Queen: ‘Freddie Mercury didn’t write Love of My Life for Mary – it’s for his secret lover’

Freddie Mercury sings Love of My Life at Wembley in 1986

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Like so many Queen classics, the heartfelt ballad has only grown in popularity over the years. Even the band didn’t realise what a phenomenon the song had become until it was sung at Rock In Rio in 1985. The band headlined the festival on January 12 and 19 and were astonished to see the whole crowd sing the words back to them. In the movie Bohemian Rhapsody, Freddie is shown playing the song on the piano and tells Paul Prenter, “I wrote it for Mary.” He replies, “If you say so.” The movie later shows Freddie watching footage of the song at Rock in Rio and telling Mary, “They’re all singing it to you, because it’s true.” But what is the truth behind the iconic love song?

The film scene uses the moment for Freddie to tell Mary he is bisexual, while she replies that he is actually gay. The film, as has been commented elsewhere, takes many liberties with timelines. Freddie broke up with Mary in 1976, but Rock in Rio took place nine years later.

Certainly, the mid-Seventies were a complicated time for Freddie, Mary and the star’s burgeoning sexuality. He wrote Love of My Life in 1975 and it appears on the legendary A Night At The Opera album, alongside Bohemian Rhapsody.

Freddie started dating David Minns, an American music executive with Elektra Records, in 1975. In the book Somebody to Love: The Life, Death, and Legacy of Freddie Mercury by Matt Richards, Mark Langthorne, it says; “During the writing of this book, Queen’s manager, John Reid, revealed who the song was really about: ‘Freddie actually wrote the song for David Minns. Freddie told me that, ‘Love of My Life was for Minns.'”

Although they had to hide their relationship from the public, the Queen frontman bought them a flat to live in together. Postcards Freddie sent his lover whenever he was away on tour reveal the depth of his passion and devotion. 

Freddie wrote: “My dearest and precious cherub, I thought I’d finally get it together and write you my first little card. Hope all’s going well with you and go easy on those business lunches or you’re going to burst before I can get back to you. You’re going to get into one of my coat-suits if it kills you (probably will).

Freddie tells David the tour is going well before ending: “I can’t wait to get back. Love you and miss you madly. My love to everyone back home and take special care of yourself my dear… Oodles of love and kisses.”

https://www.youtube.com/embed/gblZ2drKK1M

The recording sessions for the album took place from August to September 1975 at Rockfield in Monmouthshire, Wales. If they were “well advanced” this means it is likely David and Freddie met in September.

David added: “It was not until three or four weeks later that I picked up the phone. He was delighted that I’d called.”

This would presumably mean Love of My Life was already written and being recorded by the time Freddie started dating the American. Not only do the dates not line up, closer examination of the lyrics reveals another truth. Despite the themes of undying love, this is a break-up song.

In late 1975, Freddie was in the first flush of besotted love, exploring being in a relationship with a man. The song is bittersweet and melancholy. At the time it was far more appropriate to what was happening with Mary.

In the long term, it would also stay totally true to Freddie and Mary’s relationship. Until the very day he died, Mary was by his side, loving him and loved by him. Even though they were both in relationships with other people, their love transcended everything and lasted the whole of his life.

As for David, most agree that Freddie actually wrote two other songs for him – Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy and You Take My Breath Away.

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