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Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bomi Bulsara; 5 September 1946 - 24 November 1991) was a British musician, best known as the lead singer of the rock band Queen (inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001). He is noted for his vocal abilities and for his live performances. As a songwriter, he composed many international hits, including "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Killer Queen", "Somebody to Love", "We Are the Champions" and "Crazy Little Thing Called Love". In addition to his work with Queen, he also produced several hits as a solo artist. Mercury, who was of Indian Parsi descent and who grew up in India, has been referred to as "Britain's first Asian pop star." He died of bronchopneumonia induced by AIDS in 1991, a little more than a day after publicly announcing he had the disease. Although Queen was not always popular with rock music critics, estimates of the band's worldwide record sales to date have been placed as high as 300 million. The band has also spent more collective weeks on the UK Album Charts than any other musical act, including The Beatles. In 2006, Time Asia named Mercury as one of the most influential Asian heroes of the past 60 years. On the other hand, he has been criticized for having kept his ethnicity, as well as his HIV status, a secret from the public.
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