Freddie Mercury (September 5, 1946 – November 24, 1991) was a pianist, songwriter, arranger and singer for the British rock band, Queen
Mercury possessed an exceedingly slight tenor voice capable of producing both very biting and very gravelly tones. His recorded vocal range spanned nearly four octaves, with his lowest recorded note being the F1 and his highest recorded being the D5 [1]. Because he maintained such an excellent tone over a three octave range, it could be argued that Mercury was simultaneously both a baritone and a tenor. With his vocal versatility and a somewhat operatic technique, he was one of the most technically accomplished singers to work in the pop idiom. In a list of the greatest English language singers of the 20th century complied by BBC Radio, Mercury was ranked #10 [2]. The poll was topped by Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald. He also came in second in MTV's list of the 22 greatest singers of the past 25 years, having been beaten by Mariah Carey for the top spot [3]

Freddie Mercury's performance at Live Aid has recently been voted by various artists, journalists and music industry executives as the greatest live performance of all time in rock music [4]. The results of the poll were televised on a Channel 4 television program in the UK called "The World's Greatest Gigs". Of the all the artists present at the Live Aid concert, Queen was widely regarded as having stolen the show, largely as a result of Mercury's incredible talent and charisma.

One of Mercury's trademarks throughout the years involved the use of a microphone (and stand) minus the bottom section. In his early years of singing he made the decision to pick up his microphone, still attached to the stand. At one particular event, the bottom fell off by accident and, from that point on, he decided to use a bottomless microphone stand. When asked why, he replied, "Everyone has to have a gimmick, dear."