Queen drummer Roger Taylor has said the late Freddie Mercury sounded like a ‘manic goat’ before finding his musical feet.
Mercury, who died in 1991, was the iconic lead singer of the band responsible for hits including We Will Rock You, Bohemian Rhapsody, and Killer Queen, known for his electrifying vocals and huge stage presence.
In London tonight at the launch event for the rebuild of their debut album, Queen I, Roger and Sir Brian May discussed their late friend and bandmate 32 years after his death.
attended the event, at which Roger reflected that originally Mercury sounded like a ‘manic goat’ but ‘learned quickly’ to become their ‘beautiful Fred’.
They also discussed the lead singer’s path to becoming Mercury, stepping out of his birth name, Farrokh Bulsara.
One day while sitting in their management office, they were about to go to Manchester, and the frontman turned around Roger and said, ‘From now on, I’m called Mercury,’ to which he replied: ‘Right, shall we get on the bus then?’
The launch event celebrated the newly mixed, mastered, expanded edition release of their self-titled debut album.
Matt Everitt hosted the evening which included a Q&A with Sir Brian and Roger, followed by an album playback.
Just last week the band teased there could be new Queen music on the horizon, as Roger, 75, revealed a conversation he and Sir Brian had.
When asked if fans will ever hear new Queen music again, the Radio Ga Ga hitmaker said: ‘Well, I think you might! Brian and myself were talking the other day, and we both said that if we feel we have some good material, why not?
‘We can still play. We can still sing. So I don’t see why not.’
Speaking of his solo tour in 2021, The Outsider Live tour, and his plans for a further solo album or tour, Roger added to Uncut: ‘The tour was great, it was very fulfilling.
‘I really enjoyed the shows and I had a great little band.
‘So I’d like to do that again sometime, if and when I can get enough material for something that makes sense musically.’
The band haven’t released an album since Made In Heaven in 1995, which came four years after Mercury’s death, but they have still been touring with Adam Lambert taking the lead, and released a lost song featuring Mercury in 2022 which had been first recorded 34 years ago.
This comes after Sir Brian, 77, suffered a stroke last month, as he took to social media to explain how he lost control of his left arm, but assured fans he could still play guitar.
In a video the star said: ‘I’m here to bring you some good news I think – I can play guitar after the events of the last few days.
‘I say this because it was in some doubt because that little health hiccup I mentioned happened about a week ago and what they called it was a minor stroke.
‘All of the sudden out of the blue I didn’t have any control over this arm,’ he explained, brandishing his left arm.
He continued: ‘So it’s a little scary I have to say, I had the most fantastic care and attention. Blue lights flashing, the lot, very exciting.
‘I might post you a video if you like, I didn’t want to say anything at the time because I didn’t want anything surrounding it. I really didn’t want sympathy. Please don’t do that because it will clutter up my inbox and I hate that.
‘So the good news is I’m okay, I’m just doing what I’m told which is basically nothing. I’m grounded, I’m not allowed to drive, get on a plane, not allowed to raise the heart rate too much, but I’m good.’