1991: Freddie's situation

Well, by that time I was only 3 or 4 years old so I open up this post to know something about it.

I know that the press was really all over him with illness rumors, but I've never read or heard anything said by a Queen fan regarding Freddie's situation in that time.  I guess as Queen fans most of you were aware of Freddie's health and trying to keep up with the news about him but did you guys really bought the rumors that Freddie was ill? Or did you just ignored them and thought it was another sensationalist rumor?[i] What was your general feelings about the whole situation of Freddie showing up less and less in public, seeing him thiner every year, and Queen not touring sice 1986?[/i] What did people say?


What about 'The Show Must Go On'? Didn't you get suspicious about the lyrics in this song when it came out? Didn't the press picked up on it?
To me (maybe because I know how it all sadly ended) it's pretty direct.

"I'll soon be turining round the corner now" (..)
"Whatever happens I'll leave it all to chance" (...)
"Inside my heart if breaking my make up may be flaking but my smile still stays on" (...)
"I ll face it with a grin, Im never giving in" (..)
"I have to find the will to carry on"

I guess back then it's not nearly as similar as it is now that every news flows like water, so most of you probably were a little hesitatant of what to think about it.

I remember rumors floating around that he was sick at the time when Innuendo was released,  but didn't believe it. When I heard the album I was blown away. Thought it was a great comeback album,   but listening to the lryics made me think the rumors about freddie might be true.  I remember myself and my best friend at the time listening to I'm going slightly mad, and especially the show must go on saying "shit, I think the rumors are true, he is dying."   Also,  the video for the title track had a computerized freddie.

i remember thinking he was ill at the time,but just hoping it was something he would get over,getting the album i never read much into lyrics,i just thought it was a fantastic collection of songs,but i do remember wondering why freddie's voice sounded so different on it.when the annoncement came out i just thought it was to shut the press speculation up,and prayed he would battle thru it,but then the bombshell that he had gone just did not seem real,the micheal jackson tragedy has really brought all those feelings and thoughts back.

[QUOTE]

[b]MmP wrote: [/b]

What about 'The Show Must Go On'? Didn't you get suspicious about the lyrics in this song when it came out? Didn't the press picked up on it?
To me (maybe because I know how it all sadly ended) it's pretty direct.

"I'll soon be turining round the corner now" (..)
"Whatever happens I'll leave it all to chance" (...)
"Inside my heart if breaking my make up may be flaking but my smile still stays on" (...)
"I ll face it with a grin, Im never giving in" (..)
"I have to find the will to carry on"
[/QUOTE]
Yes, but you're looking at it with 20:20 hindsight.

At the time it was just a song.  Nobody believed Freddie was a contract killer at weekends, did they?  Plus, the B side of Scandal would have been most reassuring to people who take all lyrics as autobiographical....

There were many rumours indeed, but I always ignored them. Every once and a while some short news item would show up but every time I immediately dismissed them as being rubbish. Man, I even got into a fight with a guy at school because of those rumours, LOL! Me defending Freddie ;-)  So, NO, I did not try to 'follow the news', as to me there was no news.
To be honest; on a lot of pictures that appeared then, I thought Freddie did not look THAT bad. Yes he looked a bit older, he looked like he lost some weight... but that's all not alarming. The most obvious pictures only came out after his death.
The lyrics on Innuendo (AND The Miracle), the video's from that era and the whole not-touring thing did not alarm me either. When Freddie said he just felt he was too old to be running around in a leotard - I could understand and accept that. I saw nothing alarming in the Headlong video and in IGSM they realy did a good job covering things up.  
It was only after Freddie had died that I realised "mymy... I REALY had shit in my eyes!" That Slightly Mad video was never the same!

