Farookh Bulsara was born of Persian parents, Bomi and Jer Bulsara, on Thursday, September 5, 1946 at the Government Hospital on the small spice island of Zanzibar, off the coast of Tanzania. His father, Bomi, was a civil servant, working as a High Court cashier for the British Government. At just one year old, Freddie had his first taste of fame when the local photographer took his picture and displayed it in his shop window - to be awarded first prize in a baby contest. At the age of five he started to attend the Zanzibar Missionary School, which was run by British nuns.

Mr. Bulsara's work meant he had to travel all over India, taking up different posts for various terms. In 1954, at the tender age of eight, Freddie was shipped off from the quiet tranquillity of life in Zanzibar to St. Peter's English boarding school in Panchgani, about fifty miles outside Bombay. It was there that friends began to call him Freddie, a name that the family also adopted.

Freddie was a good sportsman. He was also very bright academically and his artistic skills were incomparable. At the age of twelve he was awarded the school trophy as Junior All-rounder.

He was also music mad and played records on the family's old record player, stacking the singles to play constantly. The music he was able to get was mostly Indian, but some Western music was available. He would sing along to either and preferred music to school work.

During his time at St. Peter's he formed his first band, the Hectics. They played only within the school at fetes, parties and school dances. They were not allowed to venture outside for bookings. Freddie's choirboy training was useful and, even then, his inherent sense of theatrics was very much in evidence - he performed with flair and originality.

In 1964, the Bulsara's uprooted from their life in Zanzibar due to political unrest and made their home in Feltham, Middlesex. In September 1966 Freddie enrolled in Ealing College of Art to pursue a graphic illustration course.

A fellow student at Ealing College was bass player Tim Staffell, with whom Freddie became good friends. Freddie, Tim and another art student, Nigel Foster, spent a lot of their spare time together as they all shared an interest in music. With the help of a couple of secondhand guitars and Freddie's voice, they managed to entertain themselves; Freddie was good at impersonations of Jimi Hendrix and would mime outrageously to his songs, using a ruler as a guitar. He and his two friends practiced three-part harmonies, perfecting the technique rather well in the college lavatories.

As Tim's and Freddie's friendship became closer, Tim took him along to Smile's rehearsals. Freddie got on famously with Brian and Roger and loved the sound that Smile had achieved; he also had immense admiration and respect for Brian's guitar-playing. Watching and listening to them made Freddie realized that he desperately wanted to be in a band himself; that early schoolboy exposure with the Hectics, however amateur, had given him a taste of the thrill of being on stage.

In the summer of 1969 Freddie was introduced to a Liverpool band called Ibex, who had come to London to try to make a name for themselves. Ibex were a three-piece, with guitarist Mike Bersin, John 'Tupp' Taylor on bass and Mick 'Miffer' Smith on drums. They also brought with them their apprentice manager, roadie and general dogsbody Ken Testi; part-time bass player Geoff Higgins used to travel down for occasional gigs. Geoff would play bass when Tupp, a great Jethro Tull fan, wanted to play flute. Live gigs were always opened with their own rendition of 'Jailhouse Rock'. Freddie's stage act had vastly improved, although the other members of Ibex were a little embarrassed by his lively, camp movements and gestures. He was all over the place, such energy, but it wasn't done then!

In late 1969, after a typically flamboyant audition, Freddie became the lead singer with Sour Milk Sea. The band were to split just two months later. His determination to make something of himself as a performer was so strong that he found he couldn't be without a band for too long, and finally he formed his own band - Wreckage with Richard Thompson as drummer, Mike Bersin and Tupp Taylor from Ibex. A year later that too folded when Freddie, impatient for stardom, left the band.

Freddie remained friends with Smile - and when Tim Stafell left the band to try and make a name for himself with Humpy Bong - Freddie took over and joined forces with Brian and Roger.

Freddie tragically died on November 24th, 1991 at the age of 45, of AIDS related bronchial pneumonia.