Somebody To Love

Cue the instrumental version of the Gospel song, Guide Me Home. --An appropriate tune to accompany the arresting prose with which Matt Richards and Mark Langthorne describe the final fortnight in the life of the frontman of one of the most popular bands on Earth. Amid the news events of November 10,1991, a private jet flies home from Switzerland to London with a terminally ill passenger who may well have been oblivious to world events, but whom, by month's end, would be the focus of world attention once again. As a car takes the patient, now with failing eyesight home, and the electronic gate of his Garden Lodge, Kensington estate mansion closes behind him for the last time in his life, we are given a sense of a life that is permanently (and prematurely) shutting down, amid trappings of splendor, including Japanese objets d'art, collected from the country that loved and warmly embraced him and his three colleagues so well for 16 years, and perhaps, more relevantly, a grand piano with a closed fallboard its owner will never play again. Upstairs in a master bedroom with faded yellow walls, he receives his medication intravenously.A favorite film--1959's Imitation of Life plays on a VCR.But he is too Ill to weep at the ending any longer. He could hear the press and paparazzi--speculative about his condition for years--chattering outside his Japanese garden. The terminally ill male, aged 45, suffered from AIDS, and had loaned himself out for the testing of experimental drugs for three years.In previous times, his strong constitution withstood copious amounts of booze, unprotected sex, and cocaine.But the experimental drugs have proven futile. As a cold, grey wet Autumn day shrouded London, and the master of the Garden Lodge Estate has decided to go off his medication, taking only painkillers, the Zanzibar born master pianist, and rock showman extraordinaire with the given name of Farrokh Bulsara, better known as Freddie Mercury, is holed up with his nearest and dearest, resigned to his fate. The intriguing aspect of this 2016 biography--released in time for the 25th anniversary of the singer's death, is that in addition, it chronicles the history of AIDS from its origin and journey around the world as it finds its way towards Freddie Mercury through, unfortunately, every hedonistic fault of his own. We review the life of the gifted singer/songwriter through his birth in Zanzibar, time in boarding school in his parents' native India where he formed his first band, the Hectics, had his first sexual encounter, and the likely impact of being sent away from home at such an early age had on his later behavior. After his return home, an uprising drove the Bulsaras--including father, Bomi, a government accountant, wife, Jer, 12-year-old daughter,Kashmira, as well as 17-year-old Farrokh--out of Zanzibar, they settled in London, near Heathrow Airport, where Farrokh later worked. Studying at Isleworth Polytechnic College, then at Ealing Art College--a pre-cursor to a music career for many rock stars, Freddie Bulsara(as he was known before a final name change)meets his future lifelong colleagues, including Brian May, who lived not far from the Bulsaras, Roger Taylor, who became his roommate, and with whom he ran an antique clothing stall in their salad days,and later bassist, John Deacon. Beforehand, he is involved with a band called Ibex, who name changed to Wreckage, and another short-lived band called Sour Milk Sea. Mercury had a brief romance with one Rosemary Pearson, who grew disenchanted with his attraction to men.A later romantic interest who became his lifelong friend and confidante, Mary Austin, would be a bit more tolerant. His status as a hanger-on of May and Taylor's band, Smile changes, as will the band's name from Smile to Queen. As the legends-to-be come together, beginning their epic but tempestuous 20-year odyssey, the virus that would impact the band's history, which was traced from a slain monkey that bit and infected the Bantu hunter that killed it in the Congo in 1908,and which the hunter may have transmitted to one or more prostitutes, whose clients may have spread it to wives and/or girlfriends back home in Europe, had by that point, been spread by re-used, but badly washed hypodermic needles used to combat African Sleeping Sickness, but which still carried traces of HIV, had by the 1970s, been spread to Haiti by teachers, and social workers who were