September 5, Freddie Mercury, the legendary frontman of Queen, would have turned 72 years old. It is difficult to imagine the Great Pretender as an old and infirm retired rocker, surrounded by children and grandchildren. “I have no desire to live up to 70 years: this is probably a very boring occupation,”- he once said in an interview and.

You don't need to be a great specialist to understand: Mercury's vocal abilities are exceptional. Even science recognized the greatness of his talent. In 2016, Swedish, Austrian and Czech scientists from Palacký University proved the uniqueness of the singer's vocal range. The results of the study were published in the scientific journal Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology.

To analyze the voice, scientists took studio recordings and archival interviews. During the experiment, the researchers found that by nature Mercury was a baritone, although he became famous as a tenor. Scientists also proved that the vocal range of the singer was more than 3, but less than 4 octaves (ordinary operatic baritones sing within 2 octaves).

An interesting fact: Freddie once jokingly refused to sing a duet with the opera diva Montserrat Caballe, as he was worried that the fans would not recognize him as a baritone singer and would no longer come to concerts.

Montserrat Caballe and Freddie Mercury, Barcelona

Scientists also studied Mercury's "growling" singing and came to the conclusion that the singer involved not only the usual vocal cords, but also the ventricular folds (the so-called false ligaments). This technique is mastered by overtone masters throat singing from Yakutia, Tuva and Tibet. Finally, the vocalist of Queen was distinguished by an unusually fast and uneven vibrato (periodic change in timbre, strength or pitch).

The combination of these data, as well as a completely wild, powerful and sensitive soul, helped Freddie create a charismatic stage image. Each casually thrown phrase was frank and mystically fateful. Perhaps that is why they touch the living no less than his songs.

Here are some quotes from the artist.

“I think that in the eyes of the audience I appear as a person from the stage, very arrogant, very aggressive, surrounded by glamor, so whenever people talk about me and see me in society, they do not doubt my arrogance. To some extent, this is even good, since I do not want everyone to know about my true feelings, because this is my personal life "

“I did not want to do anything else, so in order to succeed, I was ready to experience any difficulties and hardships that fate presented me with in the future. No matter how long it takes to succeed, you just have to believe in it, and I did. At the same time, it is necessary to have a certain amount of selfishness, arrogance and self-confidence.

“What will I be doing in 20 years? I will be dead! Doubt?

“If I am destined to die tomorrow, I will not be sorry. I really did my best."

Yes, Freddie, you really did everything and more. Geniuses are not forgotten. Thank you! Happy birthday!

