Don’t Stop Them Now: Fans Party for Freddie Mercury’s 80th Birthday

Thousands of Queen fans turned Freddie Mercury’s statue in Montreux into a birthday party on Saturday, celebrating what would have been the legendary British singer’s 80th birthday.

Fans sang, cheered and dressed in flamboyant outfits inspired by Mercury’s stage costumes. They gathered in the Swiss town where the Queen frontman sought peace during his final years and recorded his last vocals.

“It is a special birthday, so you’ve got to make the effort to come and celebrate all things Freddie,” said Sonia, who travelled from Canberra. The crowd included fans from Australia and Japan, as well as from Feltham, the housing estate near London’s Heathrow Airport where Mercury’s Parsi family settled after fleeing the Zanzibar revolution in 1964.

The bronze statue, erected in 1996 in a triumphant pose overlooking Lake Geneva, was covered with balloons, flowers and tributes from well-wishers. Appreciation for Queen’s legacy and Mercury’s distinctive talent has continued to grow since his death in 1991 from bronchial pneumonia.

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It is a special birthday, so you’ve got to make the effort to come and celebrate all things Freddie.