Freddie Mercury

Freddie Mercury, born Farrokh Bulsara, was born in Zanzibar in 1946 and spent much of his childhood in India. His family moved to England in 1964, where he studied graphic design and initially sang with the blues band Wreckage. Through a fellow student, he met Brian May and Roger Taylor. He joined their band Smile as lead singer, and the group later became Queen. Mercury became one of rock music’s most distinctive singers and frontmen. He died of AIDS-related illness in 1991.