On this day in 1991 two rock musicians died; the fact that one of them was Freddie Mercury almost totally overshadowed the sad loss of KISS drummer Eric Carr on the same day, after he lost his own long battle against cancer.
When Eric Carr (born Paul Caravello) joined KISS in 1980 it was at a low point in the band's career; original drummer Peter Criss had parted company with the band amid allegations of substance abuse and the arrival of the new drummer signalled a new character behind the kit: The Fox. His first album with the band was the ambitious concept album '(Music From) The Elder', an intended soundtrack for a film which never came about. The album's musical style completely threw the band's fans, who were expecting a return to harder rock but were instead presented with a radical departure. It would be another year before Carr really got the chance to show himself as a premier hard rock drummer, when KISS fulfilled their promise of a hard rock record a year late with 'Creatures Of The Night'. The lead-off single. 'I Love It Loud' featured the band in full make-up and with Carr, as the Fox, sat atop a drum riser shaped like a tank, pounding out the intro to the song.
The resulting tour proved a success, re-establishing the band who would shed the make-up altogether in 1983. Carr's popularity during his time with KISS was down to his powerful drum sound and his willingness to connect with the fans, and he remained with the band for eleven years.
His cancer diagnosis was in early 1991, with the drummer being given a leave of absence by frontmen Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley so that he could recover. His last appearance on a KISS record was on their cover of Argent's 'God Gave Rock 'n' Roll To You', contributing backing vocals. Carr's death hit the group hard, with drummer Eric Singer coming in to deputise for Carr on the band's next album 'Revenge' it was always intended that Carr would return to the group once fit again. However Singer remains in the band to this day, and KISS dedicated 'Revenge' to Carr with the inclusion of a 1981 studio jam on the record.
As said at the start, Freddie Mercury's death on the same day as Carr completely dominated the news, with the British media having noticed the Queen singer's declining health throughout 1991 and newspapers running increasingly-lurid headlines speculating on his condition. Mercury, as private when off stage as he was flamboyant on it, admitted to nothing until the day before his death when he released a statement confirming his illness and urging his fans to join him "in the fight against this terrible disease" (AIDS).
Mercury had long known of his illness, but had elected to keep it secret, known only to his bandmates and close friends until that statement came out. He was diagnosed about a year after he and Queen had completed their biggest and most successful tour to date, the Magic tour which culminated in a massive concert held in the grounds of Knebworth Park. The attendance that day has been estimated at anything between 150000 to 200000, as one of the fans who was there myself I can only confirm that the huge field was totally packed with people!
1986 was a monumental year for Queen, coming off the back of their now-legendary performance at Live Aid, seen by billions worldwide, interest in the group had rocketed from merely very popular to stratospheric. Nobody knew it at that time, but Knebworth would be Freddie's final live performance with Queen. Anyone who has seen the Live Aid performance, or was lucky enough to see Queen live during that period will know just what a giant of a rock star he was. He bestrode the biggest stages and could enthrall hundreds of thousands of people. With a flamboyant image, a voice that could handle anything from hard rock to ragtime and a neat, self-deprecating line in camp humour, he had the lot. It's difficult to overstate Queen's popularity at that time, although still considered a rock band they had a huge fanbase and extremely broad range of appeal. Mercury was regarded in the same echelon as other high-flyers like Elton John or Rod Stewart, all of whom had began as rock singers but had broadened their appeal to reach almost everyone.
The tribute concert which was held at the old Wembley stadium in 1992, the scene of his greatest triumph, really brought home what the music world had lost. The remaining members of Queen performed a selection of their best-loved songs with a diverse range of singers - it took over a dozen people ranging from George Michael to Axl Rose to perform what one Freddie used to do.
Although I personally did not get to see Queen live until 1984, a whole generation has grown up knowing the band's music and never having seen them at all, so those who did see them must consider themselves very fortunate. There's been nobody who even comes close to taking his crown as the ultimate rock star - there are great singers out there, very good frontmen (or women), and some very showy, flamboyant stars still, but none put it all together the way Freddie did and none have managed to succeed him as the total, complete rock star.
I'll close this by posting a trio of songs that reflect Freddie in different eras; many still think of that bright yellow jacket when they think of Freddie but his look changed radically during the 1970s before he settled on that slicked hair and moustache image remembered today.
The first shows how the band handled 'Bohemian Rhapsody' live when it was first out; from the famous Hammersmith Odeon show filmed by the BBC, here they turn it into a medley incorporating 'Killer Queen' and 'The March Of The Black Queen':
Taken from the 'We Will Rock you' live concert DVD, filmed in Canada, this is 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love' which took on a whole new dimension performed live:
Finally - from the seminal 1986 Wembley DVD, yellow jacket and all, this is 'In The Lap Of The Gods (Revisited)' - which was put back in the set partly for the band's older fans at that point:
I expect that we will still be remembering Freddie Mercury in another 20 years' time!
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