exposed during time in the former Belgian Congo , where they filled in jobs formerly occupied by Belgian officials who returned home--the backfiring of UNESCO Goodwill program. A blood plasma center in Port-au-Prince was open for two years.Impoverished Haitians donated blood for money to sustain the US blood bank because well-to-do Americans were less likely to.But since supplies of donated blood were not checked for a virus no one thought to look for at the time, many may have received HIV that way as well. The plight of Missouri teenager, Robert Rayford, who died of what is now recognized as HIV in 1969, and who case was publicized in 1986 is duly noted.But how he contracted it remains a mystery. A Canadian flight attendant named Gaetan Dugas, who would be misidentified as Patient Zero, contacted the virus in the 1970s, as did actor, Rock Hudson. Mercury was acquainted with both men, and the partner he and Dugas had in common was John Murphy. In 1976,three members of the Roed Family of Bored, Norway would become the first known cluster case of the disease all three died within a year. The hedonistic atmosphere of New York during the US Bicentennial celebration provided more opportunities for the disease to spread.A West Greenwich Village club for gays called The Mineshaft opened in the meat packing district that year.Mercury would join its list of notable clients around 1980, and the book suggests this is where he may have been infected around 1982, although other sources claim that may have happened between 1976 and 1978. While the world enjoyed Queen's musical catalog, including Killer Queen, You're My Best Friend, Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon, Somebody to Love, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Another One Bites the Dust, We Will Rock You, We Are the Champions, Radio Ga Ga,A Kind of Magic, Under Pressure, and of course, Bohemian Rhapsody, among others, the self-destructive behaviors will alter the band's fate. The book notes an observation by one Dr. Thomas Schmidt about the almost compulsive promiscuity among homosexuals, but also of how unfulfilling many of them find their own behavior. The most popular band in the world by 1980, Queen would continue to have its ups and downs.By mid-decade, they faced penalties for violating a UN ban on artists performing in South Africa in protest of Apartheid by playing at the resort in Sun City. But a high point of drama is the story of the band's redemption at Live Aid the following year when at 6:44PM on Saturday, July 13,1985 Queen's African-born frontman and colleagues took the stage to perform to help starving children in Africa before 72,000 at Wembley Stadium, 100,000 at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia, and a worldwide television audience of 1.9 billion .With the best amplified performance, they were truly the Champions of the moment, and that is known as The Day Queen Ruled the World! But signs of Mercury's impending downward spiral were visible even then, in the hoarseness of his voice (he had a cough that day and ignored the advice of a doctor at Wembley against his performing),and a purple mark on his right arm which may have been one of his first sarcomas. Later that year the death of Rock Hudson from AIDS further fueled his anxiety. In counterpoint to the main narrative are the perspectives of his mother,his sister, his band mates,Mary Austin, his friend, actor/singer, Peter Straker, journalist, Lesley-Ann Jones, rock critic, Paul Gambaccini, who claims to have unsuccessfully tried to warn Mercury about modifying his behavior, singer Marc Almond, Jim Hutton, Peter Freestone, Montserrat Caballe,et.al. that round out the story.We also read about the destructive influence of Mercury's lover and personal assistant, Paul Prenter, who succumbed to AIDS three months before the singer did. It begins with a famous quote by Socrates:The unexamined life is not worth living. But this cautionary tale of a gifted, but self-destructive life, like so many before and since, also recounts how a tragic loss further galvanized the fight against AIDS, especially via the memorial concert at Wembley the following spring, and the foundation of the anti-AIDS organization, The Mercury Phoenix Trust, and how the musical stylings of Freddie Mercury continue to delight and inspire, with wisdom and much relevant insight on offer. The star may have fallen, but the legacy continues to rise.