The legend that Mercury on high notes could beat dishes with his voice was launched by Queen bassist John Deacon.
This spring, two seemingly unrelated events took place: according to a survey of listeners by Radio Luxembourg (it is believed that this music radio station most accurately reflects the tastes of the “average European”), the best singer XX century was recognized as Freddie Mercury, he was voted by more than 30 percent of respondents. Runner-up Elvis Presley received just under 15 percent of the vote. And on eBay, a very strange tape recording was sold. That is, at first glance, there was nothing special about it: slightly creaking, an instrumental piece of some kind of jazz orchestra sounds on the tape. And somewhere in the second minute of the recording, a male voice is clearly audible: “Damn it, how much can you call! Time for work!”
As it turned out, it was a recording made in 1972 by the owner of Trident Recording Studio Norman Sheffield. He was tape-recording a Count Basie Orchestra vinyl record when he was called to work in the studio. And the man who barked so that the sound vibrations of his voice were transmitted to the arm of the player and recorded on a magnetic tape - Freddie.
Then in 1972, Queen were recording their first disc at the London Trident, and the studio owner decided to use the break in work for that re-recording. But just imagine (and even better, try it yourself) how strong the voice must be in order to mechanically influence the operation of the "turntable"!
The legend that Mercury could hit dishes with his voice was launched by Queen bassist John Deacon: in the first interviews, and then in an author's article for the Record Collector magazine, Deacon claims that at least twice "Freddie uttered a cry of such force and loudness that crystal wine glasses burst on the table.
And although, apart from him, no one confirms these facts, the fans of Queen and Freddie do not doubt them. The range of Freddie Mercury's voice was four octaves, which is more than twice as wide as the voice of the average person, and with three octaves one can already think about a career as a singer. According to the Guinness Book of Records, American singer Tim Storms holds the palm for men here - six octaves, the women's record of eight octaves belongs to the Brazilian Georgia Brown. But as renowned vocal coach Janet Edwards says (her clients include Leona Lewis, Mariah Carey and Mel C), “Training brings the range up to three octaves, you can only be born with four. Relatively speaking, from two octaves to three one step, from three to four - the distance from the Earth to the Moon.
In the case of Freddie Mercury, the main thing, according to Edwarts, is not the range of the voice and not even its strength, but the staging, or rather, its complete absence!
“Unlike most rock singers, Mr. Mercury sang on the so-called long belly breath,” explains Edwards, “this is the school of operatic vocals.
But Freddie learned this technique on his own, and since he never had his own teacher, his manner is far from ideal, but it is precisely in this, so to speak, defectiveness that his charm and uniqueness lie.
In rock music, singers breastfeed and sing in short sentences, and Mercury demonstrated the so-called continuous exhalation, we hear it in "Barcelona" and "Bohemian Rhapsody". How is he different from, say, Mr. Ian Gillan? Singer deep purple in his youth, he also knew how to take high notes, but they were just notes in the upper register, and Freddie Mercury sang the text at these transcendental heights, articulated phrases. The only rock singer, according to Edwards, who tried to work in the manner of Freddie, is Rob Halford of Judas Priest, "but his small voice, compared to Freddie, let him down."
It is interesting that Freddie Mercury himself did not consider his voice unique and certainly did not boast about it. As Brian May recalls, “In 1986 we were rehearsing “A Kind Of Magic” for a concert at Wembley, and Freddie suddenly rested: “You play too high, I can’t take it like that!” We say that we play in the usual key, that he sang this a hundred times, and he: “Well, to hell with you, sing it yourself!” Roger and I sang, and then he mocked our bleating for a whole year.
How unique Freddie was, it became clear when Queen was invited to sing Paul Rodgers: a three and a half octave voice seems to be a worthy receiver, but ... Breath, and once again breath! Rogers sings the songs of Queen the way any professional rocker would sing them - with feeling, on an excellent afterburner, and even uses the so-called non-closing of the chords (a complex technique of throat singing), but there is no effect of “Continuous exhalation!
As Robbie Williams, who once also auditioned for Freddt's place, said, “we are all, compared to him, ordinary rock mourners, we can do a lot of things, we even feel his presence behind our backs. But it’s not given to anyone to sing like him, it’s better not to try. ”
The great Luciano Pavarotti once said: “I was tempted to sing “Another One Bites The Dustu”, and I even began to rehearse this thing, and suddenly I discovered that in the second verse I was constantly drawn to falsetto! I listened to the original and made sure that Freddie Mercury sang this fragment by no means in falsetto - high, but not in falsetto. It is very difficult, almost impossible, I know only two or three tenors who could repeat it.
This is also a rather strange conclusion - if only because Freddie is considered not a tenor, but a baritone, but who in their right mind would argue with Pavarotti!
But the most surprising thing is, perhaps, who Mercury was guided by at the beginning of his singing career - this is John Lennon!
According to Freddie, Lennon's vocal part in "Twist And Shout" is "the ultimate dream of a rock singer, a standard of expressiveness and expression, or sing this way or not sing at all!"

INTERESTING FACTS

★ It is believed that the person with the widest range of voice was the American vaudeville performer Charles Kellogg (1868-1949): judging by the records left after him, the range of his voice was 12.5 octaves, he could imitate birdsong and went into ultrasound (14 thousand Hertz ).
★ According to some experts, Freddie's voice had qualities "inherent in the voices of the great Italian castrato singers of the 17th-18th centuries: a wide range, equal strength in the upper and lower registers, the ability to change the timbre."
★ According to Brian May, Freddie easily sang the part from Sergei Rachmaninov's "All-Night Vigil", which uses the lowest note of all world choral singing.
★ Freddie Mercury was one of the few singers major league rock, who have never used the services of a vocal consultant/teacher.

Ksenia POLINA

« I won't be a rock star. I will be a legend».
Freddie Mercury

Nickname Freddie Mercury (mercury translated from English - mercury) is in perfect harmony with his voice.

The vocalist of the Queen group, who became one of the most charismatic rock stars of all time, was born on September 5, 1946 on the island of Zanzibar under the name Farukh Bulsara. The singer's parents were from Parsis ( ethnic group associated with the ancient Persians), but were born in India.

In the television movie Freddie Mercury, the untold story, he appears as an artist whose musical prowess has been perfected in the West, but whose talent has emerged in the East. Film director Rudi Dolezal points to a Mustapha song from Queen's 1978 album called Jazz.

« After listening to this song, you will definitely find it very strange. What cultures influenced her, where did she come from?' says the director. " Freddie was born in Zanzibar, then moved to India, then to London - all these trips could well have been a culture shock, right? In his veins flowed an insane mixture of completely different cultures. He skillfully used this feature when writing music.».

« He had a super sexy voice”, says singer Adam Lambert. The American Idol winner listened to Queen for hours trying to figure out how Mercury could sing so great. At the casting for the show that brought him fame, the singer sang one of the most famous songs of the English rock band Bohemian Rhapsody.

