Phoebe’s blog 4

Cristian and Czarina have asked a couple of questions regarding Freddie’s costumes.
The t shirts he wore for the last tour and some videos were actually found by Diana Moseley, with whom Freddie worked with regarding his costumes from the time of ‘Living on my Own’ onwards. She would find something that would make Freddie smile and it went from there. There was no sponsorship involved. Most of Freddie’s costumes are on show in various places around the world, in various exhibitions etc. A few have made it into the world of private collectors. Freddie never went to the gym in his life. He is the only person I have known to have 2 home gyms, one in his apartment in New York, and one in the house he rented in L.A., and they were only used by friends who came to visit. He was very lucky with his body, and when you watch a live show, you can see he probably puts more into it than a workout in the gym!

Colin asks about the origins of the famous ‘moustache!
When I started work for Freddie in 1979, Freddie was clean shaven, with shorter hair, but still needing a hair dryer to control it. I finished work at the end of the ‘Crazy’ tour and didn’t see him again until the start of the next tour in late spring 1980 and by then the transformation had taken place, moustache and short hair. He had spent quite a lot of time in America around that time and this was the image most of his friends had at that time, the ‘clone’ look. It was one of the very few instances that Freddie actually followed a fashion!

I can combine the questions from Matthias and Josephine regarding Freddie, work and attitude to fame.
Freddie would often ask for friend’s opinions regarding some of his work. He would make them listen to something he had just recorded and would listen to what people would say. He would be very happy if it corresponded to what he already knew. He had already decided what he thought and would rarely change his mind. Queen were always prepared for the worst reviews from the music press to any of their releases, so when they created new work, they made it for the fans, never for the magazines. Fame was part of the deal. It enabled him to live the life he wanted. It gave him so much of what he had in his life, and also gave him the means to make others happy. When he was behind the walls of Garden Lodge, his home in London, he was able to be totally himself, not care what he was wearing or if he had a hair out of place. As soon as he walked out of the gate, it was a different matter. He would have on the trainers, jeans, t shirt, leather jacket, sun glasses, and he would become the star that everyone expected him to be.

For Abbie and Victoria….. food!
When I started working for Freddie back in 1979, Freddie loved spicy foods. Not necessarily chili hot, but food flavoured with many different exotic spices. Exotic then, commonplace now! His favourite curry was a chicken dhansak, a chicken curry made with vegetables and lentils. For breakfast he liked two slices of toast, with butter and either a homemade strawberry jam or homemade marmalade. I would make about 12 jars of each flavour every year when the fruit was in season. His eating habits changed towards the end of his life. Earlier he would have breakfast, something light for lunch and then be out with friends at a restaurant for a big dinner. In his last years he would still have the breakfast, but would then invite friends over, or go out for a larger lunch, then have something smaller in the evening, as his digestion patterns changed with the disease.

Having mentioned moustaches at the beginning of this blog, I can’t resist the question to all of you. Are you prepared to FFAD this year? Make sure you check out the Freddie For A Day website to see what help it can give you in your efforts to be Freddie for the day!