The 1974 song that made Freddie Mercury a lifelong friend: “I love him to death”
There was no sense in anyone trying to compete with what Freddie Mercury was doing in the early 1970s.
Even though the rock and roll world tends to be an ill or be killed occupation half the time, there was never going to be another singer who had the same range and level of showmanship that Mercury had whenever he took to the stage. Despite being so reserved offstage, he was in his element every time the house lights went up, and a lot of his best friends were the ones who felt just as comfortable on the world’s stage.
Because while Queen was known for their music first and foremost, they were never afraid of giving the audience a show that they wouldn’t soon forget. Some of their best moments live managed to sound even better than the records they made, and while they could take more liberties when they were onstage, Mercury wasn’t looking to sell his audience short. He wasn’t going to rest until he unleashed every piece of energy in his body, and the rest of the glam rock scene wasn’t that far behind.
Then again, it’s hard to really say that everyone who fell under the ‘glam’ label really belonged in the same category. The order of the day may have been about rock and roll with lipstick on, but when you look at the heavy hitters of the industry, Sweet didn’t sound all that much like David Bowie, nor did Mercury ever try to go down the same campy road that someone like Marc Bolan was doing around that time.
Mercury was still one of the campiest performers that the world had ever seen, but if he didn’t fit in with the other flavours of the day, Elton John tended to stick out like a sore thumb. Outside of being one of the only performers around that time playing the piano first and foremost, a lot of John’s greatest idols usually came from the world of the singer-songwriter. He wanted to be like someone like Leon Russell or Laura Nyro, but that didn’t mean Mercury couldn’t see what he was doing behind the scenes.
John may have struck first with ‘Your Song’ while Queen was making their debut album, but when ‘Killer Queen’ came out, Mercury had found a friend for life when he met the piano icon, saying, “Elton’s a good old cookie. I love him to death, and I think he’s fabulous. To me, he’s like one of those last Hollywood actresses of any worth.”
Adding, “The first time I met him, he was wonderful, one of those people you can instantly get on with. He said he liked ‘Killer Queen’ and anyone who says that goes into my white book. My black book is bursting at the seams!”
But beyond the fact that ‘Killer Queen’ is one of the catchiest songs in Queen’s catalogue, what really made it work was how sophisticated it was behind the scenes. Anyone could have stumbled upon finding a melody that worked for whatever song they were working on, but Mercury’s ode to a high-end call girl felt like the kind of tune that wouldn’t have been out of place in a Broadway show.
That was everything that John was looking for in a friend, but his relationship with Mercury was much more than just casual kind words in the press. John felt that he had found a true friend the more he kept in touch with Mercury, and even up until the frontman’s death, John was moved that Mercury was thinking enough of him to get him a Christmas present while he was still dying of AIDS.
But that’s the kind of person that Mercury always was. He wasn’t going to get along with absolutely everyone in the press, but when he felt that he could connect with someone in the business, it was about more than just having a friend. It was about having someone that he could trust with anything he gave them.
