Fans worldwide are commemorating the life of Freddie Mercury, who would have celebrated his 60th birthday today, September 5.
Mercury's mother, Jer Bulsara, and sister, Kashmira Cooke, unveiled a photographic exhibition in London's Proud Central Gallery. The exhibition documents Mercury's childhood, growing up on the island of Zanzibar. Pictures include an infant Freddie in a flowered dress being held by his mother, and of a four-year-old Freddie wearing the skull cap of his family's Zoroastrian faith.In Montreux - the Swiss town where Mercury owned a home and famously made his last ever recordings - a new art installation has been opened at the Place du March??. In London, Queen bandmates Brian May and Roger Taylor will present a fundraising performance of the Queen stage musical 'We Will Rock You'.
Mercury was born Farrokh Bulsara on September 4, 1946. He became arguably rock's greatest showman, and one of its finest and most ambitious songwriters, with Queen helping lay the foundation for prog, metal and glam in the early 1970s. He died of pneumonia in November 1991, only a day after announcing to the world that he had AIDS.
Mercury's sister told Britain's 'Mirror' newspaper that her brother's death "didn't register until I saw the newspaper articles. I can remember now, reading with my dad, his tears and my tears dropping on to the article. I still think of him every day. Every single day."
Meanwhile, conservative Muslims in Zanzibar are protesting over the island's intention to commemorate the birthday of their most famous son. They claim Mercury's homosexual lifestyle, and the fact that he died from an AIDS-related illness, were violations of Islam.
