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Taken from Mirror (Nov 05, 2019)
Inside Freddie Mercury's 'special bond' with Queen band mate John Deacon
Freddie Mercury and John Deacon were, on the face of it, chalk and cheese in the Queen set up but they become the closest pairing in the band as life became more chaotic
by James Brinsford, Overnight Showbiz/TV Reporter
John and Freddie in the late 70's. (Image: Redferns) |
Freddie Mercury may have been one of the more extroverted singers of his generation but his closest friend in Queen was the quietest member.
Peter Freestone was a PA to the band and witnessed the friendship from close up and has revealed what bonded Freddie with bassist John Deacon.
While Freddie embraced the hedonistic lifestyle of a successful rock star, John was happy to be in the shadows, playing his trade and keeping out of the public eye.
The death of Freddie in 1991 devastated John and he immediately quit the band and has been in reclusive retirement ever since, not wanting to come back with Brian May and Roger Taylor as Queen rose again from the ashes. (*) Info from Wikipedia: After the death of lead singer Freddie Mercury in 1991 and the following year's Tribute Concert, Deacon performed only sporadically with the remaining members of Queen before retiring from the music industry in 1997 after recording "No-One but You (Only the Good Die Young)". He has not performed on any of the other projects that the two remaining members, Brian May and Roger Taylor, have put together.
Speaking to The Express , Peter said that Freddie and John bonded from the beginning.
John Deacon and Freddie Mercury perform on stage (Image: Redferns) |
He said: "Freddie took John under his wing because he was the new boy. He was shy, not like Brian and Roger. He wanted to protect him.
"And then John found a wife and built a life with Veronica and Freddie didn’t need to look after him so much any more.
"Even so, when you look on later albums, there are a few Deacon/Mercury tracks, because John was the only one who acknowledged how much Freddie helped him."
Freddie and John became very close. (Image: Redferns) |
There was one habit that John was not so keen on and that was Freddie's desire to kick off a fight before going into a recording studio. It was the singer's way of pumping up the adrenaline before the band looked to lay down a track or two. Peter revealed: "Freddie would provoke fights with whoever was there because that gave him the impetus to work, it got his juices flowing.
"Like Brian always said, they were four people in a marriage because you have to be that close to be able to fight and make up. Most of the time it was about the music. Very rarely was the fighting and screaming personal."
Jacky Smith, who ran the Queen fan club for 37 years and said that after the death of Freddie, there wasn't any impetus for John to carry on.
She said: "John just gave up after Freddie died. He and Freddie were opposites really because John is so shy and he was the youngest in the band. Freddie took him under his wing and they were very close for all those years.
"Freddie drew the attention away, and without Freddie there, I don't think John could face any of it."
John rarely spoke in public but he was blunt with his assessment in 1996, when he addressed why he was no longer in the band.
He said: "As far as we are concerned, this is it. There is no point carrying on. It is impossible to replace Freddie."
John is still living in South Putney, London, in the same house with Veronica, his wife of 44 years.
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