In a new NHK interview, Queen guitarist Brian May discussed Freddie Mercury being ‘quite rude’ to some fans, but how he understood it.
“Freddie being Freddie. Well, he was unusual. I don’t know what I mean in a particular case, but Freddie was a person of, he would say, no compromise, and I think the compromises were made inside of him, but he didn’t want to appear as if he was compromising because he wanted to come from a position of strength.
So that’s one thing. It’s unusual. I think most of us in the world like to please people. We feel a need to be liked and need to please them. Freddie didn’t have that. He somehow got beyond that and if he didn’t want to do something he would say, “No, I’m not doing that,” and if somebody wanted an autograph at a particular time when he was doing something else, he would say, “No, fuck off darling,” which is quite rude, but everybody understood that he was so focused that it made sense for him.
He had a freedom. Freddie represented to me a kind of freedom which we all strive for, which is the freedom not to be governed by pleasing people. You can appear selfish, but in fact, you achieve more this way.”
Queen have experienced a new wave of popularity after their box office hit biopic Bohemian Rhapsody.
