Freddie Mercury, original name Farrokh Bulsara   (born September 5, 1946, Stone Town, Zanzibar—died November 24, 1991, Kensington, London,England), British rock singer and songwriter whose flamboyant showmanship and powerfully agile vocals, most famously for the band Queen, made him one of rock’s most dynamic front men.

Bulsara was born to Parsi parents who had emigrated from India to Zanzibar, where his father worked as a clerk for the British government. As a child, Bulsara was sent to a boarding school in Panchgani, Maharashtra state, India. Artistically inclined from an early age, he formed a band there in which he played the piano. When Zanzibar became part of the independent country of Tanzania in 1964, Bulsara moved with his family to Feltham, England. He later studied graphic art and design at Ealing Technical College and School of Art (now part of the University of West London), graduating in 1969.

Influenced by the hard-edged, blues-based style of rock acts such as Cream and Jimi Hendrix, Bulsara began singing with bands in London. He also became friends with guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor of the band Smile, and in 1970, when Smile’s lead singer quit, Bulsara replaced him. He soon changed the group’s name to Queen and his own to Freddie Mercury. Bassist John Deacon joined the following year. Incorporating elements of both heavy metal and glam rock, the band debuted on record with Queen (1973), which was followed by Queen II (1974). Despite an impressive blend of majestic vocal harmonies and layered virtuosic guitar work, Queen initially failed to attract much notice beyond the United Kingdom. The album Sheer Heart Attack (1974), however, shot up the international charts, and A Night at the Opera (1975) sold even better. The band’s ambitious approach to both songwriting and studio production was epitomized by the latter album’s mock-operatic single “Bohemian Rhapsody,” one of a number of Queen compositions written principally by Mercury. The song spent nine weeks atop the British singles chart, and its accompanying promotional film helped the music industry recognize its future in video. Spectacular success followed in 1977 with “We Are the Champions” and “We Will Rock You”—which became ubiquitous anthems at sporting events in Britain and the United States.

By the early 1980s Queen had become an international phenomenon, drawing particular attention for its elaborately staged performances in enormous venues. Strutting the stage in outrageous costumes, Mercury effortlessly commanded audiences in the tens of thousands. Although Queen’s commercial fortunes had begun to wane by mid-decade, the band arguably reached its apotheosis as a live act with a stellar performance at the charity concert Live Aid in 1985. That same year Mercury released the solo record Mr. Bad Guy, which took musical inspiration from disco. Mercury later appeared on the sound track of Dave Clark’s science-fiction musical Time (1986) and teamed with Spanish soprano Montserrat Caballé for the semi-operatic album Barcelona (1988).

In 1991 Mercury, who had engaged in relationships with both men and women, announced that he had been diagnosed with AIDS. He died a day later from complications related to the disease. Until shortly before his death, Mercury had continued to record with Queen, and he was posthumously featured on the band’s final album, Made in Heaven (1995).

MARCO ARNDT/AP

Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury died in 1991 of complications from AIDS.

Freddie Mercury would have turned 69 on Saturday — but the legendary Queen frontman died of complications from AIDS in 1991.

In honor of the iconic singer’s death, here is a list of 11 other notable HIV-related deaths:

Rock Hudson

Rock Hudson was one of the first mainstream celebrities to die from an AIDS-related illness.

The hunky Hollywood actor was known for films like "Giant," "Pillow Talk" and "Send Me No Flowers."

Before his death in 1985, he came out about his AIDS diagnosis and his homosexuality.

Anthony Perkins

This famous actor is best known for his role as the creepy killer Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho."

Though he kept his diagnosis a secret, Perkins died of AIDS-related pneumonia in 1992.

Rudolf Nureyev

A Russian ballet dancer and choreographer, Rudolf Nureyev died of AIDS in 1993 — 10 years after taking a job as the ballet director for the Paris Opera.

But afterward Nureyev’s death, his long-time lover, Robert Tracy, told The Guardian that he believed the government had poisoned Nureyev.

Arthur Ashe

Ashe, the first black man to win in singles at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, contracted AIDS through a blood transfusion.

He became an HIV activist and made efforts to raise awareness before dying in 1993.

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Actor Rock Hudson died of AIDS in 1985.

Isaac Asimov

The Russian-born science fiction writer was best known for his "Foundation" trilogy.

He contracted HIV from a blood transfusion during heart surgery and, according to CBS, later died of AIDS-related heart and kidney failure.

Liberace

Wladziu Valentino Liberace was a world-famous pianist who starred in "The Liberace Show," a musical TV show with more than 35 million viewers, according to Bio.

Over time he became known for his flamboyant and lavish lifestyle.

