Today (September 5) marks what would have been the 73rd birthday of the late Freddie Mercury. To mark the occasion, we look back on a tribute from Elton John, one of Mercury’s closest friends, in his 2013 book.
Mercury passed away from complications from AIDS on November 24, 1991, having only revealed to the public that he had the virus just days before.
John spoke out about Mercury’s final days – and a poignant last gesture from the Queen singer – in his book Love is the Cure: On Life, Loss, and the End of AIDS, which was released six years ago.
Elton John pays tribute to late Freddie Mercury.
The ‘Candles in the Wind’ singer explained that he was left “devastated” after Mercury told him he had AIDS soon after he was diagnosed in 1987.
“I’d seen what the disease had done to so many of my other friends,” he wrote.
“I knew exactly what it was going to do to Freddie. As did he.
“He knew death, agonising death, was coming.”
John, however, explained that Mercury was courageous as he battled the virus and kept performing with Queen.
