Freddie Mercury's treatment of his fellow celebrities, including David Bowie, has been revisited.
On November 24, 1991, Mercury passed away from bronchial pneumonia caused by his AIDS diagnosis. The Queen frontman only revealed his infection a day before his death to protect his loved ones.
Before the loss, he notably ruled the music industry with his bandmates, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon.
How Freddie Mercury Treated Other Celebrities Revealed
Queen's popularity pushed Mercury's ranking to the highest peak, but he stayed as humble as he had always been.
Speaking with Express UK, Mercury's former bodyguard Walt "Wally" Versen looked back at the time he worked with the late frontman and his bandmates, sharing what he learned about the "secret pact" between the musicians.
Per Versen, Mercury gave him the first lessons of how celebrities treat each other.
"I had become the sort of assistant tour manager," he shared. "So I said, 'What do you want me to do?' And Fred gently put his hand on me and said, 'Nothing yet.' I looked at him bewilderedly and he said, 'David knows I'm going to be in town. When David calls to invite me to the show then...y'know.'"
Two days later, Mercury and Bowie met.
The former bodyguard added, "This how is how stars treat each other. It's like working in the White House. David will invite and when David invites, then you call David's guy. Instead of me calling David's guy, David had to invite first. Extraordinary. That kind of stuff happened a lot."
Freddie Mercury's Friends Protected Him
In Mercury's final years, his friends reportedly helped him keep some things in the shadows.
On the Channel 5 documentary, "Freddie Mercury: A Christmas Tale," his friends opened up about shielding him whenever Mercury was with new people. Despite their closeness, most of them never knew about his HIV/AIDS battle.
"He wanted to live as normal a life as possible," Peter Freestone said after Mercury told him he had AIDS. "He wanted no sympathy. He didn't want people to make allowances for him. He didn't want people to say, 'Oh you better sit down, you must be tired.' (He'd say) 'No I'm not tired. I want to get on and do something.'"
Because of it and his desire to protect the people he loved, Mercury kept his battle himself until his last breath.
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