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GLAM ROCK BEAR'S GLAM ROCK SITE
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FREDDIE MERCURY - A PERSONAL MEMOIR
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Freddie is the only glam star that I can claim to have known personally (though I did know Pilot’s Billy Lyall on a casual “hi, how are you” basis around the same time).
The time was 1982-83, from around the time Queen’s ‘Hot Space’ album came out. Freddie at this time used to frequent many of London’s gay bars and clubs such as the London Apprentice, the Coleherne and the Copacabana. Apart from a constant bodyguard, one of Freddie’s most frequent companions on these outings was Queen’s business manager, Paul Prenter.
I dated Paul for about six months during this period, and as such I also became an extended part of the entourage.
I have to admit that my memories of the time are a little vague, there was a lot of drink and drugs involved, but I do remember that Freddie was always generous, never allowing anyone else to pay for drinks. My impression of Freddie was that he was always friendly (everybody was “darling”), though somewhat distant, unsurprising since at the time he was one of the biggest rock stars on the planet. I don’t think I’ll be causing any great scandal when I say that one of my main memories of Freddie is of the huge amounts of cocaine he took (and always shared), and which I, being 21 years old at the time, was happy to join in with (well I wouldn’t say no now either!).
On a number of occasions I did go back to Freddie’s house off Kensington High Street, though my memories of this are also vague since this was always after a long night of drink and drugs, and the visits involved popping in, doing a few lines of coke (and his coke was always the best), then leaving to go home with Paul.
Through Paul I also met several others in Freddie’s circle, including Peter Straker, and visited Queen’s offices in Notting Hill on numerous occasions.
Paul died of AIDS in 1991 in his native Dublin, by which time I hadn’t been in touch with him for a number of years. I did read somewhere on the internet an article which insinuated that Freddie could have caught AIDS from Paul, which is frankly ridiculous, since their relationship was never anything more than a business and social one.
My paths with Freddie did cross again, sort of, after his death, when I lived for five years working in Ibiza, Spain (1989-93), working in a bar. While working there I became well acquainted with Winnie Kirchberger, a restaurateur from Munich, who had been Freddie’s lover for several years. I visited Winnie’s home in Munich on several occasions, and became well acquainted with many of the people who had been part of Freddie’s Munich entourage including Marion, Peter, and actress Barbara Valentin. Winnie also sadly died from AIDS in the early nineties.
Follow this link to read a passage by Jim, one of Freddie’s lovers. While it dates from a year after my experiences, and his words about Paul are not particularly complimentary, it does essentially back up my own personal memories of the time.
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This is the only foto I have been able to find showing Freddie and Paul (Paul is at the far right). If anyone has any better ones I would be very grateful to see them.
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Freddie Mercury circa 1982
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above: Glam Rock Bear circa 1982
left: Freddie and Winnie Kirchberger
below: Winnie and myself, around 1991
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Barbara Valentin and myself
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(featuring Queen)
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