"Do I think he knew he was HIV positive at Live Aid: No
Do I think he knew by Live at Wembley: Yes"
I disagree completely, it is an illogical argument. By the Wembley gig Freddie was very jaded, perhaps showing the first symptoms of AIDS, but the tour had gone on a while and we have to remember that he was nearly 40 by that point. He can't have known until at least easter 1987 because of his behaviour. It is widely known that fred was a very different person after his diagnosis- more serious and sober, with less inclination to camp it up. Look at his behaviour on The great pretender video, filmed in early '87. He is outrageous backstage, and dresses as a woman in parts. he also goes bare-chested briefly. Would he do those sorts of things if he knew he was ill. of course not, Freddie became very self-conscious about his appearance. Just look at his appearance on Barcelona, I Want it All and Time (live appearance). Nothing remotely outrageous, he wears sober clothes here.
In terms of telling the band, one biography claims that fred said that he wasn't well over dinner in '89, but didn't go as far as saying he had AIDS. He told them about this in January '91.
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"Do I think he knew he was HIV positive at Live Aid: No
Do I think he knew by Live at Wembley: Yes"
I disagree completely, it is an illogical argument. By the Wembley gig Freddie was very jaded, perhaps showing the first symptoms of AIDS, but the tour had gone on a while and we have to remember that he was nearly 40 by that point. He can't have known until at least easter 1987 because of his behaviour. It is widely known that fred was a very different person after his diagnosis- more serious and sober, with less inclination to camp it up. Look at his behaviour on The great pretender video, filmed in early '87. He is outrageous backstage, and dresses as a woman in parts. he also goes bare-chested briefly. Would he do those sorts of things if he knew he was ill. of course not,
- Of course yes.. being aware of illness and
having symptoms of illness are two different
matters.. Freddie never gave up of his maneers
(showing bare chest, dressing hilariously,
being overally outrageous.. no, it was his
role and style he lived up till the end.. and
only untill the very end.. he had to give up
those acts due to physical signs of ilness and
physical drain.
Freddie became very self-conscious about his appearance. Just look at his appearance on Barcelona, I Want it All and Time (live appearance). Nothing remotely outrageous, he wears sober clothes here.
In terms of telling the band, one biography claims that fred said that he wasn't well over dinner in '89, but didn't go as far as saying he had AIDS. He told them about this in January '91.
I have just listened to an old tape I recorded off the radio in 1989 when the miracle was released. In it,the question of if any tour was planned came up. Freddie basically said that he wanted to get off the treadmill of touring for a while as he'd been so busy and the magic tour had been so huge. Of course with the benefit of hindsight we all know the real reason. Brian, John and Roger clearly wanted to tour.
- Of course they did.. Freddie wanted to get off.. because of his ailimg health during last gigs of Magic tour.. the first symptoms were merely a flu.. and muscle ache.. but quite soon he discovered much more serious health troubles.. like night sweat..
feeling bad generally.. the real signs that got him alerted up.. and to make the test during mid easter. He did the test and it was falsely false by ask of phoebe.. and after Freddie got more comlications he underwent another private test himself.. which proved himself seropositive hiv- carrier...
What I would be interested to here peoples opinions about is this. How long do you think Freddie managed to fob off the others with excuses about not wanting to tour at the moment before he had to tell them the truth? How did they feel about this before they knew he was ill when Queen had been such a huge live band?
"Of course yes.. being aware of illness and
having symptoms of illness are two different
matters.. Freddie never gave up of his maneers
(showing bare chest, dressing hilariously,
being overally outrageous.. no, it was his
role and style he lived up till the end.. and
only untill the very end.. he had to give up
those acts due to physical signs of ilness and
physical drain."
Freddie was not outrageous until the very end, he lived as a recluse for two years. In Queen's biography, the frontman of marillion, Fish as he was called, recalls knocking on Freddie's dressing room door during the Ibiza show in '87 to say hello. In his words he "was really drawn."
In 1988 at the Barcelona concert, festival organiser Pino Sagliocco said that "there was a definite feeling about him right then of being totally closed in his own world". He can't be blamed for it of course, and carried on with great dignity but he was not the same person that he had been previously. It is obvious. When Queen got the band of the eighties award he was very quiet, whereas a few years earlier, he probably would have been bouncing around.
having symptoms of illness are two different
matters.. Freddie never gave up of his maneers
(showing bare chest, dressing hilariously,
being overally outrageous.. no, it was his
role and style he lived up till the end.. and
only untill the very end.. he had to give up
those acts due to physical signs of ilness and
physical drain."
Freddie was not outrageous until the very end, he lived as a recluse for two years. In Queen's biography, the frontman of marillion, Fish as he was called, recalls knocking on Freddie's dressing room door during the Ibiza show in '87 to say hello. In his words he "was really drawn."
