FREDDIE Mercury will forever be an icon as the frontman of legendary band Queen.
But before he became Freddie Mercury and the leader of Queen, who was he?
Where was Freddie Mercury born?
Freddie was born in Stone Town, Zanzibar, which is an East African Island off the coast of Tanzania on September 5, 1946.
He was born to parents Bomi and Jer Bulsara.
Six-years later, his parents had a daughter, also born in Zanzibar, called Kashmira Bulsara.
Freddie spent a portion of his childhood in boarding schools in India before returning to Zanzibar in 1963.
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When did Freddie Mercury move to the UK?
Arab control began in 1840 when the Sultan of Oman at the time moved his capital to Stone Town, Zanzibar.
On January 12, 1964 a revolution began in Zanzibar, that was described by historian Nabil Eddoumi as the most violent outbreak of anti-Arab violence in postcolonial African history.
When the revolution began, 800 African insurgents led by the Afro-Shirazi Party took over key infrastructure in Zanzibar, effectively overthrowing the government.
The conflict led to the removal of the Sultan of Zanzibar and his government. Zanzibar then unified with Tanzania as an independent state.
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The uprising resulted in the targeting of people of Arab and South Asian heritage. As many as 17,000 people were killed.
The revolution forced Freddie and his family to flee Zanzibar for England in November 1964.
The Bulsara family ended up living in Feltham, London Borough of Hounslow.
The house he used to live in with his family is recognised as an English Heritage site and the famous blue plaque can be seen on the front.
After he moved to the UK, he studied graphic design courses at what is now part of the University of West London. He graduated in 1969.
It was there that he was first introduced to Roger Taylor and Brian May who were in a band called Smile.
When Smile's lead singer quit, Freddie joined Taylor and May as the frontman of the group and in 1970, Queen was born.
What is Freddie Mercury's real name?
The singer was known by a couple of names before he settled on Freddie Mercury.
He was born Farrokh Bulsara.
When he was in boarding school in Panchgani, near Bombay (now Mumbai), he formed his first rock 'n' roll band called The Hectics.
It was during this time that he started to call himself Freddie.
This was seen in the 2018 blockbuster Bohemian Rhapsody, where Rami Malek played the late Queen frontman.
May told Queen Biographer Lesley-Ann Jones: "Freddie had written this song called My Fairy King and there's a line in it that says: 'Oh mother mercury, what have you done to me?'
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According to May, this was the inspiration behind the superstars name.
In the early 1970s Freddie legally changed his name from Bulsara to Mercury.
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