Touching scenes outside of Garden Lodge yesterday as people came to his last home to pay their respects to the memory of Freddie Mercury, dead now 20 years. There was a steady stream of individuals all day, many laying flowers or sticking affectionate notes to the Perspex sheets that now prevent graffiti from soiling the walls of Logan Place.
In some ways it was like an international fan club meeting. In the short time I was there, I talked with Brazilian, Argentinean, Japanese, American, French and British fans. There atmosphere was subdued rather than somber with fans swapping Freddie memories, some sporting classic tour T shirts, others carrying mementos.
The media has naturally been full of biographies of the man. Most portraits were flattering, but also many truthfully including 'warts and all' assessment of his character.
The amount of attention will no doubt attract a new generation of fans, previously unaware of Mercury or even Queen. It may sound surprising and even unlikely to long-term Queen fans that there can be people out there who don't know the band. I had a group of 30 plus French students (from Brittany) out for the day and probably less than 20% had any real knowledge of the band. A couple of weeks back I was helping Bebe Contemponi of Argentinean Canal 11 for a documentary. We were filming at Freddie's Felltham family home, now lived in by an Estonian immigrant. She had been completely unaware of the house's history, or even of Queen, until the TV cameras pitched up outside her door!
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