Interesting and insightful story with pictures! Good for any Freddy Mercury fan.

This book is one of the best I’ve read. Rarely do I have the opportunity or sustained interest in reading a big book non stop cover to cover, but that is exactly what has happened. It’s certainly the best biography I’ve ever read. It also gives a fairly comprehensive history of AIDS, some of the hysteria of which I remember from childhood in the 80s when no one knew how it was transmitted, and thus, were extremely paranoid. More importantly, though, it is a really deep look into the life of Freddie Mercury from birth to death. The man was a marvel and so much of who he was resonates very deeply with me. SOOOO driven...such a perfectionist. Unique in every way. The time he lived in really prevented him from openly being who he was and it caused him to be one of the loneliest people on the planet (GaGa talks about this in her documentary. The more famous you become, the more people who surround you...but at the end of the day, they all disappear and you’re totally alone ). So many of his lyrics tell the story of his loneliness or need for true relationship(s), yet he was also one of the most fun-loving, generous and over the top humans I’ve ever heard of. He was always stunning, youthful and beautiful (even as he was dying and declining)—maybe not in anyone’s traditional sense of those things, but he was indeed those things to the nth degree. After having read it, I don’t understand why everyone in the world isn’t in love with him 😊. This Queen/Freddie thing is strange. I’ve had deep inspirations before in my life, but always they were from my own time (apart from F. Scott Fitzgerald). I mean, I loved a few Queen tunes in my younger childhood, but that was about it. I kind of forgot about them until the movie came along. And that movie (Bohemian Rhapsody)awakened a beast with a new ear for the music and new eyes for everything else about Queen. It’s been well over a month now since I saw the movie the first time (and of course countless times afterward) and EVERYDAY it’s been Queen music whenever possible. After everyone’s in bed? interviews, concert footage, videos. Literally, every night. At this point, I may know just about as much as fans who have loved Queen for decades. It doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon. I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but I know if it’s wrong, I don’t wanna be right. Haha! Needless to say, as a long time reader of amazing books, this one comes highly recommended. Excellent writing, thorough coverage and great accompanying photos.

