The Show Must Go on

"Queen in Heaven" – a homage to Freddie Mercury and an unforgettable experience for the group's fans.

The 60 minute multimedia show based on the comprehensive Queen music-, picture-, and video archives premiered on December 13 at the planetarium in the Bavarian capital of Munich. 86 slide projectors beamed the unique symbiosis of music elements, laser, panorama and video sequences through the whole 20-meter-high dome.

After getting approval from the band, musicians, directors, a laser and multi media programming team, computer animation and graphical art specialists worked together to set up the sensation in just five months.

The expectant fans got more than just an electrifying hour with their rock idol in life-size form. They even got a look at former Queen guitarist, Brian May, who helped produce the show and flew in to Munich just to be at the premiere.

The show included several mega hits by Queen, world premieres as well as lesser known numbers by the British rock group. The event will be running in Munich for the next six months.

Queen had fond memories of Munich: the band lived here for a while. So it’s no coincidence that the premiere was held in Bavaria.

Flashy Freddie would have liked it

Freddie Mercury would have approved of the show if he were alive today. After all, the spectacular event was very much in keeping with the singer’s flashy and theatrical style on stage.

Known as one of the greatest showman in the field of music, Freddie relished the attention his outrageous clothes drew and performed with gusto.

He strutted around on stage dressed in tight white or silver leotards, hot pants or velvet trousers with a diamond-studded crotch, baring his hairy chest and dripping in jewelry.

His most famous pose was standing in front of the stage, arms akimbo, legs spread, his head cocked to one side – screaming into the microphone and sweeping his fans with him in a frenzied emotional roller coaster.

Zanzibar, India, England...

Freddie Mercury was born Farrokh Bulsara on September 5, 1946 on the island of Zanzibar, off the east coast of Africa. His parents were Zoroastrians from Persia. In 1947, the family moved to India, where Freddie attended a boarding school in Panchgani, a small town just outside Bombay.

He formed his first band, the Hectics, while at school and performed at school dances and fetes. Freddie developed an interest in Indian classical music as well as a smattering of rock and roll that had become a rage in the West.

In 1964 Freddie arrived in England with his family. Here Freddie attended the Ealing art school and is remembered by class mates as the guy with the goofy teeth, who strutted around with a ruler pretending he was Jimi Hendrix playing the guitar.

The beginnings of Queen

In 1968, Freddie went to a gig by a group called "Smile" and first met up with Brian May and Roger Taylor who played with "Smile". Two years later they formed a group. The name "Queen" was Freddie’s idea. He thought it was regal.

The band did the usual round of pubs and were relatively obscure to begin with. Till 1972, when they were spotted by the right people from a music production company and landed a deal with record industry giants EMI.

First success and then cult status

Their first success came in 1974 with "Seven Seas of Rye". Next came the phenomenon, "Bohemian Rhapsody", a song six minutes long which became Britain’s number one single. After that Queen became the last word in Rock and the group reached a cult-like status. The group recorded an average of one album a year from 1973 to 1991. They toured the globe and sold 200 million records.

Freddie made Queen the band what it was. He composed many of the lyrics of the group’s smash hits including, "Bohemian Rhapsody", "We are the Champions" and "Another one bites the Dust". Freddie was the charismatic face of the band with its sing-along and foot-stomping lyrics. He described their bombastic music as junk pop – songs that didn’t pretend to be political or hold some great pearls of wisdom.

Of extremes - videos, partying and more

He also made key contributions to the band’s videos. They gave him a chance to dress up and play different characters and preen in front of the cameras, though he also appreciated the importance of a good video to boost the success of a single.

One of the most notorious videos he made was, "I want to break Free", where the whole group dressed up in drag. Freddie himself donned a tight pink jumper, false breasts and a black mini skirt and vacuumed cleaned the floor of a living room.

The eccentric singer was as excessive off the stage as he was on it. His parties were notoriously extravagant. He held his 40th birthday party in Munich. He asked all the male guests to come in drag. He himself dressed up as a Bavarian officer – his jacket covered with metals and his trousers glittering with diamonds.

For his next birthday he flew to Ibiza in Spain, where a huge fireworks display blazed Freddie’s name in the Mediterranean sky and the 500 guests were treated to a 20-foot cake. The song, "Living on my Own" was made around this time.

Wearing a mask?

Though stories abound about the narcissist singer and his eccentricities and his high living, very little is known of his private life. He was said to be reticent and his flashy public image was said to be a charade. His longest love affair was with the German actress Barbara Valentin, who he later married. In the 1980s he was said to have realized that he was homosexual.

Carrying a fatal secret

But the biggest secret that he carried around with him was the knowledge that he was slowly dying from AIDS. A fact that he kept even from his band members – only admitting a day before he died that he had AIDS.

By 1986, it was obvious that something was wrong. The incredible energy that he projected on stage was slowly running out. His public appearances became rarer and he became a recluse in his Kensington house. When he turned up for the recording of, "I’m going slightly mad", he wore thick make up to conceal his blotchy skin and thick padding to hide his shrunken body.

Freddie Mercury died on November 24, 1991. His myth still lives on.