London, Sep 5 (IANS) Flamboyant Parsi-British musician Farrokh Bulsara, better known by fans as Freddie Mercury and the lead singer of popular rock band Queen, was remembered on his 65th birth anniversary by Google with an animated doodle on its home page.
The 100-second collage, said to be among the longest posted by Google, has been kicked off with a blog by Brian May, who was a song-writer for Queens with numbers like ?We Will Rock You? that made Mercury one of the most popular artists ever.
"From time to time, we invite guests to post about items of interest and are thrilled to have Brian May join us to talk about friend and bandmate Freddie Mercury," said Google, introducing the blog on Mercury, equally versatile on piano, keyboard and guitar.
"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," said May, remembering his friend, who would have been 65 Monday.
"Some people imagine Freddie as a fiery, difficult diva who required everyone around him to compromise. No! In our world, as four artists attempting to paint on the same canvas, Freddie was always the one who could find the compromise -- the way to pull it through."
Born to Bomi and Jer Bulsara in the British protectorate of Zanzibar, now in Tanzania, Bulsara soon moved to Panchgani near Mumbai and spent his childhood there. He started taking piano lessons since seven and five years later formed a rock band of his own.
His family then moved to Feltham in Middlesex, England, and after his graduation and some odd jobs, he joined a band called Ibex in 1969. A year later, along with May and drummer Roger Taylor, he formed Queen -- and also changed his surname to Mercury.
Counted among the greatest entertainers, Mercury himself wrote several songs, notably "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Killer Queen", "We Are the Champions", "Seven Seas of Rhye", "Play the Game", "Somebody to Love" and "Don't Stop Me Now".
He was openly gay, but hid his HIV status -- believed to have been diagnosed sometime in 1987 -- from the public for at least two years. He died Nov 24, 1991 at his home in Kensington, when he was barely 45, a few months after he said bye to Queen.
Among the other notable tributes, luxury car-maker Lotus has produced a one-off Evora S coupe in his honour in pearl white with red and gold accents that was the entertainer's signature costume in the mid 1980s.
The car is to be auctioned off for an HIV-AIDS charity formed by his Queen-mates.