Freddie Mercury's HIV Diagnosis – Some Insight – 1985 to 1987

[QUOTE] [b]luthorn wrote:[/b]

Mary Austin said on the record that Freddie knew the Magic Tour was his last, because of his health, so FM must have known at the time he left Knebworth's stage that he had the virus. That's the upper limit August 1986. The lower limit, who knows, maybe 1985, maybe 1984. [/QUOTE]

June 1986 for sure.

http://www.queenlive.ca/queen/86-06-28

When the band played in Munich (i.e. one of his old party capitals), Mercury was not in a good mood on stage. I'm sure many things clicked for him that night.

Nice job noticing that. That show's gonna be a very poignant listen, from now on.

[QUOTE] [b]The Real Wizard wrote:[/b]

June 1986 for sure.

http://www.queenlive.ca/queen/86-06-28

When the band played in Munich (i.e. one of his old party capitals), Mercury was not in a good mood on stage. I'm sure many things clicked for him that night.
[/QUOTE]

I can "confirm" that the mortality -AIDS wise- in Munich`s gay community was at it`s peak around 85/86.... I`ve read an article about that and it mentioned that " the reaper was cleaning Munich`s streets" because of AIDS back then. And I can also remember that around that time we were told about that disease in school.

[QUOTE] [b]musicland munich wrote:[/b]

[QUOTE] [b]The Real Wizard wrote:[/b]

June 1986 for sure.

http://www.queenlive.ca/queen/86-06-28

When the band played in Munich (i.e. one of his old party capitals), Mercury was not in a good mood on stage. I'm sure many things clicked for him that night.
[/QUOTE]

I can "confirm" that the mortality -AIDS wise- in Munich`s gay community was at it`s peak around 85/86.... I`ve read an article about that and it mentioned that " the reaper was cleaning Munich`s streets" because of AIDS back then. And I can also remember that around that time we were told about that disease in school.
[/QUOTE]

Ding!

[QUOTE] [b]tomchristie22 wrote:[/b]

Nice job noticing that. That show's gonna be a very poignant listen, from now on. [/QUOTE]

Although when Freddie says "I'm gonna fuck off quietly" and it echos throughout the arena, it's pretty amusing!

No doubt Freddie had a lot on his mind at that show - but he does loosen up during the acoustic portion! The second half of the show has some good performances!

[QUOTE]

[b]Panchgani wrote: [/b] [QUOTE] [b]brENsKi wrote:[/b]

[QUOTE] [b]musicland munich wrote:[/b]

Do you know what the "funny" thing is ??? Mary Austin mentioned the year when Freddie learned he is maybe HIV positive...and it`s not 1987.[/QUOTE]
...

another non-fact. i rest my case.

"maybe" is not a measurable fact - i "maybe" king of Ireland (i'm not)

...[/QUOTE]
[url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0171x1k]http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0171x1k[/url]

In this interview from Nov 2011, Mary Austin mentions at about the 23 minute mark that Freddie knew on the last tour.

another fact. i rest my case.

...

From page 8 of this thread (see above)

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The Game tour 83 shows, Hot Space tour 69 shows, The Works tour 46 shows, the Magic tour just 26 shows and in Europe only. why play only 26 shows if you are THE biggest band on the planet at the time and you can easily sell 50,000 to 100,000 tickets to a single show? They could have easily toured Japan and South America and made mountains of money given their popularity. The Magic tour started in June 1986. A Kind of Magic recorded between September 1985 and April 1986. Tour preparations and logistics probably take 3-6 months. I would say with a degree of certainty, Freddie knew/suspected he had HIV in Q41985-Q21986. the 1987 date is most likely when he found out he had FULL BLOWN AIDS. Life expectancy of a full blown patient was about 12-24 month's in the 1980s, hence The Miracle. Everyone in the known thought it was a Miracle Freddie was alive in May 1989, when album was released. Just my 2 cents.

Also the fact that he lasted long enough for Innuendo and the Made In Heaven tracks is a testament to his strength. Freddie was an amazing man.

He definitely knew he was HIV positive prior to the start of the Magic Tour in June 1986.

Per Mary Austin at the 23 minute mark of the 2011 BBC interview (see above link).

"The last tour he knew and it was really hard work for him. Working through the emotional pain; Knowing it was going to be his last tour" ...

Given that the tour was "really hard work for him", perhaps he was already experiencing early symptoms of AIDs during the Magic Tour???