In 1988 at the Barcelona concert, festival organiser Pino Sagliocco said that "there was a definite feeling about him right then of being totally closed in his own world". He can't be blamed for it of course, and carried on with great dignity but he was not the same person that he had been previously. It is obvious. When Queen got the band of the eighties award he was very quiet, whereas a few years earlier, he probably would have been bouncing around.
Asterik your insight and knowlege reveal you have a very good understanding Queen, and especially in Mercury's final years. I was wandering when someone was going to make mention of the 80's award special, is it me? or did Mercury appear to look slightly better there than he did during the "Scandal" and "Miracle" videos?? which were made months before the 80's special.
Mercury as we know and can see had become increasingly frail during 1989, but he does look slightly more healthier at that award special which I have read was filmed during November 1989, (and we can see Mercury wearing a black suit unlilke the blue suit he wore at the Brit awards which has been a topic of conversation on this site).
Yes Mercury was quiet and appeared to keep to the side at the show, we can hear him faintly say to Brian "go on" as if to prompt Brian to make a small speech.
Then we jump 3 months to the Brit awards and we see how gaunt and haggard Mercury appears, is it the loss of the beard that has made him look that way?? or Mercury's health taken a turn for the worse??
Are there any photos of that 80's special other than the video footage?? I suppose it is a suprise Mercury did attend the award special given the conjecture around his ailing health at the time.
Mercury as we know and can see had become increasingly frail during 1989, but he does look slightly more healthier at that award special which I have read was filmed during November 1989, (and we can see Mercury wearing a black suit unlilke the blue suit he wore at the Brit awards which has been a topic of conversation on this site).
Yes Mercury was quiet and appeared to keep to the side at the show, we can hear him faintly say to Brian "go on" as if to prompt Brian to make a small speech.
Then we jump 3 months to the Brit awards and we see how gaunt and haggard Mercury appears, is it the loss of the beard that has made him look that way?? or Mercury's health taken a turn for the worse??
Are there any photos of that 80's special other than the video footage?? I suppose it is a suprise Mercury did attend the award special given the conjecture around his ailing health at the time.
I think the best way to tell then was Karposi's Sarchoma, but the blood test wasnt available 'til 1985. Now I'm a fair and balanced guy, and I havent looked closely at the Hammer to Fall performance on live aid, I think someone said Freddie had a bruise or something on his arm, so who knows maybe he knew. I'm just saying the blood test wasnt available 'til 1985
Im pretty sure..had he had Karposis Sarchoma during Live Aid, there's no way he could have endured thru Magic tour the next year. to have that cancer means your CD4 levels are below that 200-300 particles in m3 of blood, which means your general condition arent that good a you cant deal all the exessive physical draining touring demands. No matter what medications if any he might have used then. And just take a look how good and lively he still looked during the Golden Rose Festival @ montreux in 86. He wasnt just as high spirited and energetic as in 84 but, there's a lot of other factories affecting to it.
Well he certainly had it on his arms in Breakthru, and he performed great on it.
Asterik your insight and knowlege reveal you have a very good understanding Queen, and especially in Mercury's final years. I was wandering when someone was going to make mention of the 80's award special, is it me? or did Mercury appear to look slightly better there than he did during the "Scandal" and "Miracle" videos?? which were made months before the 80's special.
Mercury as we know and can see had become increasingly frail during 1989, but he does look slightly more healthier at that award special which I have read was filmed during November 1989, (and we can see Mercury wearing a black suit unlilke the blue suit he wore at the Brit awards which has been a topic of conversation on this site).
Yes Mercury was quiet and appeared to keep to the side at the show, we can hear him faintly say to Brian "go on" as if to prompt Brian to make a small speech.
Then we jump 3 months to the Brit awards and we see how gaunt and haggard Mercury appears, is it the loss of the beard that has made him look that way?? or Mercury's health taken a turn for the worse??
Are there any photos of that 80's special other than the video footage?? I suppose it is a suprise Mercury did attend the award special given the conjecture around his ailing health at the time.
Yes, a good question, Abe. Although he was quiet, Freddie did make a small salute to Jonathan Ross which showed that he could still be tongue-in cheek. I think the loss of the beard for whatever reason was a major factor in the drastic difference between then and the Brits. The beard hid the blotches and discoloured look of his face, and made it look fuller.Without the beard there is a lot of difference. Imagine Freddie without a beard on Scandal and you do get a similar picture to how he appeared at the Brits. However, I do think his condition declined. He looks like a compltely different person compared to his last clean- shaven appearance on the Miracle front cover, and if his health could decline so rapidly between Breakthru and Scandal (about three months), there is no reason why it could not deteriorate even further in another few.
I think it was a slight surprise that Fred attended though he had done a radio one interview that year. I think the rumours really began at the start of 1990.