Freddie Mercury once named favourite rock ‘n’ roll songs of all time
As strange as it may seem, one of the best ways an artist can navigate success is to be completely detached from it. To not wake up every day wondering if everything will have changed overnight might be a privilege for some, but for Freddie Mercury, it was a necessity to not be in the game for all the wrong reasons. As he once said when asked about staying on top: “I’m Freddie Mercury. I’m me.”
Written down, that looks like one of his typically playful remarks filled with more meaning than can be stuffed into a mere five words, but in reality, it really did say everything we ever needed to know. Mercury wasn’t motivated by a lot of the same things others were, nor did he relate to the parts of the industry others saw as toxic or manipulative. His art really did come from the heart, and that’s all that mattered.
In the same breath, he said it wasn’t really in his nature to wake up every day and think about how he was going to conquer: he just did. Again, that might be something that looks suspiciously egotistical on paper, but the truth of it was always in Mercury’s inherent modesty, even in moments when he poked fun at being rich, or enjoying money and choosing to “flaunt it”, or any other way he made it known it wasn’t exactly materialistically lacking.
But that’s also besides the point: the point is that when Mercury spoke, be it about his success, his indifference to it, or otherwise, we listened. We listened because he wasn’t just a singer, a part of the industry cesspit, he was a legend (he even said so once himself). That was all. And ego was never really a part of it anyway because he knew who the act was worth it for, the kind that effectively said, “This is me. Take it or leave it.”
There’s no doubt about the fact that that’s also why, when Mercury discussed his favourite artists or songs, we listened, too. We listened because Mercury’s emergence in an industry that can be so insidious seems somewhat miraculous, a little like his vocal range, seemingly peering from nowhere yet everywhere all at once. We listened because, on top of it all, we want to know the voices that shaped his.
Once, while sharing his favourite songs of all time, Mercury revealed a small handful of his most cherished rock ‘n’ roll flavours: ‘Jailhouse Rock’ and ‘Love Me Tender’ by Elvis Presley, Cliff Richard’s ‘Please Don’t Tease’, and The Righteous Brothers’ ‘Unchained Melody’ (a slightly pop-y one, though still firmly rooted). According to Roger Taylor, Mercury was especially fond of Presley and Richard, both with the kind of rock ‘n’ roll energy he went on to emanate in his own hyper-charged performances.
He even paid homage to the King later with ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’, a song that evidently proved his natural flowing adoration for the singer, especially considering the fact that it came to him one day when he was in the bath. In about ten minutes. “He was very fond of Elvis, and of Cliff, I have to say,” Taylor later reflected. “Freddie wrote it very quickly and rushed in and put it down with the boys. By the time I got there, it was almost done.”
Maybe taking notes from people like Presley is where he got it from: the confidence to step back from public perception, letting the music speak for itself, while also not refraining from showing off a little when the moment calls for it. The reins were always loosened when it came to Mercury’s demeanour, though always with the kind of integrity that kept it authentic, almost like the kind of resigned detachment central to rock ‘n’ roll’s rebellious charm.
Freddie Mercury’s favourite rock ‘n’ roll songs:
- ‘Jailhouse Rock’ – Elvis Presley
- ‘Love Me Tender’ – Elvis Presley
- ‘Unchained Melody’ – The Righteous Brothers
- ‘Please Don’t Tease’ – Cliff Richard
