During a recent interview, Queen guitarist Brian May discussed the late frontman’s concerns about how those around him would react to his sexual orientation. Revealing why Mercury was afraid to open up, the guitarist said:
“I think there was a period where he felt we might disapprove of his sexuality, and the rest of the world might disapprove. I know he struggled with it, but he plucked up the courage to be what he wanted to be. He opened up his heart, and he gave it everything he had. He was proud of himself as a musician above all else.”
The guitarist, mentioning a famous name, added:
“If you look back at the history of rock ‘n’ roll, is Little Richard a man trying to hide the fact he’s gay? No. He screamed his passion. Freddie belongs to that genre.”
Initially, the guitarist was unaware of the frontman’s sexuality. Based on Mercury’s fashion sense, which was reflected in his hair and clothing rather than his behavior, May assumed he was metrosexual. He also stated that he was too focused on music to notice anything else.
May, in an earlier interview, revealed that the band never talked about Mercury’s sexuality since ‘it didn’t matter’. He stated:
“We never talked about the fact that he might have been gay, and he might not have been. I shared rooms with Freddie. I know a lot about Freddie. Not all of which I shared with the world, but the funny thing was, that wasn’t what was important. The music was everything.”
According to the guitarist, the late frontman didn’t mind it either, and he didn’t want anything to hinder him. May, in a 2008 interview, explained:
“I know that all through his life, Fred didn’t think that whether he was gay or not was important. He loved music, he loved his work, and he didn’t want anything to get in the way. Anyone who portrays Fred as purely a gay story is missing a lot of the point.”
Though the guitarist said that Mercury didn’t think his sexuality was a big deal, there have been claims that the lyrics of Queen’s famous song ‘Bohemian Rhapsody‘ were his way of expressing his sexuality to the world. Similarly, ‘I Want To Break Free’ was also thought to be a song about coming out, although Mercury later denied it. The frontman stated:
“It has got nothing to do with the gay people at all. It is basically about everybody. It’s just somebody who has a very tough life and he just wants to break free from whatever problems he’s got.”
Listen to the song below.
