Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara (Gujarati (Gujarati language): ??????? ?????????), 5 September 1946 - 24 November 1991), was a British musician, best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen (Queen (band)). As a performer, he was known for his powerful vocals and flamboyant performances. As a songwriter, Mercury composed many hits, including "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Killer Queen", "Somebody to Love (Somebody to Love (Queen song))", "Dont Stop Me Now", "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", "We Are the Champions", and "Barcelona (Barcelona (song))". With Mercury, Queen had sold more than 300 million albums internationally as of 2009. In addition to his work with Queen, he also led a solo career and was occasionally a producer and guest musician (piano or vocals) for other artists.

Mercury, who was a Parsi born in Zanzibar and who grew up there and in India until his mid-teens, has been referred to as "Britains first Asian (British Asian) rock star". He died of bronchopneumonia brought on by AIDS on 24 November 1991, only one day after publicly acknowledging he had the disease. In 2006, Time Asia named him as one of the most influential Asian heroes of the past 60 years, and he continues to be voted as one of the greatest singers in the history of popular music. In 2005, a poll organised by Blender (Blender (magazine)) and MTV2 saw Mercury voted the greatest male singer of all time. In 2009, a Classic Rock (Classic Rock (magazine)) poll saw him voted the greatest rock singer of all time. In 2008, Rolling Stone ranked him number 18 on their list of the 100 greatest singers of all time, reflecting the magazines editorial opinion. Allmusic has characterised Mercury as "one of the most dynamic and charismatic frontmen in rock history."