Today would have been the 63rd birthday of Freddie Mercury, the frontman for the classic rock band Queen. Queen is a favorite among many in our Offenders family and I think you can make a pretty good argument that Mercury was one of the greatest singers in rock n’ roll history. Queen is one of the top three musical acts I’d give a nut to have been able to see live in their original incarnation (Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix Experience being the other two) and that’s mainly because of Mercury.

Following is a clip of Queen in their prime, performing my favorite of their songs–“Tie Your Mother Down.” Personal note/shameless name-dropping: I got to jam with Queen-fan Marilyn Manson on this song awhile back just for fun. I was awful—and my absinthe soaked voice did not help me do justice to Mercury–but it’s definitely the best song to sing at the top of your voice. Here’s the real deal:

But I’m sure some of you are wondering what the hell I meant when I referred to Mercury as “Britain’s first Asian rock star.” Mercury’s not Asian, right? Wrong. Mercury was a Parsi who grew up in India under his original name of Farrokh Bulsara. In 2006, Time Magazine named Mercury one of the most influential Asian heroes of the past 60 years. And he didn’t hide from his heritage. Mercury often spoke of how he first embraced music while growing up in India and the influence of Eastern music on his work, which you can clearly hear in a song like “Bohemian Rhapsody.” The title of “Britain’s first Asian rock star” was how the British press labeled Mercury, though this was not emphasized here in the U.S. But hell, he was the world’s first Asian rock star as far as I’m concerned!

I don’t know if Mercury’s “Asianness” had anything to do with it, but Queen tribute bands are arguably more common in Asia than tribute acts to any other Western band. Here’s 0vueen, a popular Korean Queen tribute band performing “Another One Bites The Dust”:

But my favorite Asian Queen tribute act is Japan’s Kween. I’ve actually seen them live and these guys are AWESOME! The lead singer is an entertaining and charismatic frontman who told me he worships Mercury because he was a “real manly man.” It’s a shame Kween broke up. I was thinking of following them around and shooting a documentary. Here they are performing “Somebody To Love”:

Finally, I’d like to conclude with more Mercury and Queen. Here they are in 1985 at the historic Live Aid concert where they stole the show with the double whammy of “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Radio Ga Ga.” In 2005, music journalists voted this the best live rock n’ roll performance ever:

Before Michael Jackson (another great artist we also lost too soon) recorded his song “State Of Shock” with Mick Jagger, he had planned to record it with Mercury. Here’s a rare demo of the two performing that song:

And lastly, this is Mercury in his own words in an oft-quoted 1984 interview where he talks about why he and Jackson never finished “State of Shock”:

Happy birthday, Mr. Mercury—rock legend, champion of the world and Original Offender!