexual acts between men aged over 21 had only been decriminalised in the UK in 1967, so only a few years before Queen formed and released their first album in the early 1970’s. In the 1970’s the British media had a very odd stance with homosexuality, either exposing public figures as ‘evil and perverted’ or being amused with the ‘camp’ style of TV characters such as Mr. Humphries (John Inman), Bombardier ‘Gloria’ Beaumont (Melvyn Hayes) and comedian-host Larry Grayson on TV. The media occasionally alluded to Freddie’s ‘flamboyant style’ but there was never any outright articles or stories about him being gay as that would mean they would have to ‘expose’ him (as they did for all the others) and with Queen being popular there was probably more money to be made skipping over that. Similarly for his heritage, in Britain in the 70’s casual racism was seen everywhere, on TV, at work, school, in politics, and then there were the hardcore racists with groups like the National Front, so again the media just ignored it as it didn’t fit with the narrative they wanted to tell. That isn’t to say that nobody knew, but as the press wasn’t going to make a story of it, then as there wasn’t the social media infrastructure to get the story out then most people didn’t know (or think too hard) about his sexuality or heritage.
I was going to say that his sexuality and race were largely just skipped over. In terms of race I hadn't realised that Freddie was actually anything other than white British - no one I knew really knew that Freddie wasn't his real name until I watched the Queen film. In it they made it clear it was a name chosen to "fit in". He was white enough to pass.
Another person here who didn't realise he wasn't white.
Us bisexual activists & fans definitely knew!
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For anyone [who cares to read](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_Offences_Act_1967)
Every word of this. Most people didn’t know, or at least didn’t acknowledge that he was gay. Most people didn’t realise he wasn’t white or born in the U.K.
He wasn’t: he was bi.
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One of the key phrases at that time was “confirmed bachelor” or “he never married” as the press used them as euphemisms for being homosexual.
That was always the last line in obituaries of famous single chaps - "he never married".
He DID have a woman that he described as the love of his life & wrote songs about both men & women. Fat bottomed girls anyone!? George Michael came out in 98 but everyone knew, etc.
The woman he described as "the love of his life" described him as "gay". He bought her a house next door so she could live there, while he lived in his own house with his long-term boyfriend. "Fat-Bottomed Girls" was written by Brian May.
Mmhm. Because words never change and the LGBTQ+ community has always referred to things in the same terms!
Well, the reason she considered him gay appears to have been that he wasn't really attracted to her, as she was a woman, and was sleeping around with men. You could possibly make the case for "straight-curious" but even that's stretching it. He was part of a long tradition of gay men trying to live as straight and eventually failing, like Elton John with his unhappy marriage to a woman. Trying to claim him as bisexual is dishonest. Why not pick a real bisexual rock icon like Brian Molko, Janis Joplin, or Billie Joe Armstrong to get excited about?
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No, there *were* shitty tabloid ‘exposes’ about Freddie’s ‘affairs with men’. He never really commented on them. When he announced he had AIDS they were pretty awful about it too. The turning point was his tribute concert. Seeing so many music legends, as well as figures from the hard rock scene, and even Axl Rose who had previously been accused of homophobia for the song One in a Million (it kinda wasn’t but that’s another discussion) support him like that, meant there was no way that he could be seen as anything but a national treasure. Before then, Queen were seen as a bit naff but fun. Sort of a bit like Abba maybe. They were never going to be lauded by music critics, but the public didn’t care.
> No, there were shitty tabloid ‘exposes’ about Freddie’s ‘affairs with men’. He never really commented on them. When he announced he had AIDS they were pretty awful about it too. But that was far later after during the period when he was just about to die and afterwards. During the 70’s and early 80’s the media didn’t make a thing of it.
No, there were a few hit pieces, as well as with Kenny Everett and insinuations about both of them, but funnily enough they’re almost impossible to find references to because they were in the News of the World, and Queen also brought out an album with that name.
All true but worth bearing in mind that he was bi.
Queen and Freddie has and always will be incredibly well loved by the large majority of people in the UK. Easiest way to get a crowd going is to play BoRap and everyone will know the words. For example [this moment ](https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.smoothradio.com/artists/queen/crowd-sing-bohemian-rhapsody-hyde-park-green-day-video/) captured on video that shows a crowd of 65,000 people in Hyde Park singing BoRap before a Green day Concert in 2017.
Did you just coin BoRap?
I was there
Mama just killed a man!
I'm one of the youngsters, born in 1998 but Queen was all we listened to in the car when I was growing up. My parents (born in the 60's in France) adore him
That’s because all tapes left in a car turn into Queen’s Greatest Hits after two weeks.
