num_pages: 368
description: Revealing and intimate based on more than 100 interviews with key figures in his life this is the definitive biography of Queen front man Freddie Mercury one of pop musics best-loved and most complex figures.As lead vocalist for the iconic rock band Queen Freddie Mercurys unmatched skills as a songwriter and flamboyant showmanship made him a superstar and Queen a household name. But few people ever really glimpsed the man behind the glittering faade. Mercury was the first major rock star to die from AIDS. Now twenty years after his death those closest to him are finally opening up about this pivotal figure in rock n roll. With unprecedented access to Mercurys tribe rock journalist Lesley-Ann Jones has crafted the definitive account of Mercurys legendary life. Jones details Queens slow but steady rise to fame and Mercurys descent into dangerous pleasure-seeking excesses. Jones doesnt shy away from Mercurys often colorful lifestylethis was after all a man who once declared Darling Im doing everything with everyone. In her journey to understand Mercury Jones traveled to London Zanzibar and Indiatalking with everyone from Freddies closest friends to the sound engineer at Band Aid (who was responsible for making Queen louder than the other bands) to second cousins halfway around the world an intimate and complicated portrait emerges. Meticulously researched sympathetic yet not sensational Mercury offers an unvarnished revealing look at the extreme highs and lows of life in the fast lane. Freddie Mercury will be the subject of a major motion picture titled Mercury slated for 2012 production produced by Graham King starring Sacha Baron Cohen. This book is a key source for the film. Mercury is the most compelling up-to-date portrait of an enigmatic entertainer who thrilled audiences around the world with a magnetism matched by few performers.
language: English
title: Mercury: An Intimate Biography of Freddie Mercury
publisher: Touchstone