Fans of Freddie Mercury celebrated his 70th
birthday on September 5, remembering the legendary
Queen rocker who died a quarter-century ago. Among
the tributes showered on him: an asteroid discovered in
1991, the year of his death, was named Asteroid 17473
Freddiemercury.
Newly released photos showed Mercury as a youngster,
then known as Farrokh Bulsara, growing up in Zanzibar
as the son of Parsis. Mercury would later attend St.
Peter’s, a boarding school in Panchgani, Maharashtra. It
was there that he and four classmates formed their first
band, The Hectics.
Anvar Alikhan of Scroll.in interviewed three of
Freddie’s former bandmates, as well as some of his
classmates, to unearth new details about his early life.
The boys formed the band “mainly to impress the girls,”
recalled Bruce Murray, one of the band members. “We
certainly were not
musicians. Yes,
Freddie was a great
musician, but the
rest of us just made
a lot of noise.”
Their instruments included a guitar, a drum, an old
tea chest with a string attached to it, and an old school
piano that was played by the prodigy among them. Despite
his musical and vocal talent, Freddie faced a lot
of pressure, especially from his father, to pursue a conventional
career in law or accounting. None of his former
bandmates foresaw the heights that Freddie would
achieve, propelling Queen to the top of the charts with a
resonant voice that still astounds today. “If only I knew
how big he would become,” Murray said, “I would have
applied for the post of his manager.”