Mercury's voice was said to have had a four-octave vocal range and was the subject of a 2016 study that sought to better understand it. Queen's last album was also recorded there. Today, a giant statue of Mercury overlooks a lake in Montreux, Switzerland, where Mercury moved after buying Mountain Recording Studio. He began writing Queen's most famous song, 'Bohemian Rhapsody,' while he was still in college, calling it 'The Cowboy Song' at the time the few lyrics he'd come up with: 'Mama, just killed a man…' His favorite artists were Aretha Franklin and Jimi Hendrix. Ten of the 17 songs on Queen's 1981 Greatest Hits collection-the band's bestselling album-were written by Mercury.

Hutton was with Mercury for seven years before the star's death Austin, Mercury's first serious relationship, was told by the musician where to bury his ashes. He had two remarkable relationships, one with Mary Austin and one with Jim Hutton, both complicated and both long-term. He was both flamboyant and shy outspoken and intensely private. From working as a baggage handler at Heathrow airport to hiding his HIV diagnosis from the public until just before his death, Mercury's life was filled with adventure, publicity, and perhaps above all a clear duality. To celebrate Mercury's outsized life, Stacker compiled a list of 25 elements from his biography that many fans don't know.

Queen's two-night run at London's Wembley Stadium in '86 is still universally perceived as standing among the most unforgettable live rock events in history. His band stands as among the world's most successful of all time, with record sales topping 300 million worldwide. Queen frontman Freddie Mercury was a prolific writer, an introverted empath, and an iconic musician.

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