« There is so much character and charisma in Freddie's voice!' says Lambert. " It's like he takes a little bit from every culture, from every style of performance, and turns it all into a divine-sounding mixture.».

Many are amazed at how Freddie Mercury was able to establish contact with both a small audience and stadiums filled with people in just a few seconds.

Jackie Smith, manager of the Queen fan club, first met the singer in 1982, about a job posting. She had constant access to the backstage of the band's stadium shows, but says she has always preferred to see the band from the seats.

« There was always an incredible atmosphere in front of the stage. Smith recalls. " At the last show in Knebworth there were about 120 thousand people, but everyone felt like they were in a small club, because Freddie somehow incomprehensibly achieved contact with everyone, even with those sitting in the farthest stands.».

One of the signature tricks of Freddie Mercury was the following: he called out to the audience, and they answered him. The singer could make the audience sing a ballad by playing along with them on the piano, or he could arrange his signature dances on stage, waving a microphone.

« He was above all, more talented than all' says Adam Lambert. " Most of the time, music is directly related to sexuality, whether you're straight, gay, or bisexual. Rock and roll is about love and sex».

Openly gay Lambert states that the lifestyle and image of Freddie Mercury influenced him in many ways.

« There is clearly something missing on the stage right now.", says the singer. " Now there are not enough really bright male artists who turn their performances into something like a theater. There are many such singers, but where are the men? Where are the classic pop-rock showmen?».

Director Rudy Dolezal claims that Freddie Mercury was very modest in life and always put his talent, his music and his voice before his image. As proof, he cites the following story:

« Everyone knows that Freddie had very strange teeth. Surely every person who saw a star with similar teeth wondered: “Lord, this guy has a lot of money, why doesn’t he finally go to the dentist?” Freddie was very afraid that such a trip to the dentist could irreversibly and forever change the sound of his voice. As you can see, he cared a lot more about his voice than how he looked. I think this story says a lot.».

In 1991, the modest god of rock and roll with an unpredictable, like mercury, voice, died from complications caused by AIDS.
« The spirit of Freddie Mercury is still alive' says Adam Lambert. " He shocked everyone».

Statements about Freddie Mercury from his colleagues:

David Bowie(David Bowie): " Of all the theatrical rock performers, Freddie Mercury went further...he was beyond all boundaries and beyond all boundaries. And of course, I have always admired men who are not ashamed to wear pantyhose. I saw Freddie only once at a concert: he was the man who conquered the audience as if by a wave magic wand ».

Axl Rose(Axl Rose) from Guns N' Roses: " If I hadn't heard Freddie's music as a child, I don't know where I would be now. I have never had such a wonderful teacher in my life.».

Elton John(Elton John): " Freddie Mercury was an innovator in both singing and behavior - as the band's frontman. We were good friends and I was incredibly lucky to have known this man for some time in his life. He had an amazing sense of humor, sometimes even outrageously he was very kind person and a great musician, one of the most amazing frontmen in a rock band. All in all, in the last 20 years he has become one of the greatest figures in the history of rock and roll." I miss him, we all miss him, his music, his kindness... We will always remember that Freddie Mercury was special».

Dave Mustaine(Dave Mustaine) from Megadeth and Metallica: " I knew him and I saw him die. It was incredibly painful because I adored Freddie Mercury. He was a man who never betrayed himself and his voice».

Trent Reznor(Trent Reznor) of Nine Inch Nails: " The death of Freddie Mercury touched and affected me much more than the death of John Lennon».

Why do so many people get excited when they listen to Freddie Mercury sing? What in his voice seems so seductive to the human ear? The research team decided to approach this issue with scientific point vision. Here's what they found out.

Scientific analysis

An analysis of the great singer's vocal range showed that he was able to quickly modulate his voice. This means that it was within his ability to make himself sound both soft and rough at the same time. By the way, this applies not only to singing, but also to ordinary conversation - for example, interviews. The results of the study were published in the journal Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology.

Amazing Ability

The effect was most likely achieved by rapidly changing the pitch. This skill for most classically trained vocalists is beyond their capabilities. It is also possible that Freddie was able to control the so-called ventricular folds of his larynx (small "wings" within the vocal cords).

All this led to the fact that Mercury was able to produce "sub-harmony" - a combination of sounds that the vast majority of people are not able to reproduce. They can only enjoy this sound from the lips of a genius. The research team likens this to a sound system running at its limit, calling the singer "following the path to chaos." The researchers concluded that these traits, combined with the fast and irregular vibrato, may have helped create Freddie Mercury's eccentric and flamboyant stage persona.

It was rumored that the vocal range of the lead singer of Queen spanned four octaves, but international group researchers found no evidence for this. But the fact remains absolutely that the amazingly talented Freddie Mercury had an incredible voice, and science has only once again confirmed how truly peculiar he was.