Freddie Mercury: The Biography (42 page)

Close friend Kenny Everett was also a victim of AIDS. In 1975 it was Everett’s unorthodox airtime blitz with ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ that encouraged the single’s release by EMI.
(Photo courtesy of Jo Gurnett)

The legendary Hollywood star Elizabeth Taylor, in her capacity as National Chairperson for the American AIDS Research Foundation (AmFAR), made a guest appearance at the 1992 Freddie Mercury Easter Tribute at Wembley. She described Mercury as ‘an extraordinary rock star, who rushed across our cultural landscape like a comet shooting across the sky.’
(Bruce Weber: courtesy of Elizabeth Taylor)

Mercury hides behind his tennis racket after a match with Tony Pike at Pike’s Hotel.
(Photo courtesy of Tony Pike)