Freddie Mercury went down in history as one of the biggest rock stars of all time, but there’s still a lot that most people don’t know about the Queen singer’s upbringing and family history.
Freddie Mercury was born Farrokh Bulsara, to parents Bomi and Jer Bulsara. He was born in the Tanzanian archipelago of Zanzibar, because his father moved there for work. His roots lie in India and Persia, and his parents practiced the Zoroastrian religion.
Meet Freddie’s Parents
Freddie Mercury’s parents identified as Indian Parsi, and they originated from the Gujarat region in India. They were Zoroastrian by faith, and the singer’s younger sister Kashmira said that she believes their faith thought Freddie “to work hard, to persevere, and to follow [his] dreams.”
Freddie’s father Bomi was one of eight brothers, who grew up in a small town of Bulsar, near today’s Mumbai. One by one, Bomi and his brothers sailed across the Indian Ocean in search of a better life, and settled in Zanzibar. He found employment with the British Government as the high court cashier, but often returned to India on business.
During one of his trips back home, Bomi met Jer and she followed him to Zanzibar after they tied the knot. They led a comfortable life, and could afford buying a family car and employing a domestic servant thanks to Bomi’s salary. Freddie was born as Farrokh Bulsara in 1946, and he was joined by the younger sister Kashmira six years later.
The Queen singer spent most of his childhood years in India, where he attended prestigious boarding school St. Peter’s Church. He returned to Zanzibar in 1963, but didn’t stick around there for too long, because his family fled to England one year later, after the Zanzibar Revolution broke out.
Reacting to His Fame
After moving to London, Freddie Mercury studied art and graphic design, but his love for music wasn’t fading away. He joined one band after another, and failed to find success, until finally crossing paths with Brian May in 1970, and becoming the lead singer of Smile.
They later changed their name to Queen, and went on to find worldwide fame with such hits as “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “We Are the Champions”, and “Another One Bites the Dust”. The entire world fell in love with Freddie’s style and voice, but his extravagant and flamboyant fashion choices didn’t always sit well with his family.
Freddie’s mother Jer Bulsara admitted that he never discussed his sexuality with his family, and tried to avoid talking about work all together, because he wanted to protect them.
“Freddie kept a strict division between his work and his home all his life. If I ever asked, he would say, ‘Mum, that is business, and this is family.’ He was kind and very respectful both to myself and his father,” Jer Bulsara told The Telegraph.
Supportive Mother
Freddie Mercury passed away in 1991, years after testing positive for AIDS, and was outlived by both of his parents. The same way he avoided discussing his sexuality, the Queen singer didn’t go into detail about his illness around his family, but his mother could tell he was very ill.
He stayed devoted to his faith, and his funeral service was conducted by a Zoroastrian priest. His mom Jer reflected on his passing by saying, “No mother wants to see her son die, but, at the same time, he has done more for the world in his short life than many people could do in 100 years.”
The singer’s father Bomi passed away in 2003, while his mom Jer died in 2016, at the age 94. Queen’s Brian May paid tribute to his bandmate’s late mother, and recalled the close relationship they had. He described Jer as “a keen follower of [their] progress as a band”, and said she came to see them live whenever they played nearby.