Freddie Mercury's Final Christmas Gift Moved Elton John To Tears". Star Observer . Retrieved 26 March 2023. Aridi, Sara (24 February 2019). "2019 Oscar Winners: The Full List". The New York Times . Retrieved 7 March 2019. a b "Freddie Mercury: Queen star's piano and other items fetch high prices at auction". BBC News. 6 September 2023 . Retrieved 7 September 2023. A Brief History of the Bisexual Movement". BiNet USA. 30 June 1990. Archived from the original on 23 September 2017 . Retrieved 24 February 2018.

Mercury's two full albums outside the band were Mr. Bad Guy (1985) and Barcelona (1988). [2] His first album, Mr. Bad Guy, debuted in the top ten of the UK Album Charts. [74] In 1993, a remix of " Living on My Own", a single from the album, posthumously reached number one on the UK Singles Charts. The song also garnered Mercury a posthumous Ivor Novello Award from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors. [76] AllMusic critic Eduardo Rivadavia describes Mr. Bad Guy as "outstanding from start to finish" and expressed his view that Mercury "did a commendable job of stretching into uncharted territory". [77] From 1979 to 1985, while living in Munich, Mercury was friends with Austrian actress Barbara Valentin, who is featured in the video for " It's a Hard Life", and initially lived together with her and her daughter before moving into his own apartment. [97] [98] In Munich, Mercury was able to escape the media spotlight, lived out his sexuality, drifted in the local gay scene, and had an intense love relationship with German restaurateur Winfried "Winnie" Kirchberger. [97] [99] [100] Mercury also lived temporarily at Kirchberger's apartment [101] and thanked him "for board and lodging" in the liner notes of his 1985 album Mr. Bad Guy. [102] He wore a silver wedding band given to him by Kirchberger. [103] A close friend described him as Mercury's "great love" in Germany. [104]The documentary, Freddie Mercury: The Final Act, aired on BBC Two in 2021 and The CW in the US in April 2022. It covered Mercury's last days, how his bandmates and friends put together the Tribute Concert at Wembley, and interviewed medical professionals, people who tested HIV positive, and others who knew someone who died of AIDS. [238] [239] At the 50th International Emmy Awards in 2022 it won the International Emmy Award for Best Arts Programming. [240] Appearances in lists of influential individuals

In October 1986, two months after Mercury's final live performance with Queen at Knebworth House on the Magic Tour, the British newspapers the News of the World and The Sun reported that Mercury had his blood tested for HIV/AIDS at a Harley Street clinic, but he was quoted as saying he was "perfectly fit and healthy". [147] According to his partner, Jim Hutton, Mercury was diagnosed with AIDS in late April 1987. [148] Around that time, Mercury said in an interview that he had tested negative for HIV. [38] Lencioni, F.A.A. (2013). "Diagnoses and discussion of the group 1 and 2 Brazilian species of Heteragrion, with descriptions of four new species (Odonata: Megapodagrionidae)". Zootaxa. 3685 (1): 001–080. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.3685.1.1. PMID 26146690. Freestone, Peter (2001). Freddie Mercury: An Intimate Memoir by the Man who Knew Him Best. Omnibus Press. p.234. ISBN 0711986746. a b c d Cain, Matthew (2006), Freddie Mercury: A Kind of Magic, London: British Film Institute, 9:00/Roger Taylor, archived from the original on 21 September 2021 . The extent to which Mercury's death may have enhanced Queen's popularity is not clear. In the United States, where Queen's popularity had lagged in the 1980s, sales of Queen albums went up dramatically in 1992, the year following his death. [178] In 1992, one American critic noted, "What cynics call the 'dead star' factor had come into play—Queen is in the middle of a major resurgence." [179] The movie Wayne's World, which featured "Bohemian Rhapsody", also came out in 1992. [180] According to the Recording Industry Association of America, Queen had sold 34.5million albums in the United States by 2004, about half of which had been sold since Mercury's death in 1991. [181] Mercury's wax figure displayed at Madame Tussauds, London

In addition to the two solo albums, Mercury released several singles, including his own version of the hit " The Great Pretender" by the Platters, which debuted at No.5 in the UK in 1987. [74] In September 2006 a compilation album featuring Mercury's solo work was released in the UK in honour of what would have been his 60th birthday. The album debuted in the UK top 10. [82] In 2012, Freddie Mercury: The Great Pretender, a documentary film directed by Rhys Thomas on Mercury's attempts to forge a solo career, premiered on BBC One. [83]

Brown, Mark (16 November 2006), "Queen are the champions in all-time album sales chart", The Guardian, London Bell, Max (17 August 2017). "Made In Heaven: The Aptly Named Album That Drew The Curtain On Queen". uDiscoverMusic . Retrieved 24 February 2019. In 2016 a musical titled Royal Vauxhall premiered at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern in Vauxhall, London. Written by Desmond O'Connor, the musical told the alleged tales of the nights that Mercury, Kenny Everett and Princess Diana spent out at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern in London in the 1980s. [252] Following several successful runs in London, the musical was taken to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August 2016 starring Tom Giles as Mercury. [252] Portrayal in film and television Mural promoting the release of Bohemian Rhapsody on the side of Mercury's former art college in west London in October 2018a b c Chapman, Ian (2012). Global Glam and Popular Music: Style and Spectacle from the 1970s to the 2000s. Abingdon, England: Routledge. pp.86, 87. Henderson, Taylor (24 October 2018). "How Bohemian Rhapsody Sterilized Freddie Mercury's Bisexuality". Pride . Retrieved 24 April 2019.