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Animal
House Folly
Farm Blog
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Freddie Mercury flamboyant lead singer of Queen was known for his outrageous antics onstage but behind the scenes he was a family man devoted to his household of cats.
Some of Mercury's best-known songs were about looking for love and losing it but the two constants in his life were former lover Mary Austin and his cats. When he was away on tour he would ring London to talk to each of his pets while Mary put them near the phone so they could hear him speaking. The cats were even given their own gifts at Christmas. His cats also featured in his music. In
1985 Mercury dedicated his first solo album "Mr Bad Guy" "to
my cat Jerry- also Tom, Oscar and Tiffany, and all the cat lovers across
the universe- screw everybody else". His favourite cat Delilah featured
in a song written for the 1991 Queen album "Innuendo". The cats
also starred in the video for "Those Were The Days Of Our Lives"
where Mercury wore a silk waistcoat painted with their portraits. Mercury became increasingly reclusive after
being diagnosed with AIDS with few people being told of his devastating
condition. Towards the end only family and very intimate friends such
as Mary Austin were allowed near the singer and his cat Delilah was lying
near him on his bed as he left this world. ©Jen Longshaw 2001-2010 Please do not copy in any manner, print or electronic, without permission from the author.
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Although
he had houses in New York and Germany it was in London where he kept his
cats that he felt truly at home. Tom, Jerry, Oscar, Tiffany, Delilah,
Goliath, Miko, Romeo, and Lily spent time with Mercury wherever he was
in the house, particularly keeping him company on his bed. 