Freddie Mercury's singing voice almost made Roger Taylor laugh at first

22 September 2021, 10:34 | Updated: 27 September 2021, 14:13

Queen's drummer admits that he found Freddie Mercury's singing a bit much before he learned to control it.

Roger Taylor has revealed that he was tempted to laugh when he first heard Freddie Mercury's singing voice.

The Queen drummer told The Daily Telegraph that he found Mercury's voice to be a bit much when the singer put himself forward to front the band, who had formed from the ashes of the short-lived Smile when Tim Staffell left that group.

But he was won over by Mercury's energy, and Freddie of course ended up as one of the greatest frontmen in rock history.

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Taylor said: "He was so extreme, one was tempted to laugh at first, because he hadn't developed his voice.

"He didn't have the control he had later."

He added: "But he had this thrusting energy and zeal for everything. And, really, a massive array of hidden talents.

"We were big pals. We had a stall in Kensington Market and he was so delightful, just great to be around, with a tremendous lust for life. He sort of invented himself."

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It all worked out okay, with Mercury going on to front the band until his tragic death in 1991 from AIDS-related complications.

After Mercury died, Queen released the posthumous album Made in Heaven featuring Mercury's vocals in 1995, and their only single as a three-piece 'No-One but You (Only the Good Die Young)' in 1997.

Bass player John Deacon left the band and retired from music after that release, and guitarist Brian May and drummer Taylor have since continued Queen as a live act, first with Paul Rodgers as their singer, and more recently with Adam Lambert,.