In November 24th of 1991, Freddie Mercury and Eric Carr (from Kiss) died. Freddie died of HIV (actually, it was bronchial pneumonia, the virus just left his body with no protection)and Eric Carr died of a serious heart cancer.

When he was born, his name wasn`t Freddie Mercury (that`s a nickname given to him when he was at school), it was Farokh Bulsara.

His favourite contries were Japan and United Kingdom.

His favourite writers were Beatrix Potter and Richard Dadd.

His favpurite musicians were John Lennon and Jimi Hendrix.

His favourite Queen`s album was "The Game", like the bassist, John Deacon.

His favourite song (one song that he wrote, actually) was Somebody To Love.

His favourite instrumentes were the piano and the hapsichord.

Freddie Mefcury`s favourite colour was yellow.

Freddie Mercury`s favourite drink was Champagne.

Used a piano as a headboard for his bed and taught himself to play the piano backwards so if a song idea popped into his head when lying in bed, he could reach backwards and play it or record it.

While living in Asia,he listened to many Indian artists. Upon arriving in England, he was very influenced by British bands like The Beatles, John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, and Led Zeppelin.

Released his first solo album, "Mr. Bad Guy", in 1985.

Survived by Jim Hutton, his partner since 1985.

Wrote "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" in the bathtub.

Was a huge fan of actress and Broadway star Liza Minnelli.

Queen were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame for their outstanding contribution to British music and integral part of British music culture. [11 November 2004]

Queen won the 1992 Brit Award for British Single for their song "These Are The Days of Our Lives" and Mercury was the posthumous winner of the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution. Only John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Sting have also managed to win the Outstanding Contribution Award as both a member of a band and as an individual.

Queen won the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution in 1990. All four members of the band came to the stage to accept the award. It was Mercury`s last appearance in front of an audience.

Despite being a classically trained pianist, he admitted in an interview (Melody Maker, 2 May 1981) that he could read "very little" sheet music.

He was diagnosed HIV positive in the spring of 1987.

Loved cats, and owned many of them. The song "Delilah" is written about his favorite.

There is a breed of yellow rose named after him.

Said that Aretha Franklin was one of his favorite singers.

Was of Persian descent. His parents were Persians born in India.

Achieved grade IV in practical piano and theory.

Had a vocal range of 4 octaves.

Designed Queen`s famous crest using his and his fellow band mates` birth signs: Two lions for Roger and John (Leo), a crab for Brian (Cancer), and two fairies for himself (Virgo).

Was an ardent fan of Jimi Hendrix.

While buried in the Zoroastrian tradition, Freddie, himself, seldom practiced the family religion.

Came in 58th place in the BBC`s poll of the 100 Greatest Britons. [2002]

After a revolution in Zanzibar, he and his family were forced to flee to England, where he pursued a Diploma in Art and Graphic Design. This knowledge was to come in useful when he designed Queen`s famous crest.

His song "Bohemian Rhapsody" (1975) was named Britain`s favourite pop single of all time on 2002 in a poll by Guinness World Records (GWR). More than 31,000 people voted in the poll for GWR`s "British Hit Singles" book.

He was educated at St. Peter`s boarding school near Bombay, India, where he had his first musical training (Grade V piano) and also his first experience of performing onstage, with his band, the Hectics. It was at St. Peter`s where he picked up the name `Freddie`, soon even his parents addressed him by that name.

Loved his cats, and dedicated his solo-album "Mr. Bad Guy" to them. When he was out touring, he used to phone his cats and talk to them for hours. On one of his waistcoats, he has painted portraits of all of his cats.

Was an avid and fastidious philatelist (stamp collector). His extensive collection is still exhibited at stamp shows world-wide as being under the estate of his birth name.

Sang a duet of "Tutti Frutti" with Marillion front man Fish at the Mungersdorfer Stadion, Cologne, West Germany. [19 July 1986]

Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001 (as a member of Queen.

Attended many operas and released a semi-classical album with Spanish opera diva Montserrat Caballé.

When the rock group Smile (formed by Brian May with Roger Taylor and Tim Stafell) split, Freddie joined Brian and Roger to form Queen.

Attended Ealing College of Art.

Chose not to to get corrective oral surgery to fix his famous overbite (caused by the presence of four extra teeth which pushed his incisors out). He commented early in his career that he wished to have work done on his teeth, but regretted that he didn`t have time to do it out of fear that it would damage his voice. Also, chose not to have surgery to remove polyps on his vocal cords for the same reason. Ironically, Freddie was a smoker.

Lead singer and keyboard player of the rock group Queen.

His ancestors, the Parsees, originated in Persia and fled to India in the 7th century. The reason being they are Zoroastrians and did not want to get converted to Islam.

He was a staunch supporter of the British monarchy.

Lead singer of rock group Queen.