Atlas

In the 70's and 80's Freddie's star rose as the world became aware and ultimately absorbed the music of Queen and Freddie. His dream of fame came true until he strode the world like a Titan: adored and even worshipped by his fans: raised upon an impossible pedestal with his star in the heavens and the weight of the universe across his shoulders.

As the freedom of the 70's became the corporate fallacies of the 80's Queen and Freddie took the new challenges and applied them to their music and to their lives. Freddie's androgynous lifestyle was left behind as the times changed and, although he still remained part of the fringe cultures, he became in appearance older: more grown up. Still bright, still full of vibrant life, yet now he was assured in himself: he had arrived and knew who he was and where he was going. As such, he appeared to fit right in to the 'me' generation of go-getters. Yet Freddie was still Freddie. He was still an outsider in terms of religion, background, culture, life-style and in the supremacy of his music. The ultimate corporate world of America tried to ignore him: unable to accept the conflicts within him. This was something that was obvious in

the 70's, but hidden in the 80's and that complexity was difficult for the one-dimensional 80's 'upwardly' mobile people to accept. Changes in their music and in their presentation were slated. If they were experimental, they were not doing what they should. If they produced and played hits, they were accused of pandering to money and the mass market. The fact that Queen wrote music for their fans and performed it for them and for themselves seems to have totally bypassed the critics of their music.

Freddie was a complex entity living in a simple world. The rules had changed and everything that made Freddie Freddie was out of fashion. People could not understand and what people could not understand, they hate. Decisions to rebel by Queen - as they had always done - caused them to be punished for other people's mistakes. Music changed, delivery changed and Queen still remained Queen.

Yet even a Titan cannot hold against the world and problems occurred within Queen and within Freddie. New gods rose, time was passing and Freddie and Queen were getting older and the world was changing