Freddie Mercury's 65th Birthday Inspires Tributes From Artists, Google and Lotus

Posted on Sep 5th 2011 4:15PM by Jason MacNeil
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Tom Hill, WireImage.com

Artists from around the rock world took some time out Monday, Aug. 5, to pay tribute to the late Queen singer Freddie Mercury on what would have been his 65th birthday. Even Google got in on the celebration by dedicating their Google Doodle to the music icon.

As NME.com reports, Katy Perry, My Chemical Romance's Gerard Way, Foo Fighters' Taylor Hawkins, Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan and Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stump opted for video posts on YouTube, with Way saying "Freddie we love you, Freddie we miss you and we'll always think of you."

A nearly 12-minute compilation of some of the tributes -- concluding with a series of interview snippets from Mercury -- can be found on YouTube. Hawkins says his first concert was Queen back in 1982 while Perry sings "Happy Birthday" to Mercury, adding she wanted to be a "killer Queen" and how big of an influence the legendary frontman was to her.

"I wish I could sing half as good as he did," Corgan said, adding that Mercury was a "warm, loving person" but also a person who "loved grandeur." "If they were a band that was coming out today they would still be massive," he added.

Watch Freddie Mercury 65th Birthday Tribute Video
While Queen's Brian May took to the band's Twitter account to share his thoughts on his former bandmate. "Freddie would have been 65 this year, and even though physically he is not here, his presence seems more potent than ever." A quote from Mercury appeared a few hours later on the account, too: "The most important thing, darling, is to live a fabulous life. As long as it's fabulous, I don't care how long it is."

Other artists have also joined in praising Mercury via Twitter:

"Happy birthday Freddie Mercury. Still the greatest," Frank Turner tweeted.

"Happy birthday to the great Freddie Mercury," the Veronicas tweeted. "I had always dreamed of meeting and marrying Freddie. One of the greatest."

Elsewhere, for the very first time Queen has decided to celebrate Mercury's birthday by streaming their famous 1986 Wembley Stadium concert in its entirety for free through their YouTube channel. The stream will last for 48 hours featuring many of the band's biggest hits.

Mercury also had a special one-off car released Monday in his honor as Lotus released the Lotus Evora S Freddie Mercury edition. An auction at London's Savoy Hotel was held for the vehicles, with proceeds going to the Mercury Phoenix Trust. According to an Aug. 5 article in Autoguide, each car contains Mercury's signature on the interior and is inspired by a stage costume the singer wore in 1986.

In addition, a special Freddie For A Day site was created whereby fans were encouraged to dress like Mercury to raise funds for the Mercury Phoenix Trust.

Mercury passed away Nov. 24, 1991 from bronchial pneumonia resulting from AIDS. He was 45.

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