How Freddie Mercury Really Felt About John Lennon
Even heroes have heroes. John Lennon and Freddie Mercury never crossed paths, but Mercury had a lot to say about the Beatles singer.
Transcript
00:00Even heroes have heroes. John Lennon and Freddie Mercury never crossed paths, but Mercury had
00:06a lot to say about the Beatles singer. Queen opened many doors for Freddie Mercury and
00:10introduced him to many people, but he was never able to manage a meeting with one of
00:15his biggest heroes. Asked in 1984 what historical figure, living or dead, he would most like
00:21to meet, Mercury's reply was straightforward.
00:24The only person I wish I had met was John Lennon."
00:27And he had many musical idols, ranging from Elvis Presley to Ella Fitzgerald, with the
00:31likes of Luciano Pavarotti thrown in for good measure.
00:35But Lennon always loomed large for Mercury. It was a sentiment he expressed more than
00:40once in public. Mercury said that even in the early days of the Beatles, he had an ear
00:45and a preference for Lennon's work. Lennon was such a larger-than-life figure to the
00:49Queen frontman that he resisted any comparison with him.
00:52For Mercury, Lennon was on another level. In his memoir, Freddie Mercury, A Life in
00:57His Own Words, he wrote,
00:59"...it's not a matter of having less talent, just that some people are capable of doing
01:03certain things better than anybody else, and I feel that I'm not equipped to do the things
01:07that Lennon did."
01:09He went so far as to say that he didn't think anyone should attempt to imitate or follow
01:13Lennon, as it would be an impossible task. Some musical artists relish being able to
01:18cover the work of their idols. Others find it daunting.
01:21Mercury seemed to be in the latter camp, at least when it came to singing anything done
01:25by Lennon. He wrote in his memoir,
01:27"...to be honest, I would never like to put myself on a par with John Lennon at all. I
01:31don't think anybody should, because John Lennon was unique, a one-off, and that's the way
01:36it is. I admire him very much and that's as far as I want to go."
01:40"...and I'm sad to say that I didn't get to meet him."
01:43Singing,
01:44"...Do They Know It's Christmas Time At All?" alongside Paul McCartney at Live Aid was one
01:49thing, but a deliberate cover of anything from the Beatles' catalog was another story.
01:53However, Queen found themselves in London on December 8, 1980, the night Lennon was
01:59murdered in New York. As a tribute, Queen hurriedly prepared and rehearsed a cover of
02:03Lennon's Imagine and added it to their set for a Wembley Arena show the next night.
02:08The tribute was heartfelt, but imperfect. Chords and lyrics were fumbled before it was
02:14over. But a few days later, Mercury and the band gave their tribute cover again in Frankfurt,
02:19Germany. According to Smooth Radio, Queen kept the cover in their playlist for the rest
02:23of their 1980 tour.
02:25In the immediate aftermath of Lennon's death, Mercury used his hero as a measuring stick
02:30for his own songwriting ability. According to Mark Blake's book, Is This the Real Life?
02:34The Untold Story of Queen, Mercury's self-assessment was,
02:38"...I don't believe that I have a talent to write deep messages. John Lennon can do that,
02:43but I can't."
02:44He gave that self-critique shortly after Lennon's murder, but he may have changed his mind by
02:481982, or at least felt willing to try reaching further. That was the year that Queen put
02:53out the album Hot Space, an eclectic and experimental release that leaned heavily into funk. Contemporary
03:00and retrospective reviews have rarely been kind to it, but Life Is Real, Mercury's tribute
03:06to his slain idol, did receive some positive notice. Mercury took the unusual step of coming
03:12in with the lyrics fully formed before collaborating with the rest of Queen on the music. The primary
03:17motive was less a direct comment on Lennon's work than Mercury coming to terms with the
03:22fact that Lennon was gone for good.
03:25Since Mercury's own untimely death, live performances of the song by Queen have been repurposed
03:30into a tribute to him, with photos of Mercury played behind the band.