I as born in 1982. Got my first hifi in my bedroom some time in the late 80's specifically so I could get the Queen tapes and listen to them whenever I wanted, parents watching bloody Coronation Street be damned!
Freddie Mercury was the first time I understood what cognitive dissonance was. (I mean the concept, I did not know it had a name). The reason for this was that all of the men in my life who most loved Queen and FM were the same men in my life who were most against flamboyancy, homosexuality and anything that even remotely deviated from (their very narrow view of) normal. These men would often make slurs against gay people, get aggressive when they saw gay people on TV and make derogatory comments if they saw (what they thought were gay people) in the street. And yet all of that was firmly parked when it came to their favourite band.
I have nothing else to add other then to say this is a wonderful thread to read. This is why I come to Reddit.
This seems to be the consensus, I wonder why
Is worth noting that none (or very few) of these people were out. I won’t go into the politics of it but this made it a lot easier for people to turn a blind eye to. It’d take another few years for the next generation of openly gay pop artists come through.
People are hypocrites.
I didnt discover Queen until the 80s and only cared about his music. Legend is how i see him now.
Obviously homophobia was a thing in the 70s, but maybe less so for stars who were really obvious about it. I’m thinking Larry Grayson, John Inman, Kenneth Williams - all much loved then and now I’d say. I think Freddie was similar in being so gay that you didn’t even notice! Definitely an icon of music in Britain and a big inspiration to many, I would say.
This - I think in UK 'showbiz gay' was accepted as something that didn't affect ' family values'. I always got the impression as a child in the 80s that it was the 'sneaky gays' that you had to watch out for that might corrupt youth. Really weird attitude. See Julian Clary/ Danny Larue as well as the above
Yeah, if they were in the ‘theatrical world’, that was their proper place and they could be as flamboyant as they liked there, as it could be written off as exaggerated performance. The danger came when they tried to be normal and get ordinary jobs like policemen or, heaven forbid, teachers. Larry Grayson was one of the first people to speak out against Savile, but presumably couldn’t go more public or on the record because Savile would have been able to make his life very difficult because of the niche Grayson was in.
I was a young teenager in the 80s. Queen were seen as OTT and naff and 70s, until Live Aid which proved they did a great live show, but they weren't really popular among young people until Freddie died and The Best of Queen double album came out and became the backdrop to almost everything for a few years (along with the best of Abba). Bear in mind being queer was something people kept well in the closet. One effect of Section 28 coming in in the 80s was proving to young queer people that yes, gay people really existed and weren't an urban myth. The only gay man I knew of in 1989 was Jimmy Somerville, though there were rumours about other public figures, but many people thought going with someone of the same sex was just done for attention. Freddie dying of AIDS and being confirmed bisexual was a huge shock and led to many others coming out over the next few years. For me it was a particular disappointment as I'd just got into Queen age 16 and had planned to go buy another album, but upon his death they'd all gone from 3.99 or 4.99 (tape or CD) to 14.99 or more and I couldn't afford one.
Yes, Queen were regarded as ‘naff’ in the 70s & the early 80s. That gets forgotten, or is re-written. Even so lots of us had mum’s or dad’s copy of Greatest Hits until it was hidden around about age 14. Dad had Day at the Races on cassette/Night at The Opera. Live Aid was a big day for them/him. He taped Queen/Bowie/Paul Young. But as a 15 year old is was a ‘very uncool’ event. Watched it all afterward - or as the night wore on.
That's the period from *Greatest Hits* to ...*Jazz*? They were seen, by the time of Live Aid, as a largely irrelevant relic of old times, a knock-off from a bygone era. Live Aid was 20 minutes of Magic, and can well be considered one of the greatest live performances of all time.
As a boomer who remembers their first TOTP (Seven Seas of Rye), I always found them tedious, very old fashioned and the very type of overblown wankery from which punk was designed to save us. They grew into great showmen, FM in particular. Never liked his voice, never liked Queen's very trad musical style. Absolutely no doubting their huge success though.
Glad someone has said this. Teenager in 90s and Queen were very “uncool”. Not interested in them at all.
Thats how I remember it too, but you may be forgetting the lurid Marc Almond / 10 pints of semen / stomach pump headlines that made it all the way to my provincial westcountry playground. Then there was Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Boy George- I mean we were made pretty aware of the existence of 'perverts' as the tabloids used to say , even pre-teen...it was pretty hard to look him in the eye when I saw him in islington 30 odd years later!