I am not sure about this one honestly. I gave it four stars as it is very well written. But my issues stem with many unsubstantiated statements, conjecture and maybe some made up stuff. The bibliography is well ordered, but it still seems thin. What follows has many SPOILERS, you have been warned. Some issues with the book: 1. How could anybody know when Freddie Mercury caught HIV? There is a chapter in the book which tries to pin it down to 1982, and maybe sometime in July or August. Aside from that being a very morbid thing to do, it is IMPOSSIBLE to know when the guy caught that awful disease. Maybe just the fact he caught the disease and died should be enough! No sources to back up this claim. 2. About sex....that is most of what the book concentrates on. Freddie did this or did that. It also makes claims that Freddie was starting to get really promiscuous by 1975. However, other books about Queen have not stated this as fact, it was always the late 1970s.. Is this just conjecture and if not, where are the SOLID sources on this? This book just seems to care all about Freddie Mercury and his sexual practices......it is obsessed with that aspect of Freddie. 3. Album sales. Queen was a very big band, with estimates putting sales anywhere from 150-300 million albums worldwide. That is all good and well, but the book states that A Night At The Opera sold 12 million units worldwide. The sources I found claim only 6 million, but who really knows. The point being, where is this information being pulled from? Were the authors making this up as they went? Just look at the bibliography in the back and you will not find answers to most of this stuff. You will find the authors pulling from other books written about Queen, from earlier works that were published before this one. But it just feels like stuff was written, without proper citation or research. 4. It is about the music isn't it? Why is it all books about Queen always concentrate on Freddie Mercury and his sexuality? This gets old and is not very interesting. I don't care what sexual preference the man had, I care about the music Queen put out, and some of Freddie's solo work, that is it! John, Brian and Roger are always mostly ignored in these books and that is a shame. Brian May has so many memorable solos and riffs. The same for the massively underrated John Deacon and his famous bass parts. Roger Taylor is a good and competent drummer who also sang some awesome backup vocals or even sang whole songs. Who doesn't love "I'm In Love With My Car," or "39"? Each of the four members contributed much to the band, not just Freddie. They were truly a "supergroup" before the term was invented. So out with the bad and in with the good: 1. The parts about the beginnings of HIV and AIDS, in Africa, in the early 1900s, are very well researched and interesting. This is one of the best histories I have read about the HIV epidemic, and is done well. To clarify, I mean about the earliest known history of the disease in humans. 2. The book is written in a very unique narrative style. It writes about events with Queen and at the same time writes about events in the HIV/AIDS crisis; events that take place either in the same year or within a couple years of each other. This part works very well in the book. 3. It is really thick on the HIV/AIDS information, but in simplified terms. To me, the book really feels like a companion piece to the excellent, and now 30 years old, And The Band Played On by Randy Shilts. It feels similar to that book, though not as thick. Almost like part II with Queen and Freddie Mercury as the sideshow. 4. STL spends a lot of time talking about all the great 1970s Queen music, which is really cool. My issue is though is they only seem to spend time on the famous tracks, not the less famous ones unfortunately. Seriously, it is about the music and anybody that claims fandom, outside of the Greatest Hits, would know that the first 4 albums are just amazing. Queen II is solid all the way through, so is Sheer Heart Attack, and the first album is one of the most varied and interesting debuts from a famous band I have ever heard. By the time the book comes around to The Game, it is full speed ahead and gives very little background on the albums after The Game. Not tons on Flash, or the uneven Hot Space (I actually like this album and feel Freddie turns in an amazing vocal performance on it). Many books on famous bands always do this. They spend lengthy chapters on the early albums of a band, then rush to the finish line while compressing information about the later works. There were stories to be told about the later albums, but most of this was shelved in favor of the HIV/AIDS talk about Freddie, which is disappointing. The last 3 albums Queen did in the 80s have some excellent tracks, despite being uneven albums. Think such tracks as Gimme The Prize, It's A Hard Life, Princes of The Universe, I Want It All, Breakthru, Was It All Worth It etc. 5. About Live Aid....how many more good things can be said about Queen and Live Aid? The book does a good job of describing the lead up to the concert, and the performance itself. In summary: I give this a barely recommend, despite the 4 star rating. It is well written, but makes many assertions that are not based on hard facts and sources. You won't learn a lot more than what is in other books on Queen. You will learn some new and interesting things about HIV/AIDS (The theories about where the disease began are quite good), so that is a plus. It does go way too far on the sexuality issue with Freddie. This is so disrespectful to Freddie Mercury and his memory. Yet......the books on Queen cannot seem to get away from FOCUSING about it. Freddie Mercury is possibly the greatest singer of all time, regardless of genre. Talk about his greatness and don't give us conjecture about what is going on in his head....whatever. I liked "Is This The Real Life" quite a bit more than this. This is worth a read for hardcore Queen fans, and maybe rock fans in general. And while it has some emotional gut punching, it doesn't carry the force that And The Band Played On does (I highly recommend this book). It is all about the music for me, and Queen has that in spades.....great music and songs and albums! Last update: Get the book. After rewatching the dog-s**t that is Bohemian Rhapsody, my review just doesn't seem correct. That movie completely downplays the history of Mercury and Queen and the sexuality going on here. What I now realize is how much Freddie and his sexuality, was part of the music. I know, this was hiding in plain sight, but I get it now. Yes, the music matters, but so does the truth. This book, while the bibliography could be much better, at least attempts the truth while the movie bends the truth at every opportunity (except for Live Aid and the making of the Bohemian Rhapsody song). The book isn't a character assassination of Mr. Bad Guy like the movie......argh! If you read this far, buy it! Thanks for reading and stay safe.