At the time i thought about Freddies situation a lot like Jjeroems. In a few photos he seemed almost healthy, i think i only tended to focus on the better shots of him though, everyone else was saying how think and ill he looked in most others.
When he said he didnt want to tour i believed him when he said he just felt too old and that they'd be repeating themselves. I remember people were saying at school that he had Aids because he didnt want to sing live at the Barcelona event in 88, and here he was in 89 looking great in most of the vidoes. Becuase of this i thought he'd prove the Aids rumours wrong again and starting looking healthy after a while. I think the rumour mill really went into overdrive after the Brit awards in 90 where looking back now he just looked awful. At the time i just didnt want to believe he was that bad, and preferred to believe his spokespeople who said that working on the new album was exhausting, that he's as fit as a fiddle, and that he needed to loose some weight as he was getting chubby.
Its funny how you can convince yourself of something when you really want to. Looking back now the pain was written all over him but i didnt want to see it that way.

I remember there were loads of AIDS-related deaths at the time: actors, an Australian conductor, one of the blokes from Pilot, a boxer, an ice-skater... and Isaac Asimov was very ill too. AIDS was mostly associated with gay people, and there was always the rumour about 'who's next?', which included loads of famous artists (e.g. George Michael - I remember [i]Wake Me Up[/i] was one of my favourite songs at the time and I got very scared because I'd read an article in the press that was virtually predicting an early demise).

AFAIR, a couple of days before Freddie died, two famous gay people kicked it: Tony Richardson (who, incidentally, had directed 'Hotel New Hampshire', a Queen connexion) and the Village People producer.

So, the way I see it, it was more about his sexuality than his lyrics (or the lyrics he sang)... talking about Michael, I don't think anybody would have read 'we are the world we are the children' differently in 1985.

As for his videos, I do remember somebody (no idea about the exact source) claiming Fred had 'straightened up' and become 'male' again because he was afraid of getting infected.

Too bad I wasnt born for 4 more years.

Memories, memories ...

I was 15 when Innuendo was released and, as no internet available and I didn´t buy music magazines, the release caught me totally by surpirse. I dind´t expect a new studio album "only" two years after The Miracle (wich in fact I was still savouring with relish!).

I remember being on my way to school early in the morning in my neighbour´s car, who used to drive me to school every morning; we were listening to the radio morning news and when the music/spectacles section came out they announced the "new work from legendary Queen" and it came with a brief interview with Brian. In Spain, the highlight of the announcement was the "spanish influences" in the new record and Brian talked briefly about the flamenco section in the song.

I was so, so excited and after school I tried unsuccessfully to catch the new song on the radio. Then my older brother came and told me he had listened to the song and he thought it was very very strange, with that spanish guitars in the middle .. "I don´t like it much!"

Can´t remember exactly if it was the day after or so, but when I finally got to listen to the song, it blew me way !!
I immediately thought it was a fantastic tune and considered it was a "return to the old roots".

Then  the album was released and, ok, what can I say? it is Innuendo! one of their best albums! but at age 15 my english wasn´t very good, so I was one of those millions who just enjoy listening to music without hardly understanding one single word of the lyrics ! so I couldn´t catch any message or suspect anything, even when reading the lyrics in the cassette "booklet" (yes, I bought cassette tapes!). In fact, I must confess one of my least favorite songs of the album by then was .. The Show Must Go On !! :P

Then after several weeks the rumours about Freddie´s health started spreading in the spanis press ... I remember reading one day in the paper that he was really ill, "probably anorexia", said the journalist, and it came with that sad picture of Freddie going out from the doctor, very thin and emaciated and with his famous sunglasses put on ... and there were many conjectures about him, as he was suposed to participate in the opening gala of the Barcelona Olympic Games next summer, wich was the "event" all of us in Barcelona where living for, full of joy and excitement in that period.

And then ... the day arrived. Sunday morning, it was a sunny beatiful day and I opened the paper .... "Freddie Mercury´s got AIDS" ... "No! shit!" I thought, but I wasn´t well awared of what exactly that terrible news suposed ... "He will recover well, I´m sure!"

