Freddie Mercury Quotes

“It's not a concert you are seeing, it's a fashion show.”
― Freddie Mercury

“Inside my heart is breaking,
My make-up may be flaking,
But my smile, still, stays on!”
― Freddie Mercury, Greatest Hits

“The bravest thing David Bowie ever did was to go on stage after Queen at Live Aid.”
― Stewart Stafford

“It is often said that Freddie Mercury is "one of the best" showmen in history. To me, he is THE best. Why? Two reasons - he wrote what is generally-considered the greatest song of all-time (Bohemian Rhapsody) AND gave the greatest live performance ever (Live Aid). To do one of those things is extremely difficult, to do both is a genius-level achievement.”
― Stewart Stafford

“Fuck them, darling, if they just don’t get it,” retorted Freddie.”
― Lesley-Ann Jones, Mercury: An Intimate Biography of Freddie Mercury

“He was a loveable rogue, and very costly to be around, always bumping into expensive things and demanding champagne, but always bright and lively and the center of attention.”
― Matt Richards, Somebody to Love: The Life, Death and Legacy of Freddie Mercury

“The Dead Rock Star's Bar by Stewart Stafford

I went for a drink in The Dead Rock Star's Bar,
Phil Lynott was drinking whiskey in the jar,
Jimi Hendrix was rocking the place,
Elvis Presley was stuffing his face,
Sid Vicious was grumpy and gruff,
Freddie Mercury strutted his stuff,
Marvin Gaye had plenty of soul,
Lennon and Cobain compared bullet holes,
Jim Morrison declared he was The Lizard King
Buddy Holly sported an aeroplane wing,
Such an array of talent leaves one's mouth agape,
But they're all still alive on CD and tape,
Wherever you live, you don't have to travel far,
To have a damn good time at The Dead Rock Star's Bar.

© Stewart Stafford, 1996. All rights reserved.”
― Stewart Stafford

“The Anthems of Rock are The Kings and Queens of Queen. No really, they out-Queened Queen, and they put Freddie Mercury in a thermometer and got this crowd HOT.”
― Jarod Kintz, A Memoir of Memories and Memes

“Freddie: Kermit – after Muppet character Kermit the Frog. During Fred’s ‘ballet’ period in 1977, he took to wearing white leotards on stage and when exposed under green lights, his lithe body in the skin-tight costume made him look like the Muppet character – especially when he sat on the steps of the stage set. ‘Halfway up the stair?’ (Nobody dared to call him Kermit personally, I hasten to add.)”
― Peter Hince, Queen Unseen: My Life with the Greatest Rock Band of the 20th Century

“...but Freddie was a very sweet man. He was a good arbitrator. Chris and [Jeremy Gallop, guitarist of Sour Milk Sea] used to argue like hell. I used to have fights with the bass player—and get beaten up—and Fred was always the one who’d cool down the situation with diplomacy. On stage, Freddie became quite a different personality—he was as electric as he was in later life. Otherwise he was quite calm. I’ll always remember him being strangely quiet and very well-mannered. Extremely well-mannered, in fact. My mum liked him.”
― Matt Richards, Mark Langthorne

“White Christmas' is the 'Bohemian Rhapsody' of Christmas songs.”
― Stewart Stafford

“Brian May's Red Special guitar is as big a Queen icon as the crest Freddie Mercury designed for the band. It is the Stradivarius of Rock, and Brian is a virtuoso in the classical mold.”
― Stewart Stafford

“Champion Spirit by Stewart Stafford

When Freddie Mercury passed away,
Where did his spirit go to play?
Zanzibar, Feltham, or Wembley?
Or did he go and visit Brian May?

Did he stand at the mic in Montreux?
De Lane Lea, Trident, or to Tokyo?
Did he party in Munich, NY, or Rio?
Did his purring cats watch him go?

Did he take a last look at Garden Lodge?
Or whisper a final joke to his old pal Rog?
Waves of affection were hard to dodge,
His superstar status will never dislodge.

© Stewart Stafford, 2022. All rights reserved.”
― Stewart Stafford

“Fair Warning by Stewart Stafford

Sheer Heart Attack!
The auctioneer's hammer fell,
On Freddie's exquisite clutter,
The room officially rocked.

The last item of King Mercury,
Sold to the highest bidder,
In the room and online,
No Kensington Pyramid, though.

Seven Seas of Rhye claimed,
The Killer Queen laid to rest,
A throne in flux, vacated,
Champion bids will out, darling!

© Stewart Stafford, 2023. All rights reserved.”
― Stewart Stafford

“Freddie Mercury makes the heavens shine brighter.”
― Anthony T. Hincks

“Queen gave music a purpose in life and death.”
― Anthony T. Hincks

“Fantasy Landslide by Stewart Stafford

I chased Silver Salmon gleam,
To where Ogre Battles rage,
Mad The Swine guided me to
A Black Queen Stone Cold age.

Seven Seas special brew no-go,
Fat Lover Boys Bit The Dust? Tragic!
Let the Fairy-Fellers take this
Invisible Man to A Kind of Magic.

Bohemian Champions Rock you,
To save your Ga Ga heart again,
To Live Forever? Yes, it’s All Worth It!
The Prophet’s Song flashes true again.

© 2025, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.”
― Stewart Stafford

“You can do whatever you like with my image, my music, remix it, re-release it, whatever... just never make me boring.”
― Freddie Mercury

“Bohemian Rhapsody has the tortured individual at its centre struggling with a dilemma involving murder and a parent—a conflict structurally similar to Hamlet’s agony in William Shakespeare's 'To be or not to be' soliloquy. That timeless and universal link confirms its power: no matter how sophisticated we become or imagine ourselves to be, we still struggle with the primal problems life throws at us. Whereas Hamlet internally debates the merits of life and death as he teeters on the tightrope between those all-or-nothing points, Freddie Mercury's protagonist sings: 'I don't want to die, I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all!”
― Stewart Stafford

“With no VCRs or MTV in 1975, the 'Bohemian Rhapsody' video was the most expensive TV viewing in history. For the song's nine-week reign at UK number one, every fan who desperately wanted to see that mind-blowing 'promotional film' just one more time had to cast their vote by buying the single again and again, thereby forcing the mandatory Top of the Pops re-broadcast of the UK's number one song.”
― Stewart Stafford