Freddie Mercury was the lead singer of the famous British rock band, Queen. He was born to Indian Parsi parents on the island of Zanzibar. He attended British-style boarding school in India, where he began using the name Freddie. He basically had to masquerade as a white man to succeed, especially in the US. He was most known for his insane vocal range, tight clothing, and mustache. Even though most people at the time knew that Mercury was queer, it wasn’t just about sexuality with him. His whole identity and the flamboyant persona he projected on stage was one of the main things Queen is known for. He died in the AIDS epidemic in 1991 and was one of the first publically out LGBTQ+ artists of that time period.