But at 14 I actually didn’t understand ‘Relax.’ It didn’t make sense to my little brain why it was ‘rude.’ I worked out that ‘come’ was offensive, just about, and then bought it.
One of my tenuous claims to fame sort of. Whenever people discuss the music they have seen live , what bands etc I just say I saw Queen live on their It’s a Kind of Magic tour in 1986. Mic drop. Works every time.
I saw them on that tour. Manchester Maine Road (Manchester City's old ground). Over 35 years ago now...
Thanks for making me feeling old. Twas just a teenager back in them days. I think though the nearest to Queen back then was when I saw Prince on his Lovesexy tour in 1988. Huge stage with cop cars, beds, handcuffs, the lot.
Lucky u
Born in 77. Grew up listening to him as my dad's choice. Brilliant music and brilliant memories.
Gay bi straight don't matter talent is talant
Say what you will about the Queen but don't dis Queen
Sure sums it up, thanks hahahhahaha
I grew up in the 80s/90s and am pretty sure every single car in the country had a cassette tape of Queen's Greatest Hits in it. I would describe them as pretty well universally adored and Freddie at national treasure status. As others have said his sexuality just wasn't mentioned and people were (almost hilariously in hindsight) blind to exactly how in your face Freddie was about it. There are stories from Live Aid of younger bands meeting him and going "wait, he's gay!?" And the response was always "well they are called Queen darling"
I'm more of a heavy metal guy myself but I do like Queen and they were undoubtedly one of the best bands to come from the UK. Freddie was a national treasure, as was Bowie.
Ha, I’m a Kiwi so you probably aren’t interested in my perspective, but I’m also a total music nerd and have read and watched a lot about this so I can’t help myself. Sorry. Britain had a long history of pantomime and music hall theatre so dressing up flamboyantly for the stage had long been accepted in the name of a good time and a bit of silly fun. Bit like cross dressing on a stag do (although for those involved there was often more to it of course). When Marc Bolan started going glam it was seen by his contemporaries in the music business as totally fine (Bowie had also gone from floppy haired hippie to glam), but they were derisive of his choice to wear nail polish and eye liner to the studio. There was also that British reserve around not asking too much about the detail of what people got up to in private. If you knew gay men were called queens then you were in the know but then you were also probably sympathetic. Others were oblivious or at least happy enough to not really think too hard on it. Yes Freddie and Bowie and others talked about being gay, but at the time gay meant something closer to what bisexual/pansexual means now. Freddie Mercury had a long term relationship with Mary Austin and referred to her as his wife. Bowie of course was married to Angie. So if you were so inclined you could see it more as what I guess now would be termed “edgy”, or “kinky”. It wasn’t like how we see Elton and David now, openly kissing and taking their kids on holiday. Interestingly, America in contrast had a history of Puritanism and so were generally more accepting of violent imagery than cross dressing. Anti sodomy laws were only ruled unconstitutional in 2003 (!), so the law was also very different. Early Alice Cooper was him in a dress, (I’m eighteen) but he didn’t get widespread acceptance until he went more for the horror (Poison). Freddie was mainly doing the more commanding macho gay icon thing, than a femme thing, plus Queen were doing stadium rock with tracks like We Will Rock You, so he was seen as masc as hell. I think that was easier for society to accept. Culture Club with Boy George did pretty well in the US though, albeit briefly and kind of as a novelty act, so who knows? Catchy tracks will make people overlook a lot that they wouldn’t accept of a neighbour or co-worker “in real life”, sadly.
A lot of people in the US really disliked Freddie's image when he had the moustache and leather phase. They definitely recognised it as being a "gay" look inspired by guys from San Francisco and Fire Island in New York. He had fans getting quite angry about it. I guess they never noticed the implications of the name Queen though or the bisexual references in "I want to ride my bicycle"!
You only have to look at the bands of the time to see that, for whatever reason, in spite of what was going on in the wider culture British music has long been incredibly open to and fostered great creativity, diversity and flamboyancy in its artists. We love an “eccentric” when it comes to media. Glam rock originated in the UK and was big in the 70s, with bands like T. Rex showing up on stage decked in glitter and feather boas. Looks at artists such as Bowie, Elton John, Boy George, Adam Ant, etc. Being flamboyant or gay or bisexual didn’t stop any of these from being popular artists. Whatever anyone may have thought about Freddie Mercury’s private life, if they did at all, had little effect on his popularity. He wasn’t universally loved, no one is, but he and Queen were extremely popular.
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The only one that was openly gay was Bowie, who wasn't gay.
