Blog 43

Sorry for the gap again. Time has just flown by and just about recovered from last weekend in Montreux. It was great to see all the ‘Freddies’ running around raising money for the MPT. I admire every one of them for their dedication and they really deserve a huge amount of praise.

John, again amongst many of you, wondered what Freddie would make of his music being as popular as it is today.
I can actually see two totally different reactions in my mind right now. The first is Freddie actually feeling humbled by the amount that people listen to and talk about his music, but I also can see him saying ‘but of course they still listen to it….. I wrote it!’ Seriously, I think he would be a bit taken aback that people still think about him as much as they do after more than 20 years.

Christy asked what music Freddie had on the jukebox seen in the last video interview with him.
There actually weren’t too many records inserted, but I do remember he had some Elvis Presley and a few of the old rock and roll 45s in there.

Aedan asked if Freddie rode a bike.
In the twelve years I was working for Freddie, I never saw Freddie ride a bike. That is not to say he couldn’t. Bicycle race came about when he saw riders from the Tour de France pass his hotel window.

Carlos wanted to know a bit more about Hold On and Jo Dare.
The track came about because Freddie was in Munich at the same time Jo Dare was working in Musicland Studios with Mack. Mack called up Freddie and told him about Jo and what a good voice she had. Freddie was curious after what Mack said and he visited the studio. Jo and Freddie got on very well and he liked the idea for the song and was very happy to make his contribution to the duet. The last I heard of Jo Dare was that she lives somewhere in Texas and still does a few shows locally.

Norman asked about the whereabouts of Jim Hutton’s remains.
Jim was buried close to his family near his home in Ireland. I believe that was his wish.

Yuki asked the names of Freddie’s cats. I know I have answered this before, but the question still comes up frequently, so here goes.
The originals that I know of were Tom and Jerry who were around when Freddie was living with Mary. When he moved to Stafford Terrace he had Oscar and then Tiffany. They moved with him to Garden Lodge where they were joined over the years by Goliath, Delilah, Miko, Romeo and Lily. As he was in Munich for quite a while he also had a cat there called Dorothy.

Carole wanted to know if Freddie has ever communicated with me in a dream.
I suppose like lots of people I have had many dreams where Freddie was present and involved in the dream. Sometimes they can be very vivid, but I don’t think I ever felt that Freddie was trying to tell me something. Many times the Freddie in the dream doesn’t say or do things the real Freddie did, but it is still Freddie all the same.

Marco asked if any of the celebrities at the 1990 Brit Awards knew Freddie was sick.
I would have to answer no, none of them specifically knew Freddie was sick, but I suspect all of them had their suspicions. Many of them had friends who were sick at the same time, so would recognize the symptoms. Others would see a big difference from the Freddie they knew before and would think he had some illness, not specifically HIV/AIDS.

Kristian wanted to know how Freddie relaxed after a concert.
Like just about any artist who performs on stage, at the end the adrenalin is running through the body, so it is almost impossible to sit quietly. For Freddie, his way of coming down after a show was to go out on the town with a group of friends until the early hours. This gave the chance for the adrenalin to dissipate.

Marketa has voiced another question asked by many people. Was Freddie naturally left handed?
I have only ever seen Freddie use his right hand to write and he ate right handed. I suppose there is a possibility that he was born left handed and then taught to use his right hand. This could be put down to the fact that in India, particularly at that time, the right hand was the hand you ate with. It is something that only his family could give you an answer to.

Now it’s time to try to catch up with life. Everything seems to come to a halt when Montreux happens. I still have a few hundred questions to answer, so don’t think I am ignoring you ?!