This book is very well written. It starts off explaining where AIDS originated from, how it came into the US and some other countries, and then it goes into Freddie's parents' lives and his life. As a very long time fan of Freddie Mercury, I have read almost every book that has been written about him. This was written with respect and sensitivity towards Freddie, and not as a distasteful piece of gossip. It provides more bits of information about him that the others do not. There are pieces of information that dispute what others have said about Freddie in blogs and in books. There are some bits of information that makes me curious where the author obtained the information from, and there are some events and people left out of the book, but I believe the author has most of it correct. Most fans of Freddie Mercury are interested in every aspect his life. He was fascinating. Most of us have wondered with great sadness as to when he was infected with the HIV virus. Not because we can change anything, but because we care about him. He definitely lived a dangerous and very self destructive life, which makes me so sad for him. The author provides a lot of good information, and even narrows down a date (within a matter of a couple of weeks) of when he suspects that Freddie was infected with the virus. I personally believe it was a couple of years before the author thinks due to the fact that at least two of his lovers died in 1986, but the author makes some good points regarding why he believes his time frame. None of us will ever really know, and the main point is, our beloved Freddie is gone. How I wish that were not true. The author also explains the much discussed topic of insurance for when they were on tour, and how Freddie was most likely able to dodge that issue. Freddie in fact had several HIV tests over a several year period. What I don't understand is why Freddie continued to have unprotected sex when the epidemic was on everybody's minds in the early 80's, (I remember the news coverage in the very early 80's well) and if he did indeed find out that he was most likely HIV positive why he continued to have unprotected sex. The book is very sobering, it made me sad for Freddie. However, I am glad I read the book, and would definitely recommend it to any Freddie fans that are interested in his life and sadly, the downward spiral that took him from us far too soon. Rest in peace, Freddie. We love you.

I think this is the longest review I’ve left on a book yet but man this book reached deep down into my soul and touched it. I came into this biography with a passing knowledge about Freddie Mercury, Queen and even the AIDS epidemic. I grew up listening to Queen as my parents were big fans. They had every one of their pre-90s albums on vinyl and I can still remember the very first one I listened to - News of The World, I picked that one because it had the "weird robot" on the front - I was instantly hooked. But growing up listening to their music and knowing their history are two different things. It wasn't until I was in my late teens coming to terms with my own sexuality that I learned who exactly Freddie Mercury was and how he died. I did some research on him, what limited stuff there was on the internet at that time, but it took until I was an adult to really take up an interest in him and his legacy. I watched the recent movie biopic Bohemian Rhapsody and it completely reignited the fire of how much I have always loved Queens music. And instead of trolling through Wiki pages trying to learn all I could about the history of Queen, and more specifically Freddie, that I stumbled onto this book. And out of the seemingly 100s of Freddie biographies I could have chosen to read - I am so glad I picked this one. Not only does this book seem to give a brash look at Freddies life, choices, and consequences but as it goes through his timeline it chronicles HIV/AIDS and its development and spread in history. Having these two story lines going on simultaneously made Freddies life and death all that more poignant. Not to mention, I was born in the late 80s. I was never around to see what our world was like at that time for LGBTQA people and the struggles they had to face with the AIDS epidemic. “We view the past from a different present” page 390. It is not something that is taught in school or anything so my knowledge of it was limited to hearsay, movie plots and what little information I had come across in my lifetime (ie I knew that our US Government at the time hindered a lot but I had no idea how badly they messed up our people until reading this). While reading this book, any of the singles they mentioned, performances, articles, places, events etc I looked up (unless I had them already). So I listened to and watched things while reading this so I could really get in it. That so helped. There were only a couple songs mentioned that I couldn't remember hearing, I looked up people who I didn't know - basically immersed myself in this as much as I could. And by the end of reading this, I had cried several times. This was an intense, incredibly emotional, powerful biography. Freddie may have made some questionable choices in his life but he deserves all the accolades and the legacy that came from his immense talents.

