Brian May Recalls Early ‘Unnerving’ Moments With Freddie Mercury

Brian May recalled Queen’s difficult early days, when many people took a dislike to Freddie Mercury – and the singer took a dislike to his own voice.

In a recent Q&A session (video below) the guitarist admitted the band had wondered if it might have been a mistake to tie up with the future star in 1970.

“When we first worked with him, it was a little unnerving,” May said. “Because he did a lot of running around the place and screaming his head off. So we thought, ‘Is this going work?’”

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He continued: “And not everybody liked him, I’ve got to say. A lot of people found him kind of abrasive – but they all thought he was interesting and entertaining. At that point, though, he wasn’t the singer that we all got to know as Freddie Mercury.”

That started to happen during Queen’s first demo sessions in 1971. “We went into the studio, and… as soon as Freddie heard his voice coming back, he went, ‘Oh, I don’t like it. I’m gonna do that again.’

“And he would go back and back and back, until he got it the way he wanted it. So he became, instantly, very aware of what he sounded like, and incredibly quickly fashioned himself into the singer he wanted to be.”

May pointed out that he was simplifying those events, which took place over “quite a long time.” He added: “It probably went on for ever. Every time we were going to make a new album, Freddie would push himself further.

“He would hear himself come back, and he would say, ‘No, I want to do better, longer, more passion, more –’ whatever it was… He was always looking for new textures, and looking to get more out of himself.”

How Queen Pushed Each Other in the Studio

He noted that the other members of Queen had been part of Mercury’s process. “We did help,” he confirmed. “Every time one of us [were] in the studio, the rest of us [were] in the control room. So a lot of the time, I’m sitting… and Freddie’s doing a vocal, and he goes, ‘How’s that?’

“And I go, ‘Well, we kinda like that bit but we didn’t like…’ So we helped him to build what works. And the same the other way round; I’d be doing a guitar solo and so often Freddie was there, going, ‘Well, that’s alright, but…’ We’d be pushing each other the whole time.”

Brian May Q&A Session

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