‘Fearless lives forever’ reads the tagline that accompanies the poster for one of 2018’s most anticipated movies: Bohemian Rhapsody. Telling the story of one of the most incredibly talented men to ever grace the earth with his presence. If Elvis was the ‘king of rock ‘n’ roll’, Freddie Mercury was truly its queen.
With a four-octave vocal range that has never been repeated, and an ability to work with a crowd in a way never seen before, he was always set to go down in history, even if his style hadn’t been so iconic.
Lucky for us, it was. Freddie was the first performer to push the boundaries of the gender norms and just wear the clothes he wanted to, he set the precedent for the artists of the future, without Freddie we most likely wouldn’t have artists such as Olly Alexander, Adam Lambert and Lady Gaga in the charts now. He was also influencing the style of icons even before Queen got big, in 1969, he fitted a pair of boots for David Bowie while working at a stall in Kensington Market, and 12 years later they were recording music together.
Whether it was strutting around the stage in a monochrome catsuit, or red striped shorts and suspenders, keeping it elegant with a flowing white tunic (that features in the trailer for Bohemian Rhapsody), or simple with blue jeans and a white vest for 1985’s Live Aid performance that went down in history as ‘rocks greatest ever performance’, he always dressed to impress. Freddie Mercury wasn’t just a style icon, he set a new standard of what a rock-star could be.