The title "Somebody to Love: The Life, Death, and Legacy of Freddie Mercury" portrays accurately what the authors Matt Richards & Mark Langthorne accomplished. The end notes shows a careful researched informations. I've read previous frivolous Freddie Mercury biographies by other authors such as Rick Sky and they fail to capture the essence of Freddie. The first two chapters captivates you about a hunter killing a chimpanzee in 1908 in the deep Belgian Congo. I'm so enthralled into the origins of the AIDS story that I forget that I am reading about Freddie. Then the story switches in the third chapter about Freddie's father Bomi Bulsara being born in north of Bombay in 1908. As you can already surmise the author marriages two stories of different continents together as the book goes on. This is essential to understand Freddie. Although this book does not interview the members of Queen, they reach out other artists and friends that knew him. Let me also tell you on a side note that the writer Mark Langthorne met with Freddie in 1983 in a infamous gay club called Heaven in London. I thought that the AIDS story merging into Freddie's life was essential, because now deducing that Freddie was infected with HIV around the summer of 1982 means a lot to the reader. How does a man go forward knowing he has a dead sentence. The famous Live Aid, July 13 1985 we all know was performed by a man that already had an inkling of this mysterious disease. When a man gets a disease like this it plagues his mind. Whether he is performing on stage or washing the dishes. It's fascinating how Freddie pulled up his boot straps and continues to live a life of hope and joy. Freddie in his mind knowing he had this disease is truly getting to know his life. The book also goes into how homosexuals were heavily discriminated in the 80's. How hate crime rose through the decade. How a gay man in the 80's had to be strong. Were today everybody to the average Joe has a "coming out the closet" party. That party wasn't happening in the 80's. Gay men at that time had to go into strange underground clubs like New York's Mineshaft to be themselves. This is who Freddie was. A extraordinary musician and vocalist. An incredible writer. A electrifying performer. A benevolent wealthy man. A lover of life. Freddie also was a gay man. A man that understood racism and his Indian past. A broken hearted man. Understood the witch hunting press. A man that had a disease which he fought in the end. He is truly somebody you can love.

I downloaded samples of most of the Freddie Mercury books wanting to know more about him following seeing the new movie and learing much of it was untrue. Anyway, I ended up picking this biography over the rest, but I also downloaded the book by Jim Hutton, because his was easy to get into and felt very intimate and personal. Since I didn't know much about Queen or Freddie, I thought I should read this book first to get a broad base of his life and career, before delving into the story of a lover that knew him for a specific period of time, but I couldn't put down Jim's account! When I finished, I read this book, and I was so disappointed! First, there are inaccuracies in material reported from Jim's book and it made me wonder what else in this book is incorrect? I also didn't like that this biographer doesn't personally know Freddie or anyone else he writes about. This author relies on other biographers' material to tell this story--one being Lesley Jones, who's book sample was one I downloaded and rejected because I didn't like her style, but I got the impression she actually knew Freddie at least--along with quotes from Freddie, the other members of Queen, and others. He doesn't usually explain where the quotes come from in the book, but they are NOT from personal interviews. Again, because I know a few things were reprinted wrongly or taken out of context from Jim's book, I am leery of everything else reported. I also did not like that there are photos at the very end of this book, because after you finish the story, there are pages and pages of discography, an index, and references--boring stuff you would normally skip. Had I not paged through all of it, I would've missed some neat photos, and that also would've been disappointing! This book is a decent read, but what is true and what is not? Is there a better biography you should read? Probably--there are many!

Je suis une fan de Freddie de Queen depuis mon plus jeune âge et j'ai adoré lire ce livre ! Excellent pour les plus grands fans de ce chanteur hors-norme avec une voix de maestro !!

One of my favourite books in this genre. Freddie is one of my idiols but apart from that the book is written really well. Part of the book contains interesting info about the origin of AIDS and patient 0.

Super.

Freddie Mercury's life is interwoven with his musical career as the lead singer and composer of Queen and the history of the spread of Aids. I read it after watching the movie Bohemian Rhapsody and I enjoyed making comparisons with it. I very much appreciated the fact that the authors quoted their sources in details. Beautiful photos are included at the end, which I had never seen before.

De lo mejor que he leido. Cuenta la historia del SIDA de manera paralela a la vida de Freddie y como acaban uniéndose em el tiempo. No es un inglés especialmente difícil. Muy recomendable.