And next day, early in the morning, I jumped as usual in my neighbour´s car, way to school, and the news opened with the unexpected ... I had lost him ... no more new songs, no more dreaming of seeing Queen live at last ... my hero was gone. "Oh, Marc, you like Queen very much, isn´t it? this is very sad, he was great" said my neighbour to me .... and I could hardly open my mouth and reply "...yes..."

That day at school was so sad .. so sad ... all my friends saw it in my face ...they still remember it ... but I was strong, no tears, I knew what I really needed ... then I came back home, my parents comforted me and after dinner and before going to bed I locked in my room, played "Bohemian Rhapsody" and started crying for hours and hours ... aaah, shit !! remembering those days is still painful !!

cheers

I was only 16 too. I had been a member of the fan club for a year before that so I knew about Innuendo being released, but I was one who strongly denied the rumours.



I read in a newspapaer a quote from 'the band' that 'Freddie is exhausted from years of touring and recording, but he is not ill' and I hung on to that like dear life.







In the september while I was at work (my bosses were both major Queen fans too) one of my bosses came in and sai 'Hey, I just heard that Freddie has died, he was in his home in Switzerland;.



We didn't know wether or not to believe him, but he seemed so genuine and upset when he told us.. So when the news was finally broken in November, I actually wasn't upset - I had been 'aware' he was dead for two months already.







Long Live the Fredster.

All great comments, keep sharing please.
I try to picture your situations of hearing how Freddie was ill, but I'ts true what you say If you really look at the '89 videos you don't see much change in his shape since '86. So it must have been hard. The brit awards it's something I forgot. He was really thin then, but he was really brave in going. And then another album out, it must have been really confusing. If Freddie had aids he couldn't be working so hard. The opening track is really slow toned as well as the album in general which shows the situation the band was going thru' I guess.

Vali good post, thanks for sharing. I love you commets about the first reaction of Innuendo.

Keep posting.

I had some close associations in the gay community, around that time, and, the idea that Freddie had AIDS was spoken about in those circles as a matter of fact, so, I never really doubted that he was sick, and, wasn't surprised at the news of his death. I recall hoping that it was wrong...not wanting to accept that there would be no more music coming from the mind of Freddie Mercury. I recall being angry at the gay bashing which began almost immediately. The jokes and comments by radio DJs...difficult to hear.
Strangely, when the news of Freddie's demise hit the airways, I had just recently learned my father had terminal cancer, and, my beloved dog died that same week. A very sad time, all around. That time of year is always a bit difficult for me.

Man,, i was born just in 1994, so i didn't stay informad about Freddie's situation! I know he was very bad ... but i go to post here the Last moments of freddie,, who i found at the internet!!!!!!!!!

[QUOTE]

[b]Dusta wrote: [/b]

I had some close associations in the gay community, around that time, and, the idea that Freddie had AIDS was spoken about in those circles as a matter of fact, so, I never really doubted that he was sick, and, wasn't surprised at the news of his death. I recall hoping that it was wrong...not wanting to accept that there would be no more music coming from the mind of Freddie Mercury. I recall being angry at the gay bashing which began almost immediately. The jokes and comments by radio DJs...difficult to hear.
Strangely, when the news of Freddie's demise hit the airways, I had just recently learned my father had terminal cancer, and, my beloved dog died that same week. A very sad time, all around. That time of year is always a bit difficult for me.[/QUOTE]

I relate, My beloved dog also died that year,  without going into any more details, 1991 was probably the worst year of my life, and Innuendo happened to be one of the only bright spots of that year for me.  1995 was another bad year for me, and made in heaven was another album that got me thru a bad time.

Folks, it's hypocritical of me to say this but...

What really matters here is Freddie's suffering and eventual death.

Not whether we'd ever get more songs from him.

I say "hypocritical" because I've had the same feelings about "no more songs". I feel wretched when I catch myself doing it.

And, no, I'm NOT picking a fight.

It's about the man. A man for whom so many of us had a great deal of affection.

Martin