EULOGY OF THE WORLD’S FIRST INDIAN ROCKSTAR

Come November 22, fifteen years has gone by since the world’s first Indian rockstar or rather world’s first Indian-Parsi rockstar to be precise, passed away. Want to take a guess? Oh come on I am sure there is not even a single soul out there who has not sung or atleast heard “We will rock you!”. Yes it is the front man of the band Queen, Freddie Mercury.

Born to Parsi-Zoroastrian parents who were originally Indians, Fredrick Bulsaro did his schooling in St Peters near Mumbai even if his parent moved to Zanzibar and later England. Little did this boy Fredrick seated in front of his piano learning so that he could play for his first band The Hectic, know that he was to become a legend an exceptional, excellent and eccentric rockstar. As Brian May the guitarist of queen puts it, “Freddie was eccentric but its alright geniuses are allowed to be eccentric.”

With his trademark tights and protruding teeth he took over the rock n’ roll world of the eighties. The energy and the adoration that he had for his fans was so immense that it fueled him through his good and bad times. He openly confessed his sexual preference, “I am as gay as a daffodil, darling.” It did not seem to change the way his fans worshipped him. He was unfortunately diagnosed with AIDS and he died of bronchial pneumonia. A sea of people cried an ocean of tears and bid adieu to him convinced that it was death of so much talent and the death of the quality and love of music that he took along.

It has been over a decade since Queen fell apart still the music lives and reverberates through any rock n’ rollers blood. Freddie Mercury is the face on the Millenium stamp of the Royal Mail and his statue in Montreux celebrates the performer he was. The vocalist of Guns n’ Roses, Axl Rose claims that it was Freddie mercury’s lyrics that opened his mind and thought him the realities of life. Kurt Cobain in his alleged suicide note has written that he felt “guilty beyond words” for lacking Freddie Mercury’s enthusiasm for music and performing for the screaming crowd.

This outlandish vocalist was truly one of a kind when it came to writing music or emoting it into a piano verse and the tone of his voice. The operatic songs like “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “We are the Champions” are still popular. Catchy songs like “crazy little thing called love” and “under pressure” are evergreen. Like any responsible musician he sang songs about the changes, about war, about peace but above all about humanity and the compassion. The apprehension of the radio lovers with the advent of televisions in “Radio ga ga”, the song that set higher standards of freedom of expression “I want to break free” and songs like “one” that showed the compassion he had. In the end after being diagnosed positive to the deadly virus he sang, “Who wants to live for ever” and “show must go on” listening to these would leave anyone weeping. May be it was because he sang only for what he felt or what he really believed in that made him immortal. For human emotions are such that they never change with the time, deep down inside we are all the same and still can relate to each other and similarly to his music.

“Show must go on…Show must go on..Oh inside my heart is breaking, my make up may be flaking but my smile still stays on. I will face it with a grin I am never giving in on with the show.”