In a music video for the single ‘I Want To Break Free’ the band dressed up in drag and mocked the ITV soap opera Coronation Street. Although the concept was proposed by Roger Taylor, it was Freddie that got backlash for the video. At this time, the public was questioning his sexuality and MTV even banned the video in the United States. Although this wasn’t the only time when Mercury wore women’s clothing. He teamed up with Queen’s drummer and Peter Straker to record a music video for his solo song ‘The Great Pretender’. Many of his outfits might have a hidden symbolic meaning. During many Queen concerts, the musician would wear costumes decorated with lighting symbols. This may be a reference to Zoroastrianism, where lightning is considered a special form of energy because it requires neither water nor nourishment for its existence. This can’t be proven since Mercury didn’t talk about his faith publicly, and we don’t know whenever he chose to continue his family’s religious practises.
Freddie Mercury had many iconic looks and it would be almost impossible to cover and explain all of them in great detail. Although the vocalist has passed away and the bassist of the band decided to step down from the public eye, Queen is still performing with Adam Lambert. Whenever you hated or loved ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, it’s safe to say that the movie made a huge impact, and showed how much of an incredible artist Mercury was. New generations are listening to the band’s music and appreciating Bulsara’s performative and flamboyant outfits, while securing the musician’s title of a rock god and a fashion icon.
Written by Margaret Leonp