Before he died in 1987, there were rumors that he'd contracted HIV. He denied it, but after his death the coroner found that Liberace had died of AIDS-related pneumonia.

Elizabeth Glaser

Though the wife of actor and director Paul Michael Glaser, Elizabeth Glaser became famous in the 1980s largely because of her HIV diagnosis and subsequent activism.

She caught HIV from a blood transfusion she received while giving birth in 1981.

Her son, Jake, contracted HIV in utero, while her daughter Ariel contracted it through breast milk. Although Jake is still alive, Ariel died in 1988 and Glaser died in 1994.

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AP

Tennis star Arthur Ashe died of AIDS after contracting HIV through a blood transfusion.

Eazy-E

Eazy-E was one of the founding members of the controversial rap group N.W.A. He died in 1995 of AIDS-related pneumonia. After his death, music producer Suge Knight - who feuded openly with Eazy-E - stirred controversy by joking that injecting someone with HIV was a good way to off them.

Robert Reed

Robert Reed was most famous for playing played family man Mike Brady on "The Brady Bunch."

According to Bio, when he died in 1992, his death was attributed to colon cancer. But it was later revealed that he had HIV.

Michel Foucault

An acclaimed French philosopher, Michel Foucault was best known for works like "Discipline and Punish" and "The History of Sexuality."

He died in 1984 of AIDS-related illness.

Kuwasi Balagoon

Kuwasi Balagoon was a Black Panther who participated in an infamous armored car heist in Nyack, N.Y., in 1981.

He went to prison for his role in the crime and was still behind bars when he died of complications from AIDS in 1986.

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  Freddie Mercury in action

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On the anniversary of the Queen singer's death in 1991, Clash presents 10 things you never knew about Freddie Mercury.

Queen, 'Bohemian Rhapsody'

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As the flamboyant front man of Queen, Freddie Mercury toyed with hedonism amidst making timeless songs, which leaves plenty ammunition for these little tidbits...

Even his official passport read ‘Frederick Mercury’, despite the fact that his birth name was Farrokh Bulsara. Calling him anything but Freddie would not be well received, however - he started using the name ‘Freddie’ prior to ever arriving in England, and ‘Mercury’ when Queen first started.

Mercury didn’t consider himself a particularly great pianist. As a result, he always dreaded performing ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ (video above) in concert because he worried he would mess up on the piano in the process. In future years, he started using the piano less on albums so he would be free to dance and run wildly during concerts.

In the final scene of Queen’s ‘It’s A Hard Life’ video, when Freddie sits down on the steps, he does so very gingerly, favouring one side over the other. At the time of filming, he had only just had a plaster cast removed, a souvenir after drunken horseplay went awry one night in the New York bar in Munich.

Mercury was always in his best form at concerts after emotional conflict. Before a show at the Milton Keynes Bowl, Mercury got into a massive argument with his current beau, Bill Reid, that culminated with Reid biting Mercury’s hand so hard that it left teeth marks and bled profusely. Another fight left their hotel room with a layer of broken glass and plaster on the carpet.

In another incident with Reid, the two of them yelled at each other for so many hours that Mercury woke up completely hoarse on the day that Queen was scheduled to perform live on Saturday Night Live, a hugely popular variety show in the USA. The entire day was spent trying remedies to get his voice back, which he was only barely able to do in time.

After boarding a flight to New York from Tokyo one day, Mercury discovered the plane was a DC10, a model that had had some problems in the past. “DC death more like!” Mercury remarked, before immediately gathering his things, exiting the plane, and taking the only available seat on the next flight 14 hours later - economy, as opposed to his first class seat on the DC10.

When Mercury was on tour in the United States, he found out the man he was seeing, Tony Bastin, had been seen out with someone else. For revenge, Mercury paid for Bastin to fly out to see him in the US under the pretense of visiting. Mercury met him immediately after his arrival, told him it was over and then put him on the next plane back to London that day. Mercury also kept Bastin’s cat, Oscar.

Mercury loved his cats, so much so that while on tour he would periodically call home to talk to them. His one-time girlfriend and long-time close friend Mary Austin would hold the cats up to the phone so they could listen to him speak. He also had portraits painted of them.

Mercury’s assistants were required to have a pen and paper on them at all times in case inspiration hit unexpectedly. Lyrics for ‘Life Is Real’ were started suddenly while flying over the Atlantic from New York, with what is now the classic line “guilt stains on my pillow” originally taken down as “c*nt stains on my pillow”.

A recreation of the statue created to honour Mercury, found on Lake Geneva in Montreaux, Switzerland, stands on top of the Dominion Theatre, just down Oxford Street from (the then) Clash HQ.