Freddie Mercury reportedly knew he was going to die, and he shared his thoughts with Montserrat Caballé.
On Nov. 24, 1991, Mercury died of bronchopneumonia at the age of 45 at his Kensington home. The disease progressed due to AIDS-related complications, and he passed away a day after he decided to reveal his late-stage HIV infection diagnosis to the world.
Before his death, he was still able to work with Caballé, who was reportedly his favorite singer in the world.
How Freddie Mercury Shared His Death Thoughts With Montserrat Caballé
Five years before the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Mercury experienced the "pinnacle" of his career when he was tapped to record the official theme of the Olympics with Caballé.
Although the Olympics was scheduled in 1992, the two musicians recorded and released it on Oct. 26, 1987.
Before Caballé died in 2018, she appeared in her last interview (via Express), wherein she revealed that Mercury told her about his AIDS diagnosis and that he knew he was dying.
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"He told me two years earlier. He said, 'I won't make, I won't make it.' We were in the recording studio, recording some final things, which was the last thing he recorded, and he said to me, 'I can't do the Barcelona (performance),'" she recalled.
Caballé remembered seeing how the Queen frontman lost a lot of weight. His health had already deteriorated at that time, as well.
The "Bohemian Rhapsody" hitmaker then told her he could no longer think about what would happen two years from that day because of AIDS.
Freddie Mercury's Death
Mercury's death came as a shock as he never told his fans about his health diagnosis to protect his bandmates in Queen. He also kept his sexuality out of the limelight before his passing.
The singer's long-time PA and friend Peter Freestone said Mercury stayed quiet not to protect himself but to safeguard Queen's image and career.
"The reason he never spoke about himself was that immediately he made any statement to the press, it would reflect on the band. Freddie never wanted anything to take away from the image of Queen," he said.
He added that Mercury never hid his sexuality nor ever lied about it. He also indirectly confirmed it once when an interviewee asked if he was gay, to which he replied, "As a daffodil, dear."
In his last statement before his death, he said he first wanted to keep the information private to protect other people's privacy.
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