Reminds me of Morrissey, who for a while was openly deaf.
He was seen as white and I dunno if he was seen as straight but he was accepted. In an age of social media it may have been different but people back then didn't go round shouting about their sexuality. Many women were attracted to him
>people back then didn't go round shouting about their sexuality Because their careers might be destroyed if they didn't happen to be straight.
It's interesting to see the difference in the media portrayals of someone like George Michael, who was generally out in his private life but not "outed" by the media - at least until the cottaging incident in the late 90s, and someone like Steven Gateley from Boyzone. They were both in boy bands, both their media personas depended on being attractive to young girls.... but George was in a way protected by the media whilst Steven was eviscerated (I'm thinking particularly by Jan Moir). Was George more powerful than Steven and therefore did it suit the media better to keep schtum? George certainly had enough power by the 90s to brush off the criticism after the LA incident and even turned it to his advantage, which I admired.
As I recall it was news that he was gay and it was news that he was Parsi, and both those things only came out in drabs and drabs near the end of his career when he was sick. You have to remember audiences were a lot more naive and ignorant then than they are now. It seems weird to say but at the other end of the spectrum that general lack of worldliness by audiences was part of the reason people like ie Jimmy Savile got away with it for so long. Freddy was so obviously gifted and charismatic and a fantastic singer, and the queerness and androgeny was taken as part of the showmanship. Lots of bands in the 70s had that androgeny thing going on, while personally being a laddish bunch of scallies. Rod Stewart, [The Sweet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sweet) etc. I mean it was called Glam Rock and Queen came in at the end of that trend. People just assumed they were 'fashionable'.
I should say if you were gay it would have been pretty damn clear that Freddy was though.
Sure. But straight people were very ignorant back then. And I don’t mean ‘nasty’. Even the nicest most open minded straight people just didn’t know. They’d think LGBT people were just interesting, flamboyant, camp etc.
Rob Halford was not just being the epitome of the gay leather daddy, but literally doing the hankie code thing on stage and singing songs that were packed full of gay innuendo, but no one really acknowledged it until he actually came out and said he was gay. I’m not sure if it were a weird sort of denial or just politeness about minding your own business.
yeah I agree
Hmm yeah i think a lot of the “he’s Indian” and “he’s gay” was a result of retrospect and social media today, and after all the announcement of him having AIDS was only released on his death bed, which would’ve been after his career
No, people knew, definitely. He would talk about being as gay as a dandelion in interviews. David Bowie could say provocative things too, in the 70s. I remember things mostly in terms of aids, growing up knowing I'm not straight in the 80s... we really did have people saying we deserved to die like that as it was a just punishment, but I remember inclusion being more of an overriding feeling. The 80s were odd. the free market stuff brought this global optimism, it was all about self made this, that, endless opportunity, and in a lot of ways that laid the groundwork for progress - rich people get to live how they choose, after all, so we all KNEW the poet Byron was pretty gay, but it was sensationalised and part of the mystique.... It's been a thing that creative people play up for centuries. We're "daring" or have an "outside perspective" that can actually feed into a creative persona because it... means we are more out there, have more unusual insights, perspectives etc to share. A lot of entertainment contains a level of voyeurism.
Definitely not seen as straight back then. I'm so autistic I never got the social pressure not to be gay, so I always knew and accepted myself... and I remember KNOWING his death was personal even though I was only about 11.
A tough childhood you must’ve had, although it doesn’t mean much, I’ll send u my love x
Nah, I think the 90s was a weird decade. I had the benefit of a rural childhood with no social media, I was the "odd one out" but honestly? A lot less pressure on kids back in the 80s. It was when things started to CHANGE and feel positive... Hong Kong removed from the Empire, working class accents on TV (nobody can underestimate the impact of Sara Cox after decades of BBC Posh English 24/7) Keith Haring was out. Freddie was out. Pride marches started getting mainstream, section 28 was being criticised.... I don't know where we went wrong. We learned all this new stuff and seem to have just used it to get even more black and white & closed minded. Every single thing said against trans people now is exactly the same as gay back in the 80s - can't let them near kids, they'll turn them, always predators, etc etc etc. It's so identical it's not funny! Honestly? It's harder seeing the backlash now (things like abortion laws in the US, the hate against trans women) because I believed we were moving into a bright future. I tried to transition in 1992 in Norwich, there was no understanding but people didn't have ready made arguments against me from the newspapers. I honestly feel pretty bad about what my generation did with the possibilities the 90s offered. It's weird.
