thank you, Freddie.

everyone who has a hobby or a passion also has someone they look up to that inspires them to keep doing this hobby or passion. it could be someone that they know personally, or it could be an athlete, a scientist, a politician, or some other celebrity. in some cases, these are good people with morals and values. in other cases, these are bad people with no morals and values and just happen to be really talented at what they do. (unless it's the Kardashians. sorry, but being good looking, rich and famous, and having a reality TV show is not a real talent. nor is it funny.) in the case of Hansel from Zoolander, it's Sting.

 

growing up, I was exposed to all different kinds of music. the first concert I ever went to was The Wiggles when I was 4. I would watch all these Disney sing along videos and I would sing along to the songs. when my parents would play music, I always asked what it was. most of it didn't really appeal to me, mostly because I was still really young and mostly just liked Disney music and the Shrek soundtrack.

until one day, when I was around 6 years old, I heard a song on the radio while grocery shopping with my dad that went, "(groovy base line), another one bites the dust". and in my 6 year old mind, I'm imagining some rock star eating dust, and I started to laugh. I asked my dad, "what is this song? and why is the guy eating dust?" and my dad replied, "oh, it's just Another One Bites The Dust by Queen." and then at this point I'm imagining the Queen of England (but with a male voice?) eating dust, and it was just really funny. but I decided I liked that song. whenever I went grocery shopping with my dad, I always listened for that song. then, I heard another one that went "WE WILL, WE WILL ROCK YOU" and I asked, "Dad, what is this song? I like this one. it's so cool!" and he said, "We Will Rock You by Queen." Queen. the Queen who bites the dust. at that point, only knowing 2 songs, I decided my favorite band would be Queen. and then my grandma decided to introduce me to American Idol. there was a guy named Constantine with long hair who sang this really cool song about someone killing a man, and I asked my family, "what is this song?" "Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen." and then, at that point, my parents decided to buy Queen's Greatest Hits and listen it on our long road trip to Arizona.

the first song went like this:

is this the real life? is this just fantasy?

caught in a landslide, no escape from reality.

open your eyes, look up to the skies and see,

I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy

Because I'm easy come, easy go

Little high, little low

Any way the wind blows, doesn't really matter to me, to me.

AND THEN

MAMA, just killed a man...

IT WAS MY SONG. IT WAS BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY. but this time it was the WHOLE THING, not just the American Idol version. and it was so cool. there was this operatic section where there were different voices coming from ALL OVER, and I couldn't keep up with it. how could just ONE GUY be singing so many different parts at the same time? so I asked my dad, "who is this guy? how many of him are there?"

"Freddie Mercury. and there's just one."

and at that moment, I decided. I wanted to be Freddie Mercury when I grow up. 

over the years, my music taste has changed. in 2nd grade, it was Carrie Underwood. in 3rd grade, it was Kelly Clarkson and Avril Lavigne. in 4th grade, it was Heart and Pat Benatar. 5th grade it was still 70s and 80s rock but it branched off into a little more mainstream pop stuff. 6th grade it was Coldplay. 7th grade it was Bruno Mars, and 8th grade (which I never like to speak of) was Adele, One Direction, Christina Perri, Justin Bieber (who I swore on all things holy that I would never like), Taylor Swift (obviously I changed), and whatever was on the Top 100 radio. in high school, I switched to mostly alternative, and that hasn't really changed. but ANY TIME a Queen song came on, I would drop everything and belt out ALL THE WORDS. in 5th grade, I sang Bohemian Rhapsody at our end of year karaoke party and EVERYONE was impressed that I knew all the words. (do people really not memorize all of Bohemian Rhapsody when they are 7 years old?) at BYU basketball games, I would proudly belt out We Are The Champions or We Will Rock You. 

my senior year, I thought I wanted to be a piano performance major, but clearly it was not working out. I didn't really like the whole "practice 4 hours everyday" thing because I could barely even practice 2 hours. but because I didn't know what else I wanted to do, my parents made me fill out the application and even submit a prescreening video to the BYU school of music. but I just didn't feel excited saying that's what I wanted to do. so then, I shuffled all my favorite songs and THEN Bohemian Rhapsody comes on. and I actually listened very closely and then I had all these questions. How many times did Freddie Mercury record his vocals? How did he write this? was this all him, or did the other members help him out? how was this performed live? what did this sound like before it got thrown together?

AND THEN IT HIT ME. 

I COULD PRODUCE MUSIC. I COULD LAYER VOCAL TRACKS, INSTRUMENTAL TRACKS, BACKING TRACKS. I COULD DO THIS. THIS WOULD BE REALLY FUN. (I mean, I do have perfect pitch, so I have a really good ear for this kind of stuff.)

Sweet angel of Freddie Mercury, THANK YOU FOR BLESSING THE WORLD WITH YOUR TALENTS.

(to prove my point, here is the ORIGINAL of Bohemian Rhapsody with just Freddie's original vocal and piano track. before he did the 180 vocal overdubs)

honestly, if it weren't for that moment, I would be a very angry girl who didn't make the piano performance program at BYU and maybe I would still be trying for it. and Freddie Mercury was actually classically trained on piano and who knows if he had continued that instead of became a rock star. but that's what I love about Freddie. he wasn't just an amazing vocalist with a 4 octave range. he was a talented pianist, composer, songwriter, performer, showman, and overall he was just a musical genius. I wish that I was alive to watch him perform, and I wish that he hadn't died so young, and I really wish he could've been able to make it to age 70. but I am grateful for all the times my mom and I belted out Under Pressure while doing the dishes, the times where I forced my brother to listen to Don't Stop Me Now basically every morning on the way to school for my entire senior year, for all the long drives with family and friends and us belting out Queen songs at the top of our lungs. and holy freak am I grateful for the appreciation I gained for rock music at a young age, one that will never leave as I work towards getting into the commercial music and production program at BYU.

thank you, Freddie. happy 70th.