# Do you know who Freddie Mercury is/was? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 23, 2012, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-freddie-mercury-is-was/619718 "2012-04-23T18:08:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-freddie-mercury-is-was/619718/61 "2012-04-23T20:23:40Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > She sounds like a wise woman, actually. Generally, yes, though I’d appreciate something other than blank stares when I say the words Dexy’s Midnight Runners\* or a declaration that she doesn’t need to know who Jon Bon Jovi is because his band wasn’t really that “big”. \*alternately she could say “You just made that name up, didn’t you?” ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-freddie-mercury-is-was/619718/62 "2012-04-23T20:30:51Z")
In a perfect world, everybody would know Freddie Mercury. Nobody would know Jon Bon Jovi. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-freddie-mercury-is-was/619718/63 "2012-04-23T20:33:03Z")
Umm… does anyone else think that it’s patently obvious that the OP’s Facebook friends are trolling him? Maybe not the first one (“Who?”), but all the others are essentially saying “Rio, by Duran Duran.” I do think that most people believe he was a white British guy, and may or may not have used a stage name. ---
**Author:** ![Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58956e/32.png) [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emtar_KronJonDerSohn)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-freddie-mercury-is-was/619718/64 "2012-04-23T20:45:38Z")
Farroukh Bolsahri, the Parsi entertainer from Zanzabar? That Freddie Mercury? Big fan. I don’t remember his exact given name, but I think I’m in the ballpark. ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-freddie-mercury-is-was/619718/65 "2012-04-23T20:56:10Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > Well, yes, but I also know who Ada Jones and Lillian Russell were. I hope I do, because we cover him in class this Thursday (I quoted you, **Eve** , because we also cover Ada Jones, Billy Murray, and a number of others from the era at the beginning of the term – I make sure my students are well-educated after 14 weeks with me 🙂 ). The lecture with Queen, in fact, is one of the few where I let the kids pick the music – on the condition they sing along. As we’re at 8am this term, I hope to annoy the adjacent admin offices more than ever this term. ---
**Author:** ![Clawdio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d07c76/32.png) [@Clawdio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clawdio)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-freddie-mercury-is-was/619718/66 "2012-04-23T21:02:19Z")
I know not of this Face Book of which you speak. Context tells me it is something to do with the World Wide Web, but I have never used it as i’m told it would send my phone bill through the roof. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-freddie-mercury-is-was/619718/67 "2012-04-23T21:07:46Z")
Put me down for “OP’s friends are kidding around with him” as well. ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-freddie-mercury-is-was/619718/68 "2012-04-23T21:14:42Z")
Frontman for Queen. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-freddie-mercury-is-was/619718/69 "2012-04-23T21:15:06Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > How can I be first to say that, judging by the friends responses listed in the OP, it sounds to me that they are just yanking your crank. My thoughts exactly. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-freddie-mercury-is-was/619718/70 "2012-04-23T21:16:03Z")
Go to Saturday Market for me! Oh, and the Oregon Country Fair if you can manage it. \<3 Of course I know who he was, just think of him more as a vocalist than a guitarist, hehe. ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-freddie-mercury-is-was/619718/71 "2012-04-23T21:23:36Z")
I never considered they were all being trolls. I would consider the whole lot to be lacking in any noticeable sense of humor, so I guess it never occurred to me it was a big put-on. ---
**Author:** ![secretsmile36](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@secretsmile36](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/secretsmile36)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-freddie-mercury-is-was/619718/72 "2012-04-23T21:32:08Z")
I know who Freddie Mercury was. He was the lead singer of Queen. I also love 80’s music though. He had an amazing voice. I love watching his performances from Live Aid on you tube. The man had real talent. I also love his song with David Bowie. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-freddie-mercury-is-was/619718/73 "2012-04-23T21:39:33Z")
Yep, I know who Freddie is. I bought the first Queen album for no other reason than I liked the cover. I was quite impressed! ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-freddie-mercury-is-was/619718/74 "2012-04-23T21:46:15Z")
> [@GovernmentMan](#): > > I doubt most hipsters want to sound like Freddie Mercury > > It’s not cool to sound like a cheesy arena-rock singer for that kind of music I used Freddie Mercury as a reference in my FB post because Mercury had a (to my ears) wide vocal range. These people had no vocal talent, but were trying desperately to reach notes that they were simply not capable of. Imagine this: a group of 20-somethings dressed like homeless bums (hence the City of Eugene summer uniform), scattered around a large community college campus, attempting to both play the guitar and sing. It would appear that these kids picked up the guitar sometime in gradeschool, gave it a half-assed six months, the put in their closet to collect dust when the PS2 came out. Now, they’ve pulled out the old six-string, long out-of-tune and are now attempting to play Stairway To Heaven or Come Sail Away to impress the opposite sex Gag. There were some other tunes being attempted, but those two I recognized. I haven’t followed popular music in… well, forever. I’ve always liked classic rock, which was mostly done with by the time I was born. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-freddie-mercury-is-was/619718/75 "2012-04-23T21:47:37Z")
I was born in 1984 and one of my early music memories was being confused by the sudden shift in _Bohemian Rhapsody_. Of course, I’m a bit odd: My earliest musical memory is singing the Beach Boys’ version of _Sloop John B_, a song I’d already memorized, when I must have been younger than eight years old. (The memory is linked to my living in a house I left when I was seven.) Still, all the members of my Little League team knew _We Are The Champions_. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-freddie-mercury-is-was/619718/76 "2012-04-23T21:51:19Z")
> [@GovernmentMan](#): > > I doubt most hipsters want to sound like Freddie Mercury > > It’s not cool to sound like a cheesy arena-rock singer for that kind of music Didn’t you get the memo? Hipsters love cheesy. It’s sooo ironic, which is why some dress like the guy in Biff’s gang in 1950s Back to the Future. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-freddie-mercury-is-was/619718/77 "2012-04-23T21:54:41Z")
Isn’t “Freddie” short for _Ford Lincoln_? I am aware that Freddie Mercury was the lead singer of Queen. I am aware he was gay, but apparently a lot of people didn’t know that at the time. I am aware he died of AIDS, but don’t necessarily recall that often. I couldn’t tell you more, and am only aware of Brian Mays because he went back and got an astronomy degree, which got hyped by the Bad Astronomer. “Oh, he’s that guy that got his astronomy degree 20 years later.” ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-freddie-mercury-is-was/619718/78 "2012-04-23T21:57:07Z")
[For any of you out there who really don’t know who Freddie Mercury is](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQsM6u0a038) Your Welcome. I assume your life is now complete. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-freddie-mercury-is-was/619718/79 "2012-04-23T22:02:26Z")
> [@Casey1505](#): > > He sang Rio. Everyone knows that. No he just danced on the sand…in tight little shorts. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-freddie-mercury-is-was/619718/80 "2012-04-23T22:03:11Z")
I was 15 in 1980. I’m a musician. Guess if I’ve heard of … Fankie Monkery, was it? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-freddie-mercury-is-was/619718.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-freddie-mercury-is-was/619718.md?page=5)