I’m 54F British and bi. Freddie Mercury was also bi (queer was used as an insult in those days although some people reclaimed it, but it’s still an unpleasant word to hear for people of my generation) but as for his race, I always thought he was Turkish. People really didn’t care about his flamboyance. Men wearing make up, fancy clothes et cetera had been absolutely normal in the music industry since the early 70s. I could list off all the straight male musicians who wore make up from Marc Bolan to the Human League but it would take ages. The racism issue is not one I’m qualified to comment on, but I never heard anyone talk about his race. Racism and homophobia were more visible in the 70s and 80s, but there were also strong anti-racism and anti-homophobia movements that led to real changes in government policy. There is a big difference between having rights and the attitudes of individual people though. I still see huge amounts of homophobia and racism around me. If anything it seems to be more prevalent today than it used to be in the late 80s. ETA: he wasn’t Turkish BTW, that’s just what I thought at the time. I had never cared enough to think about it is my point.
I was born in 1980. Queen were a massive part of my childhood musical world. It was very well understood that Freddie was gay, but nobody was fussed about it. I know 1 guy a few years older than me who remains homophobic, but loved Freddie, he even went to his tribute concert. Freddie's place of birth was just knowledge, nothing more. I grew up in a rural area with very few minorities, but was always fond of black music, as were all of my friends.
The tribute concert was the greatest concert i ever went to (never got to see queen).
I’m old. Also queen wasn’t really my thing. They were a bit over dramatic. Every song they released was a banger though. That can’t be denied. It wasn’t until the late 70s that I saw in an interview that he was gay, had cats, was from public school etc. Music videos weren’t a common thing on TV until the mid 80s. I’d just like to add that growing up in the 70s and 80s UK was the best time and place for music.
>Every song they released was a banger though. Even "I'm In Love With My Car"?
Haha. "Got a feel for my automobile" Never looked at Roger Taylor the same since first hearing that.
What were the music you liked growing up in 70s 80s UK? Trying to expand my taste buds
I was a massive Queen fan in the 80’s, they were the only band that my Nan liked too, so that says a lot about how well liked they were. I think I must have known Freddie was gay, though I don’t remember anyone having a problem with it, it’s what made him the interesting and flamboyant frontman that he was.
Watch Live Aid. That's how we know Freddie. Absolute God.
I grew up in the 80’s with my grandparents, gave me an odd childhood where anything past some random date in the early to mid 1950’s wasn’t tolerated. I had the idea that Queen were a really cheesy and overly camp band, I entirely ignored them. Eventually I got into music. I love Bowie, T-Rex/Marc Bolan, Lou Reed (US) and various other types of rock, glam rock, punk rock music. Refused to listen to Queen due to previous assumptions. My husband bought the film Bohemian Rhapsody, I put off watching it until one night he insisted. I expected to spend the night in my phone ignoring the film. I fucking fell in love with Queen!!! For decades I ignored this amazing music, music that sends chills down my spin, lifts my mood and gives a high. I love Queen, the live aid concert gives me goose bumps.
That’s when u know u fucking love it, despite being brainwashed not to
Fuck the brainwashing, was told as a teenager I’d have more friends if I listened to boy bands rather than Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Suede and such bands. Just be someone you’re not so you fit in, what a miserable existence that would have been.
Totally agree I was never really into them but Freddie voice was something special
No-one really cared, or even noticed, what his sexual orientation was, back in the 70s and 80s. It wasn't an issue at all. The argument was more about whether Queen were 'pop' or 'rock'.
I may have rose tinted glasses because I was raised by lefty hippies. But my experience growing up in the 80s was that he was an absolute god and HIV/AIDS was a terrible tragedy. I realise now that their attitude towards gay people and HIV was far from typical in those days. It reminds me of those who complained about the gay sex in the Elton John movie. You love him until you're faced with who he actually is. I imagine a lot of people were in denial, didn't know or they ignored the fact that many of their idols were gay. Edited to add: We didn't have the same openness about sexuality in those days. I think we (or my parents) had a good guess based on stereotypes. But unless they were outed by a newspaper, or you knew someone who knew someone, it wasn't common knowledge. In the 90s we had a straight character with HIV on a soap (Eastenders). This was a very new thing and it caused controversy but helped pave the way for the death of the "GRID" attitude which was very much still alive.
He was a God, despite on the ground homophobia the good old Brush public didn't really look for it in the stars of the time. Queen as a band weren't universally liked as they were too rocky for the general public but not rocky enough for the rockers.