[QUOTE] [b]Panchgani wrote:[/b]

He definitely knew he was HIV positive prior to the start of the Magic Tour in June 1986.

Per Mary Austin at the 23 minute mark of the 2011 BBC interview (see above link).

"The last tour he knew and it was really hard work for him. Working through the emotional pain; Knowing it was going to be his last tour" ...

Given that the tour was "really hard work for him", perhaps he was already experiencing early symptoms of AIDs during the Magic Tour???[/QUOTE]

Indeed.

The Real Wizard - I've only just listened to that radio show now for the first time. Mary speaks very openly and candidly about Freddie, and in fact very well. She comes across as quite a strong person in a good way.

I had always assumed that Freddie didn't know officially until 1987, when Jim Hutton mentions the small biopsy, and Peter mentions the time Freddie told him, but Mary talking about that he knew it on the Magic Tour really brings a little shadow over that for me. Now, actually, I have even more respect for Freddie, knowing that he was already coping with the knowledge that he was going to become very sick, yet going out and giving the fans - both those of you who were there and those of us who can only watch on recordings - a pretty amazing tour to go out on.

It really must be hard for Mary, and others who were close to Freddie, and other celebrities who have died over the years. Most of us lose a relative or friend and we get to deal with it in private, we are allowed to get on with life without having to relive the sad details over and over again, but for posterity, a lot of Freddie's decline is captured on film - still and motion - and in each and every interview it must be relived.

One other thing I've noticed. I can't think of another celebrity whose death has had this profound effect on everyone for so long after. Princess Diana was a storm in a teacup in hindsight - a lot of publicity at the time, but people don't talk about Diana as if she died yesterday. John Lennon became too much of a cult figure in a way, and became legend to the point where people don't seem to mourn his death so much as be in awe of the legend. Elvis is the same. Marilyn Monroe, again a similar thing. Michael Hutchence doesn't seem to be remembered all that much these days for whatever reason, certainly not to the same degree as Freddie.

When people talk about Freddie's death, there is a real sense that people still can't believe that he has gone, and they still mourn the hole that he left behind, and it's almost 24 years after. Perhaps it's actually because Freddie seemed to come across in a way as the guy next door who happened to be a megastar. There was the extravagance of his stage persona, and the party animal, the one line quips etc, but at the end of the day, he seems to come across in interviews as this rather ordinary man with an extraordinary talent.

Did you guys not read last Sunday's News of the World?

In it Freddie's mum Jer clearly stated that Freddie probably contracted HIV in 1944, from a pet chimp his dad has brought with him from Cameroon. She went on to say that he experienced the first symptoms in 1997, when he sung The Show Must Go On with Elton John in a Paris gay bar.

[QUOTE] [b]miraclesteinway wrote:[/b]

I had always assumed that Freddie didn't know officially until 1987, when Jim Hutton mentions the small biopsy, and Peter mentions the time Freddie told him, but Mary talking about that he knew it on the Magic Tour really brings a little shadow over that for me.[/QUOTE]

So - Freddie tells Mary first, and he gives her his house after death.

Hutton finds out at least a year after the fact (yet he still thinks he was first - funny that), and just gets a few bucks in the will.

Hutton writes tell-all book. Mary doesn't.

And there are people who still wonder who Freddie loved and trusted the most, when all the signs are clearly there.

I must say, I totally agree with you. I thought Jim was a little undignified in writing that book. I haven't read it, but the sections that I have read are like a tabloid - both in writing style and in content. I'm sure Jim was trying to be dignified and probably had noble motivation for writing the book, at least in part, but I can't help feeling that some of the reason was to get at Mary somehow and paint her in a bad light.

It's fairly obvious that Freddie felt he trusted Mary more than anyone, without taking away from the fact that he loved Jim. After all, in the gay world, in fact in the straight world, you can have a best friend who you, in some ways or many, love and trust more than your partner.

Let's not forget one thing though - at the time Freddie died, he probably thought Jim had months or at best a couple of years to live, so felt that the amount left to him was proportionate, whereas he probably thought Mary would reach old age. Well, Mary is still alive thankfully, but Jim (also thankfully) lasted another 18 years and if he didn't smoke would probably still be alive. There was no accounting for that in 1991 because then, to catch HIV was to get AIDS and die.

Strange that there are many people who were infected at the same time as Freddie who are still alive today, and of course many many more who aren't. I guess it's just the luck of the draw isn't it.