Happy Birthday, Freddie!

Queen memorabilia, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

I am not usually one who goes round celebrating the birthdays of famous people who I do not know, and then not ones who have passed away, but I thought I should pay tribute to the late and great Freddie Mercury, whose 60th birthday it was/would have been yesterday. (I would have posted this yesterday, but the BBC were saying his birthday was on the 6th).

In the pop music world I doubt if there ever was or will be such a perfect entertainer. I was lucky enough to see two Queen concerts at the Empire pool in Wembley in the late 1970's and still have excellent memories of both of them. Putting it into perspective, we now have Madonna as a world pop phenomenon going on year after year, givng sell-out and much-talked about concerts but despite all the props and help she has, she came across totally flat compared with Freddie Mercury. And he had a great sense of humour too.

I have been playing Queen records today, listening to such excellent songs as Somebody to Love, Killer Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody, It's Late, I Want It All and We Are The Champions, amongst other gems. How amazing is it that at every big sporting event, we can hear Freddie tingling on his piano, dressed in his black and white leotard, snging We Are The Champions? Amazing.

Happy Birthday, Freddie!