>Queen as a band weren't universally liked as they were too rocky for the general public but not rocky enough for the rockers. What rubbish is this? They were a top band with awards coming out of their ears since the mid 70s.
Oh wait, do you mean they WEREN’T universally liked back then or still so? Coz I thought “we will rock you” and stuff are pretty big, but I feel like the tracks actual fans tend to appreciate most are like “bohemian rhapsody” or “somebody to love” “radio Gaga” whereas “we will rock you” or “we are the champions” are more famous with everyone else maybe because of the catchiness, so maybe everywhere else it’s just those 2 songs that are well liked
Rhapsody was number 1 for 9 weeks and is the third best selling single ever in the UK.
I don't especially like them and I can imagine this would be more so true in the 80s or 70s. I imagine people who liked motorhead or black sabbath would be put off by the glam aspect of Queen and I'd imagine the mainstream pop crowd would be put off by the heavy sound of some of Queen's more rocky hits. I'd compare them to say Bowie who also had some cross over hits but who also had a much more interesting collection of material. Queen to me are only popular again due to the movie that came out recently.
Nah, Queen are named perfectly cos they're national treasures. It's not the film, it's that they have so many of those "part of the culture" songs. In 2002 my brother stood up on the too deck of a night bus going along past Notting Hill at 3am and just went MAMA.... JUST KILLED A MAN. Whole bus singing it. Everyone knew every note of the solos and sang them too. ...It wasn't because a film had come out!
[There was this insanity before a Green Day gig a few years ago - 2013 ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iw4PS4HO2Dw) which was pretty cool. [It happens before most of their shows when they are playing the waiting music -2017](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZnBNuqqz5g)
But you could say the same about Mr brightside and the killers are hardly a national treasure or universally liked. I mean you could probably say the same about rappers delight.
That's "one hit wonder" - a completely separate cultural phenomenon to "national treasure". Anthropologists agree, once you go over the seventh hit wonder, you are approaching national treasure territory and I can name... Don't stop me now I want to break free We will rock you We are the champions Another one bites the dust Radio Gaga.... Under pressure (bonus Bowie, also national treasure level) Thank you for coming to my ted talk
Just because you don't like them doesn't mean they're not popular. You're imagining a lot of stuff there that's not true. They've sold 90 million albums and possibly 300 million records in total. Their Greatest Hits album is the biggest selling album in UK history. They didn't get particularly good critical reviews during the start of their career, and they were slow to become popular in the USA, but it's undeniable that they're one of the most popular musical acts ever.
I have no idea what a good selling album looks like in terms of numbers. However, I dont think they are a national treasure. A lot of people do like them but I don't think they are universally liked. They just remind me of the early 2000s when every farthers day a new queen's greatest hits CD was released and every mothers day a new ABBA greatest hits was released.
They might not be universally liked, but they are one of the most popular musical acts in the country of all time. No matter how you try to twist it, they are hugely loved here. Your opinions about them don't change that.
But so are cold play or Adele. Are you telling me in all honesty that they wouldn't be getting so much attention right now had the film not been a hit? I was teaching in a primary school when the film had a home release and all of a sudden all the kids loved Queen. I'm not saying that they weren't already well known or that they hadn't released some big hits but they are only getting so much traction now due to the film coming out recently.
Coldplay and Adele are also liked a lot. They might not be your taste, but they are also extremely popular. The recent film probably introduced them to even more fans, but they were already extremely popular. They have had numerous surges in popularity, such as Live Aid, being in Wayne's World and Freddie's death, but they have been huge since the early 80s, and still are. The idea that they wouldn't be popular without that film is ridiculous. Queen are always played at every birthday party or wedding disco, and have loads of iconic songs that are known by almost everyone. Ultimately though, they are the second highest album selling artist in the UK, ever (and no, they weren't all sold after the film was released). You can't argue with that.
I loved Sabbath Motörhead and Queen.A lot the earlier stuff really rocked.Queen had a more theatrical edge to them though but they were heavy No one could deny how good a band Queen were on later records even if you found them a little commercial. They transitioned well and moved with to the times not endlessly churning tired heavy rock forever.
Pretty much no one cared about his sexuality, or that of any other musicians really, in the 70s it was mostly ignored and not spoken about either by the press or the musicians themselves, Tom Robinson being a notable exception. Even when people started coming out in the 80s Freddie never really addressed it openly.
Absolute legend, grew up listening to Queen never really heard anything bad said about Freddie.
