Queen’s Brian May reveals Freddie Mercury lost most of his foot during AIDS battle
Brian May has revealed his late Queen bandmate Freddie Mercury lost most of his foot while battling AIDS.
The iconic frontman died at his home in west London, aged 45, on November 24, 1991 of bronchial pneumonia resulting from AIDS.
May has opened up about Mercury’s illness in his new book Queen in 3-D, in which he recalled the time he was left “upset” on learning how much pain his friend was in.
Speaking to The Sunday Times, he said: “The problem was actually his foot, and tragically there was very little left of it. Once, he showed it to us at dinner.
“And he said, ‘Oh Brian, I’m sorry I’ve upset you by showing you that.’ And I said, ‘I’m not upset, Freddie, except to realise you have to put up with all this terrible pain.’”
May also revealed that he and the other members of Queen knew that Mercury was battling the disease, but struggled to come to terms with it.
May recalled: “He said, ‘I suppose you realise that I’m dealing with this illness.’ Of course, we all knew [he had AIDS], but we didn’t want to. He said, ‘You probably gather that I’m dealing with this thing and I don’t want to talk about it and I don’t want our lives to change, but that’s the situation.’ And then he would move on.”
May said the “magic cocktail” of drugs - which means HIV and Aids is no longer considered a certain death sentence - came too late for Mercury.
Freddie Mercury - In pictures
He added: “He missed by just a few months. If it had been a bit later he would still have been with us, I'm sure.
“Hmmm. You can't do 'what if ' can you? You can't go there because therein lies madness.”
Born Farrokh Bulsar in Zanzibar on September 5, 1946, Mercury moved with his family to Middlesex in England in 1964 before meeting May and Roger Taylor and forming Queen in 1970.
The band went on to record a multitude of hits including Bohemian Rhapsody and Don’t Stop Me Now before Mercury’s death in 1991.
He was posthumously awarded the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music in 1992 and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003 and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2004.
