Freddie died at home - Garden Lodge,Logan Place, London, at approx 7pm (local time) on 24th November 1991 aged 45. Many fund raising activities started in motion soon after. Not least the massive tribute concert.

The Freddie Mercury Tribute (Concert For AIDS Awareness) took place 20th April 1992 at Wembley Stadium, London and was attended by 72,000 people at the stadium and watched by millions more on TV around the world. Here is the set list:

METALLICA
Enter Sandman
Sad But True
Nothing Else Matters

EXTREME
Queen Medley
Love Of My Life
More Than Words

DEF LEPPARD
Animal
Let’s Get Rocked
Now I’m Here

BOB GELDOF
Too Late God

SPINAL TAP
The Majesty Of Rock

U2
The End Of The World (Via satellite)

GUNS ‘N’ ROSES
Paradise City
Only Women Bleed
Knocking On Heaven’s Door

ELIZABETH TAYLOR
AIDS Speech

QUEEN:
Brian May – Guitar, Keyboards, Backing vocals
Roger Taylor – Drums, Backing vocals
John Deacon – Bass Guitar
Spike Edney – Keyboards, Backing vocals

Guest backing musicians:
Tony Iommi – Guitar (most tracks)
Joshua J. McCrae – Percussion on ‘Days Of Our Lives’
Chris Thompson – Guitar, Backing vocals (most tracks)
Mike Moran – Keyboards on ‘Somebody To Love’
Maggie Ryder – Backing vocals (most tracks)
Miriam Stockley – Backing vocals (most tracks)

THE SET LIST:

Tie Your Mother Down – Joe Elliot & Slash
Pinball Wizard (Intro) – Roger Daltrey
I Want It All – Roger Daltrey
Las Palabras De Amor – Zucchero
Hammer To Fall – Gary Cherone
Stone Cold Crazy – James Hetfield
Innuendo / Kashmir – Robert Plant
Thank You – Robert Plant
Crazy Little Thing Called Love – Robert Plant
Too Much Love Will Kill You – Brian & Spike
Radio Ga-Ga – Paul Young
Who Wants To Live Forever – Seal
I Want To Break Free – Lisa Stansfield
Under Pressure – David Bowie & Annie Lennox
All The Young Dudes – Ian Hunter & David Bowie
Heroes – David Bowie & Mick Ronson
’39 – George Michael
These Are The Days Of Our Lives – George Michael & Lisa Stansfield
Somebody To Love – George Michael & London Comm. Gospel Choir
Bohemian Rhapsody – Elton John & W. Axl Rose
The Show Must Go On – Elton John
We Will Rock You – W. Axl Rose
We Are The Champions – Liza Minnelli
God Save The Queen – Play-out.

Red Ribbon
Although many people (once) associated the Red Ribbon with the tribute, (each attendee was given one at the tribute venue), Red Ribbon was launched by Visual AIDS Artists' Caucus 1991 at the Tony Awards.

It contains photgraphs from his parent collections of Freddie throughout his life as well as the stage photographs we all know, plus some from Brian's personal collection.

The original was unveiled on November 25th 1996 by Montserrat Caballe and can be seen on the Made In Heaven album cover.

Small bronze versions of the statue were available in the early 1990's via the fan club (approx £50). The one above is in pewter and could (until 2003) be obtained from www.queenonline.com

The gold statue (right) is the exact replica in 1/8th scale, made of high density resin mixed with metal dust and each individual piece has been carefully finished by hand. This statue is only available at Bazar Suisse in Montreux - part of the price of this product is donated to the Mercury Phoenix Trust fighting aids worldwide.

Freddie's stamp was the "19 pence Pop culture - Live Aid, and Freddie Mercury". The artwork for this stamp is known as Mercury's Magic and was designed by the artist Peter Blake (who also did the Beatle's Sgt. Peppers album cover).

This stamp was first issued 1st June 1999 and was a second class UK stamp. There was also a postcard available with the enlarged image of the stamp on it.

At the time the stamp became available, there was an uproar in the stamp world as the image not only shows Freddie on stage, but more crucial, in the backgroud, Roger's head can clearly be seen. Only dead people are supposed to be on UK stamps (with the exception of the The Royal Family). It was feared the stamps would be withdrawn, but they never were. One reason that it was finally given the OK, was because it was both a commemorative stamp and a limited run (rather than for general circulation).

Freddie Mercury was a lifelong stamp enthusiast whose collection is now in the possession of the Royal Mail. A Royal Mail spokesman said the new stamp had a tiny portrait of Roger Taylor and called for "common sense to prevail".

He added: "It is important to say that every stamp is approved by the Queen, including this one, which was also given the consent of Freddie Mercury's family and Mr. Taylor.

You can buy a framed set of these stamps (as below) from www.queenonline.com

It is claimed that Freddie used many of the religion's symbols and moves in his life. One example is the prayer gestures in the video of These Are The Days Of Our Lives. Exactly which moves, I'm not sure, but considering at this time he know he was not long for this world it would be logical for someone to accept a faith in their final days. You however will have to decide for yourself.

If you'd like to know more, then you can visit www.zoroastrian.net Gone - Jan 2005

The Queen Rocks album explodes the concept of them being a unit after Freddie died with the once elegant swan (or phoenix) of A Night At The Opera becoming a harsh-looking vulture sending the remaining members of band into different directions. The letter Q no longer visible is represented by a bright light. Is this meant to represent an explosion or and implosion? Notice the chains of one of the lions are now no longer tethered so they can run free. A second pressing of this album featured only the bird on the cover without any member represented - which could suggest the spirit reborn just as the myth of the phoenix - a bird born of the ashes of a fire.

Since the original design on their second album, the crest has been used in different formats on A Night At The Opera, A Day At The Races and more recenlty on Queen Rocks album covers as well on the various Greatest Hits compilation packages.

Freddie Last Will & Testament. Download a zip file with 14 pages in jpg format here.
Click and save to download to your PC or view the first page.
Make a note of where it will download to on your PC - usually "C\Windows\Profile\YourName\Wwherever...".
You will need WinZip or similar to unzip the archive.

To summarise the Will & Testament briefly ( a 14 page document):

Mary got his house Garden Lodge (and the 2 mews houses in the grounds).
Joe Fannelli - £500,000
Jime Hutton - £500,000
Peter Freestone - £500,000
Terry Giddings (driver) - £100,000

Residuary Estate to be divided between
Cash Cooke (sister) 25%
Jer Bulsara & Bomi Bulsara (parents) 25%
Mary Austin 50%