David Wigg - Freddie knew since 84.

SimonFerocious wrote:

In January 1985, the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) licensed, for commercial production, the first blood test for AIDS. So I doubt Freddie would've known in 1984 that he had HIV. Freddie also wouldn't have been able to get insurance for the 1986 tour if he was HIV-positive (I doubt he would have undertaken the gruelling tour if he'd known), so the April 1987 timeline would appear to be the correct one.

I'm not sure that insurance companies were on to it straight away But I guess a rock star might have attracted special attention.

In hindsight, after posting this - I think David Wigg is either talking bollocks there or it's a typing error. Probably the former, I highly doubt Freddie would've given Jim HIV knowingly, or anyone else for that matter. And as someone else pointed out above about Freddie asking to not be kissed by Montserrat Caballe.

Doesn't this all exemplify the chaos around HIV / AIDS at the time - emergent testing, avoiding being tested for the futility and pain of it all, the fear Freddie had that he could give people AIDS by doing things friends (not lovers) do with each other all the time. Quite apart from the illness and his death this was a terrible time. I'd (naively, perhaps) hope the whole thing is so much better now. Watching Montse on Great Pretender I could see how very upsetting this was for her (and no doubt that's true for many others).

And because of this chaos I don't think David Wigg is either talking bollocks or that there's a typo. And I really don't blame Freddie either for any of it.

[QUOTE] [b]Martin Packer wrote:[/b]

Doesn't this all exemplify the chaos around HIV / AIDS at the time - emergent testing, avoiding being tested for the futility and pain of it all, the fear Freddie had that he could give people AIDS by doing things friends (not lovers) do with each other all the time. Quite apart from the illness and his death this was a terrible time. I'd (naively, perhaps) hope the whole thing is so much better now. Watching Montse on Great Pretender I could see how very upsetting this was for her (and no doubt that's true for many others).

And because of this chaos I don't think David Wigg is either talking bollocks or that there's a typo. And I really don't blame Freddie either for any of it.[/QUOTE]


To say that Freddie knew in 1984, would mean he knowingly gave Jim Hutton HIV. From everything that's been written since and told of, that is clearly not the case.

How can David Wigg not be talking nonsense by writing that "Freddie knew in 1984" - now in 2012?

Mary pretty much said the same thing on a link that has already been posted in this thread......how the doctor told her and then he convinced her it was a mistake

I think it's vitally important that we find out exactly when Fred got aids, who he got it from, when he knew he had it, and all the intimate details of his sexual and private life. You know, just like the press vultures you all claim to hate,

[QUOTE] [b]cmsdrums wrote:[/b]

I'm sure Freddie didn't do that - Montserrat Caballe says that once he told her he wouldn't even let her hug or kiss him for fear of passing it on (this is the time before transmission methods were as well known as today).[/QUOTE]

Maybe she just had bad B.O, you ever think of that. Freddie just came up with a brilliant way to avoid it.

I bet it was a typo.

But I guess Freddie himself started to suspect something during 1985-86.

I think you can sense this from all the interviews and stuff. Freddie seems totally different during 1986 interviews. Mores serious.

Just compare

1984: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wk9hPubD1Q

1986: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ybqb0xfkka4

He is also thinking that "there will be a time when i cannot run around stage"

But from all the biographies and interviews it seems clear that he found out late 1986 or 1987.

M. Caballe tolds in an interview that Freddie's behaviour suddenly changed and he told her he was HIV positive. But they only met 1987.... this is puzzling.

But I guess Freddie suspected somehting was wrong already 1986...

1984 and 1985 tours he was in a bad physical state...but that was mainly through partying too much...but who knows. Maybe the illness affected already then..

FACT: There was no test for HIV until 1985 and even then there were lots of false positives etc. because it was so new.

FACT: There is no AIDS test. AIDS is a syndrome, a collection of symptoms/illnesses that together can be classified as the syndrome AIDS. The only test is for anti-bodies to HIV, the virus that badly compromises the immune system that can result in AIDS.

So, a big fat NO, Freddie could not have known on 1984 that he was HIV positive.

He could have had symptoms of AIDS, which was becoming common in the big US city's gay populations at that time but it is very unlikely. The first symptoms tend to be huge weight loss, extreme night sweats and being generally knackered. Not what I could see at Live Aid '85 or The Magic Tour '86.

It is possible he had HIV tests in '85 but they were nowhere near as reliable as they are now. Tests at that time had to be repeated at least twice and for certainty there would have to be no sexual contact for the 3 months prior to the test due to the virus's incubation period.

The first symptoms tend to be huge weight loss, extreme night sweats and being generally knackered. Not what I could see at Live Aid '85 or The Magic Tour '86.
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Between 1985 to the start of the magic tour he lost loads of weight, you can see it in his face.

It's pretty obvious that he 'knew' before he knew, therefore it's actually impossible to put a date on it.

He wasn't completely stupid. There would've been a day where he woke up, put 2 + 2 together and realised that he was a goner.