Farokh Bulsara was born on a Thursday September 5,1946 in Zanzibar, an island near Tanzania. When he was eight years old he went to a boarding school near Bombay (India). It was there his friends started to call him Freddie.
He learned to play the piano up to the IV grade level (same as Brian May). Freddie joined a band with his school mates and it was called "The Hectics". They played for the school dances...
At that time, Zanzibar was a British colony. In 1963 Zanzibar became an independent state. Therefore the Bulsara family moved to Felthom, Middlesex, England.
In September of 1966 Freddie was accepted in the Ealing College of Art in London to study graphic design. There he met Tim Stafell. Frequently Tim would take Freddie to the rehearsals of Smile. Freddie was introduced to Brian May and Roger Taylor. In 1969 he graduated in graphic design.
Later, he joined a Liverpool band (established in London) called "Ibex". It was formed by guitarist Mike Bersin. John Taylor played bass, Mick Smith played drums and Freddie was the vocalist. The members of Ibex and Smile knew each other and even shared the stage.
That same year, Freddie and Roger opened their own business selling second-hand clothes at the Kensington Market. They needed to earn more money cause they were not making enough in their bands.
Ibex played in a few London pubs, but the members of the band decided to move to Liverpool, where they felt they would get more gigs.In Liverpool, Freddie started using a microphone without bass.
In Liverpool Ibex had no success, so Freddie decided to quit the band and move back to London in 1969. Back in London, Freddie joined two more bands. The first one was "Sour Milk Tea" which disbanded in two months. The second band was called "Wreckage". It was formed by ex-Ibex members. Freddie quit "Wreckage" in 1970.
In April of 1970, Freddie joined up with Brian May and Roger Taylor (by then Smile had dissolved). The new band was named "Queen". They went thru two bass players (Mike Gross and Barry Mitchell). Finally, the fourth and final member joined. His name was John Deacon. The rest is history.. Queen was alive!!
John Deacon
John Richard Deacon was born on a Sunday 19th of August, 1951 in Leicester, England. When he was only seven years old, his parents, Lillian Molly and Arthur Henry Deacon bought him his first guitar. He also took an interest in one of his parents hobbies, electronics. Later, he studied Electronics at the University. When John was 14 years old, he formed his first band. It was called "Opposition". John played rhythm guitar and had his first gig on September 25,1965 at a party.As time went on they gained in popularity within the Leicester area and was the opening band for "Rapid Raves". In 1966, Clive Castledine, bass player for the "Opposition", quit the band and John Deacon began to play bass.They decided to call themselves the "New Opposition". Again in 1969, they changed the band name to "ART". In June of 1969, he was accepted in Chelsea College of London to study for an Electronics career. Because of this , John had to quit his band "Art" and move to London. During the first year of University, John didn't play any music but he did attend the shows of other local bands, such as one group called Queen. The second year in London, John formed a band called "Deacon". To his dismay, it didn't succeed and dissolved immediately. In 1971, a friend called Christine Farnell introduced John to Brian May and Roger Taylor. They told John that they needed a bass player for their new band. John Deacon accepted the request of an audition from Brian and Roger. Soon thereafter, John Deacon joined their new band. He was the last piece of the puzzle that was needed to create the greatest band of all times - QUEEN...
Roger Taylor
Roger Taylor was born on a Tuesday July 26,1949 in Norkfolk, England. When he was eight years old, Roger was given a ukelele. He liked it so much that soon after, he formed his first band with two friends. who played bass and the other guitar. It was called "The Bubblingaver Boys". The result was horrible, because no one really knew how to play their instruments. Even so, they did play for a dance at their school. Roger bought his first acoustic guitar, and also took an interest in percussion. In 1961, Roger bought his first drum set. In 1963 he formed another band called "The Cousin Jacks". Roger played rhythm guitar in this band, but soon he changed instruments, and played the drums instead. "The Cousin Jacks" band lasted one year. In 1965, Roger joined his school Truro band called "Quale and the Reaction". Later, they changed it to "Reaction" when his singer, Johnny Quale, abandoned them. They had great success in Truro and in nearby towns. They also opened for some very famous bands such as Slade, Tyrannosaurus Rex and Ritchie Blackmore. In 1967, Roger was accepted to the London Hospital Medical School to study odontology. He moved to London and abandoned "Reaction". When he was in London, a friend of his called Les Brown, and requested an audition for a drummer. He then met Brian May and Tim Stafell. Together they formed a new band and called it "Smile".
Brian May
Brian Harold May was born on a Saturday July 19th ,1947 in Hampton, Middlesex, England. When Brian was five years old, his parents enrolled him in a music school to learn how to play the piano. When he was six, his father bought him a ukelele. He liked it so much that he wanted a real big guitar. At the age of seven, Brian received his first guitar, it was an acoustic. At eight years old, he started to develop an interest in other instruments, like the Jewish harp. When he was nine, he reached the IV grade level for piano (Freddie Mercury played at the same level). Soon Brian began to realize that his acoustic guitar wasn't enough. He wanted to sound like the songs he loved to listen to on the radio. So he decided to change guitars. At that time, Brian didn't have the money to buy the expensive Stratocasters or Gibsons that he wanted. So, with the help of his father, he started to build his own guitar (The Red Special). They started in 1963 and finished in 1964. Then In 1964, Brian formed his first band called "1984". He was only 17 years old. The name "1984" was inspired by a famous science-fiction book written by George Orwell, that Brian loved. The highlight of this band arrived when they opened for the myth " Jimi Hendrix" on the May 13,1967 at the Imperial College. December 23, 1967, they played in a festival called "Christmas in Earth", with famous bands such as Tyrannosaurus Rex, Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd. Even though they had some big breaks, "1984" dissolved shortly thereafter due to musical differences between the members of the band. But Brian May and Tim Staffell still wanted to play together. So they placed an add at Imperial College requesting a drummer. After auditioning a number of drummers, they decided on Roger Taylor. The band "Smile" was born...
