Armed with a degree in art and graphic design from Ealing Art College, Mercury was more than capable of creating Queen’s branding. Much like fellow rock legend John Lennon, Freddie Mercury was a trained artist before gaining fame. Ultimately, it was Mercury’s unique vibrato that set him apart from classically trained singers with the same range, as his vibrato was higher and more irregular, which created a “vocal fingerprint.” Mercury was a trained artist and even designed the Queen logo.

Though higher and lower notes were also heard in the recordings, the scientists could not distinguish whether the remaining octaves were created by voice or instruments. Using video interviews and acapella tracks to isolate his vocal frequencies and range, they pinpointed that he spoke at a median of 117.3 Hz, with belts ranging from 92.2 Hz to 784 Hz - a range that covers more than 3 octaves! In 2016, a European research team set out to find just why Mercury’s voice was so impressive. Despite being self-conscious about how his teeth looked, he refused to remove them lest it change his famous almost-four-octave vocal range.Įmbed from Getty Images Mercury’s vocal range was so impressive, scientists studied it! Mercury had four extra teeth pushing the rest forward, creating his trademark overbite. His famous mouth housed more than teeth than your average singer. A week before Queen’s first album dropped, he released a single under the name Larry Lurex, a personal slight toward English glam rock artist Gary Glitter, of whom he was not a fan.

He began going by Freddie while in boarding school, eventually changing his name legally to Freddie Mercury after forming the band Queen in 1970.įreddie Mercury wasn’t the artist’s only moniker, however. Despite being voted the 59th Greatest Briton of All Time, Mercury wasn’t born in Great Britain.īorn September 5, 1946, in Stone Town, Zanzibar - now Tanzania - Farrokh Bulsara spent his childhood between Zanzibar and India before immigrating to Middlesex, England, as a teen refugee.

Freddie mercury cause of death