Queen

Google informed me today that it is Freddie Mercury's 65th birthday.

I've always found that strange, to be honest. Not Freddie Mercury (although he was a bit of an oddball) but how Google will put stuff like "Van Gogh's 300th Birthday" or whatever. I mean, they're dead. They're not celebrating the date of their birth any longer. It would have been their birthday. This would have been Freddie's birthday, but it's not. So why do people keep saying happy birthday?

I'm not saying I don't want him to be remembered. The opposite, actually. I think he is amazing. He is one of my greatest inspirations for pianist/singers. I love Queen, I love their music, and I love watching their performances because he's such a good performer.

I think it's so sad he died at 45. I know he was gay. I know he contracted AIDS. I know he wasn't a saint, how a lot of people make out dead people to be. (i.e. John Lennon was an amazing musician but he did a shit ton of drugs. That's not incredibly saintlike.) I still don't think anyone deserves to die like that. I just read a very long account of his death on the internet, written by his last boyfriend or something. It could have all been total bullshit, maybe it wasn't. But it was still sad.

(I had a thought. My other greatest inspiration for pianist/singers is Elton John. Can gay men just tickle the ivories better than anybody else? Or should I be concerned with my love for gay guys? Interesting.)

Anyways, Happy Birthday Freddie. You would have been sixty five today. I don't know what you'd be doing, if you would have reunion tours like some bands, or write new music, or release a solo album or something. Maybe your voice would slowly deteriorate, so you can't even sing the songs you used to.

I wonder if it's better for an artist's fame to die young, before the world can see you wither away like a human and watch as your body breaks down and your voice shrinks. They seem to be remembered better that way.