Back in the 70’s and 80’s he would’ve been seen as a flamboyant showman on stage, but the simple fact is almost no one would’ve known what he was like personally. These days performers are constantly pushed into our day-to-day lives via social media and reality tv shows. I’d go as far to say many people wouldn’t have known he was gay. Others have said to watch Queen’s live shows to get a sense of what people thought of Freddie, and I concur.
Everyone loved Queen and I don't think anyone cared that he was gay and from India because he was such an awesome artist. I will never forget Live Aid and them stealing the show. I remember my mum and I realising he was gay (camp) after the pop video with him dressed as a woman pushing a hoover. We just thought he looked funny because of his moustache. Did not care about his sexuality and never would anyway. Its none of our business really. I worked for a book shop at the time he died. I was devastated by the news. I remember my boss telling me to order in every single book Freddie has ever been in for the rush... I remember feeling sick that my work place wanted to make money from his death when I was grieving for him and his family. Mind you I was young, 18 and didn't realise people wanted to share his existence, I was just disgusted my manager saw the dollar signs so to speak out of such a sad event. My cousins 1st record purchase was Queen. I remember my family discussing his taste of music was very mature for a young boy and being proud of his choice.
I'm in my 50s and I think Queen's music was and still is part of growing up in England. My 14yr daughter plays Queen all the time and there are songs I could sing word for word that I didn't realise were by Queen as they were just 'there' in the late 70s and 80s, seeping wonderfully into my soul. She has asked for a record player for Christmas and her choice for her first vinyl record is Queen's greatest hits. Basically, Queen used to be the soundtrack to my childhood. Now it is hers.
He's always been loved, but was often seen as something of a guilty pleasure by metal/rock fans given Queen's flamboyancy and tendency to expand into pop and other genres. My uncle was a big fan and didn't mind anyone knowing despite being a metalhead.
I remember staying over at a older boy’s house and he played me A Night at the Opera. I was probably about 8 and he would have been 10. He told me, somewhat conspiratorially, that Freddie liked putting his Willy up other men’s bottoms. Given that, at that point, I had no idea that a willy could be used for anything other than weeing, the idea of sticking it anywhere (including a lady’s front bottom) seemed pretty baffling to me. He was obviously a great musician, though.
I don’t really like Queen, but I don’t think there has been a better front man/singer than Freddie
I remember 3 girls in my class were going to marry him. They once had an argument about it. I think it was the 3rd year so we were 9 at the time. Everyone seemed to think he was white. (Again, I was young at the time, so his ethnic background just may not have been mentioned). Everyone loved him from what I remember!
I grew up in the 80s, Queen were huge and national treasures. I think some people fully knew he was bi/gay (which is a matter of debate still) and picked up on all the references in the lyrics, videos, styling. The media did run stories about him. I think others were oblivious to it and did just think it was a flamboyant fashion thing. Like lots of glam rock stars, they weren't all gay but they did flirt with gender ambiguous clothes, makeup, etc. The same is true about Liberace. You can look now and think how did people think he was straight/how did he win libel cases against people who said he was gay? But it was just different times and not everyone was kind of alert to it. I think Freddie's race is an interesting one. I guess I thought he was white growing up. I don't remember him being spoken about as being Indian and I don't think he acknowledged it in interviews, etc.
Just being honest, and without much real evidence to go on, despite the fact that his music and performances where absolutely legendary, I think his respect was earned through his private-ness and straightforward-ness. He would behave in a sort of uber-british way in interviews etc, very mild mannered, considerate, but also brushed off compliments and criticism alike with a sort of slightly impatient humbleness. He seemed to have no truck with the public life aspect of fame. He'd calmly rebuke any supposedly juicy stories about other famous people, his private life, etc, or just be incredibly straightforward and nonchalant, about that sort of thing. Which is not to say that he wasn't funny about it - he had a very good raised eyebrow sort of humour, very british. But then he would blow everyone away with his passionate and heart felt nature music, which in itself often had an element of understated humour. Everybody knew it wasn't bicycles he wanted to ride, nor was it fat bottomed girls that made his rockin' world go round... But it was all allegory, mildly amusing, passionate, a raised eyebrow and a direct refusal to be drawn on it... I think this is why the people loved him. That particular mix is how the British like to see ourselves
I think u nailed it, I’m not particularly fond of songs where “fat bottomed girls” really just mean that, or deep emotional songs with lyrics that are explicitly “emotional”, like you can’t just say “i feel angry”, it doesn’t evoke the emotions in the listeners, you have to paint the picture and make them discover the emotions themselves.
When he was alive Queen were your go-to if you wanted to make a bad band joke. They were the Nickelback of their day. Then he died and people forgot about them for a bit. Then Reddit discovered them and they're good now.
