How Freddie Mercury met the rest of Queen

Once in the band, Mercury pushed even harder for musical experimentation. He developed a striking stage presence, which would soon fill stadiums with ecstatic fans. But before you can book international tours, you need a hit – so Queen innovated in the recording studio as well.

"I remember one morning after a particularly tense discussion he presented me with a cassette," May writes. "He had been up most of the night compiling a collage of my guitar solos. 'I wanted you to hear them as I hear them, dear,' he said. 'They're all fab, so I made them into a symphony!' "

Sometimes, Mercury's ideas were too far out there, May admits. But the singer often caught himself before falling off a creative edge. "Oh – did I lost it, dears?!," he remembers Mercury asking the band.

Twenty years and many hits later, Mercury announced that he had been diagnosed with AIDS. He died shortly after. However, Mercury's memory lives on, not just on classic-rock radio but in today's biggest pop acts.

Another upstart musician with a flare for style, Stefani Germanotta, named herself Lady Gaga after the title track of a Queen album. "I adored Freddie Mercury, and Queen had a hit called 'Radio Ga Ga,' " she told The Daily Mail. "That's why I love the name."

Anyone interested in a deeper look at Mercury's life should know that there's a biopic in the works. Screen writer Peter Morgan, who coincidentally wrote "The Queen," has signed on to pen the upcoming film. The producers announced last year that "Borat" star Sacha Baron Cohen will play Mercury.

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