Celebrating with a 'Google Doodle' what would have been Queen singer Freddie Mercury’s 65th birthday today the Google homepage interactively springs to life, like a tiger defying the laws of gravity, and reveals a spectacular animation.
The latest in the animated 'doodle' series was three months in the making and features music from the band including Don't Stop Me Now and references to hit tunes Crazy Little Thing Called Love and Flash.
See Charlie Chaplin's Google Doodle
Alexander Calder's Google Doodle
Legendary Queen lead guitarist Brian May told Google:
“Freddie was fully focused, never allowing anything or anyone to get in the way of his vision for the future. He was truly a free spirit. There are not many of these in the world. To achieve this, you have to be, like Freddie, fearless – unafraid of upsetting anyone's apple cart."
“To create with Freddie was always stimulating to the max. He was daring, always sensing a way to get outside the box. Sometimes he was too far out…and he’d usually be the first to realise it. With a conspiratorial smile he would say “Oh … did I lose it, dears?!” But usually there was sense in his nonsense—art in his madness. It was liberating. I think he encouraged us all in his way, to believe in our own madness, and the collective mad power of the group Queen."
“Even though physically he is not here, his presence seems more potent than ever. Freddie made the last person at the back of the furthest stand in a stadium feel that he was connected…
"He lived life to the full. He devoured life. He celebrated every minute. And, like a great comet, he left a luminous trail which will sparkle for many a generation to come.”
Freddie Mercury was born on September 5 1946, and died on November 24 1991. Find out more about freddieforaday.com – the organisation helping to fight HIV/AIDs co-founded by Brian May.