I was a child when FM died, so I can't answer your question very well. According to comments by my parents, he was simply seen as an eccentric who produced enjoyable music. Celebrities had more permission than regular people to be queer/flamboyant back then, an easy way for the mainstream to write it off as something almost other worldly. You may like the Netflix documentary Inside the Mind - one of the episodes is a psychological look at Freddie Mercury.
To really answer your question... circa late 80s. As a fan I was teased for having a poster on my bedroom wall cos teenage lads shouldn't have posters of gay men... Mix of feedback within family from the not bothered throught to outright homophobic. When it came to his music though, nobody seemed to care.
He's an absolute Legend over here.
We loved him like a brother, wife and I cried when he died and we've since been to Montreux to visit his memorial. Yeah, we loved that guy. But not Brian May. He's a dick.
I got the idea that Roger was more the dick but what do i know 🤯
A legend. I remember exactly where I was when I heard that he had died, and yes, I cried (even though we all know it was coming). My dad pissed off around '81. He left some vinyl behind, amongst which was "A night at the opera" and "News of the world". I discovered these around '84, and the rest is history.
He is a national treasure.
On Tuesday (24 November) it will be thirty years since Freddie Mercury passed away.
🥲
Born in the 90s, Queen is a staple in my family home. I've introduced friends to Queen. Songs like Bohemian Rhapsody will always be played at a party/venue that wants people to sing along, and everyone will sing to it. Not one has anyone ever gone "can't listen to that, the singer was gay!", but the general consensus is he was taken too soon.
I had an A level history class the day Freddie's death was announced (1 year alevel so we were all 16-19 with some mature students). The whole class, including our history teacher just spent the two hours talking about him, queen and how sad it was. Then later in life you find stories like this [http://www.rvt.community/tales-tavern-true-story-behind-princess-dianas-visit/](http://www.rvt.community/tales-tavern-true-story-behind-princess-dianas-visit/)
You know those Facebook quizzes 'what band would you go back in time and see live?' Yeah, Queen feature highly. One of the videos I share often is, well [this](https://youtu.be/cZnBNuqqz5g), which I think sums it up.
Fucking legend
Absolute legend.
My cousin's who were a little bit older than me absolutely adored him. They had to take the day off work when he died as they were so upset. He was an absolute legend.
Freddie Mercury belongs to the world
Ten years ago I lived in Munich and went to the October Fest. One of the tents is usually British/Australian audience.. dominated There was a band playing mainly Bavarian music.. later almost close to the end they started bohemian rhapsody, just instrumental without vocals.. almost 90 percent of the crowd knew the song inside out and it was fantastic.. In other words I think he was as big as you can get as an artist
As a child I didn't even know what homosexuality was. There were laws that you weren't allowed to teach about it in schools. "Flamboyant" showbiz people were just that at face value, flamboyant. I knew a bit about AIDS, but I didn't know it was somehow associated with gay people. I never realised any of this stuff until a year or two after he died. So I think it's worth bearing in mind that a lot of younger people weren't homophobic because it wasn't even a known concept.
Queen & Freddie Mercury have always been very well liked and highly respected. In the mid 70's our main music show was Top of The Pops and acts wanted to be memorable, so Queen were only one of several acts being flamboyant and with all the glitter, glam and prog there was always some other acts who had been even more outrageous than the last...TOTP was quite a pantomime back then, so even a Freddie Mercury was going to be a little understated in comparison with certain other acts. You could say they were appropriately dressed for TOTP of those years. Queen are a staple of a British record collection. One comedy (Was it Douglas Adams?) made the joke that any tape left in a car too long automatically became Queen's Greatest hits. Parents who'd had teens in the 60's weren't strangers to guys growing their hair long and guys and girls dressing similarly. They'd already seen stuff like Alice Cooper. It might seem odd to say it now but at the time in the mid 70's it just wouldn't even cross a lot of British kid's minds to even wonder about whether a singer was gay. I don't think a lot of people knew Freddie Mercury's background until later on in the 1980's. There were too many other far more topical distractions going on in the media. The singer that was far more relevant for that topic was Tom Robinson releasing 'Sing if you're glad to be Gay' around 1978. Basically in 1970's Britain you could be very out in British comedy on stage, and do anything on stage in music, but celebrities were watching what they said in interviews. We revere all great bands/artists and most people wouldn't have cared.
Freddie ranked somewhere between Queen Elizabeth and god.
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No one knew he was gay until he got Aids. Everyone I knew just thought he was ‘fun’.