Is it really 10 years since Freddie Mercury's death

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A.� It is�- 22 November 1991 was the day that Freddie Mercury succumbed to bronchial complications, a result of his HIV infection which he had kept secret from the world until just days before his death.

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Q.� Why was his illness kept secret

A.� The secrecy concerning Mercury's illness was all part of the contradictions that made him the individual he was, as a very public performer, and a very private man.

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On stage, Mercury was the ultimate showman, changing his name from his original Farrokh Bulsara to the more exciting Freddie Mercury. His re-aligned Christian name had been given to him at boarding school, and he adopted his flamboyant surname as a statement of his intended stage and public persona. Away from the spotlight, Mercury lived a life of show business excess, from which the press and public were firmly excluded. He gave very few interviews in his lifetime�- an unusual approach considering his consuming passion with making his band Queen one of the biggest live and album attractions in the world throughout the 1970's and 1980's.

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Q. How much of Queen's success was due to Mercury

A.� The majority. Mercury was responsible for the musical fusion of screaming guitars and bass and drums bombast which echoed his heroes Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix, together with the music hall tradition of quirky story-telling songs, and the three-part vocal harmonies that underpinned all their songs. Mercury composed, or co-wrote nearly all the band's major hit records, as well as using his own strong visual concepts to create a series of ground-breaking videos to promote the music. As a front man, Freddie Mercury managed that rare feat of bringing a degree of originality to a well-trodden format. He preened and strutted in the footsteps of Zeppelin's Robert Plant, but he enjoyed camp chitchat with stadium audiences, as though he was chatting one-to-one across a dinner table.

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Q.� Was Mercury a controversial figure

A.� He was, not least for his original image, which included wearing Zandra Rhodes costumes on stage, and painting the fingernails of his right hand with black nail varnish. Not content with the outrage that this caused, Mercury affected a mid-career image swerve by cutting his hair short, growing a moustache, and wearing tight shorts and singlets on stage, which simply heightened the gossip that Mercury was gay. Typically, Mercury refused to confirm or deny his sexuality, maintaining a strict boundary between his public life, which everyone could see, and his private life, which consisted of legendary parties at his various homes around the world.

Q.� What about the music�- any controversy there

A.� Because of Mercury's insistence on pushing the boundaries of Queen's music as far as possible, the band were known for being progressive, sometimes a little too progressive even for their own fans. In 1980, having taken a quantum leap into the infant dance music form, unheard of for an out-and-out rock band like Queen, the band enjoyed a surprise hit with bassist John Deacon's funky Another One Bites The Dust. Instead of leaving it at that, Mercury pushed the band into further exploration of the dance genre with the next album, Hot Space, which became one of their poorest sellers. Queen saw their American audience dwindle, but they re-established themselves with their superlative performance at Live Aid in 1985.

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Q.� What about Freddie Mercury away from Queen

A.� Mercury was a prolific composer and writer, and he enjoyed success in several solo projects, in the late 1980's he proved that his voice was equal to the discipline of opera, recording music with Spanish diva Monsterrat Caballe, as well as releasing some solo singles.

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By the end of the decade, Mercury knew he was dying from AIDS, although in agreement with the rest of the band, he kept the news from the public, continuing to work almost until his death. The band's final video for Days Of Our Lives shows how ill Mercury was, wearing a clown costume and wig to disguise the lesions on his face, and the hair-loss he suffered as the infection took hold of his body. Even then, he was still the visual director and driving force behind the video, keeping things as normal as possible to the very end.

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Q.� How popular are Freddie Mercury and Queen today

A.� In common with a number of other rock stars and bands, the Queen and Mercury solo albums, some released after his death, have increased sales over the intervening decade. Queen gave a massive tribute concert just after Mercury's passing, the proceeds to an AIDS charity set up in his memory. The bulk of Freddie Mercury's fortune, including is London mansion, was left to Mary Austin, his only long-time partner, and life-long supporter and confidante. Only Mary knew all the other sides of this talented and complex man, and as you would expect, she is keeping his memory private.

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Andy Hughes