On September 5, Freddie Mercury, the legendary front man of the Queen band, would have turned 72 years old. It is hard to imagine this great artist as a retired rocker, surrounded by children and grandchildren. “I have no desire to live to the age of 70: it’s probably a boring occupation,” he said in an interview, predicting his own fate.
You do not have to be a great specialist to understand: Mercury’s vocal skills were exceptional. Even science has recognized the greatness of his talent. In 2016, Swedish, Austrian and Czech scientists from Palicki University demonstrated the uniqueness of the singer’s vocal range. The results of the study were published in the scientific journal Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology.
For voice analysis, scientists used archive recordings and interviews. In the experiment, the researchers found that Mercury’s natural voice was baritone, although he became famous as a tenor.
In addition, people of science have shown that the range of the singer’s vocal was more than three but less than four octaves (baritone opera normally plays within two octaves).
A curious fact: once Freddie jokingly refused to sing in a duet with opera diva Montserrat Caballe, because he was worried that fans would not recognize him singing in a baritone voice and more would not come to his concerts.
The scientists also studied Freddie Mercury’s singing and concluded that the great singer involved not only ordinary vocal cords, but also ventricular folds (so-called false vocal cords). Singers from Yakutia, Tuva and Tibet use this technique. Finally, the Queen’s lead singer stood out from other singers with an unusually fast and uneven vibrato (a periodic change in timbre, power and pitch).
The combination of this data, plus a rebellious, wild and sensitive soul, helped Freddie create a charismatic stage image. Every phrase uttered by this singer was very sincere and full of mysticism. Maybe that is why everything Freddie said caused the same resonance as his songs.
Here are some quotes from the great artist:
“I think that in the eyes of the audience I am a man on stage, very arrogant, very aggressive, surrounded by brilliance, so every time people talk about me and see me in society, they do not doubt my arrogance. To some extent, this is good, because I do not want everyone to know about my true feelings, because this is my personal life. “
“I did not want to do anything else, so in order to succeed I was ready to endure any difficulties and shortcomings that fate later offered me. It does not matter how long it takes to succeed, you just have to believe it and I believed it. At the same time, you need to have a certain amount of selfishness, arrogance, and self-confidence. ”
“What will I do in 20 years? I will be dead! Do you doubt it? ”
“If I am allowed to die tomorrow, I will not regret it. I really did my best. ”
Yes, Freddie, indeed, you did everything and more than anything. Geniuses do not look! Thank you for that!
