Watch this video that proves Queen's Freddie Mercury was a true piano maestro

17 September 2021, 13:27

There's no doubt about it: Freddie Mercury was one of the greatest frontmen in music history.

Not only was the Queen frontman renowned for his on-stage persona, Freddie Mercury also possessed one of the greatest voices in rock music.

His prowess fronting Queen often takes the spotlight when people remember Freddie, and rightly so.

Read more: Freddie Mercury's 1992 tribute concert will stream live on Queen's channel for charity

People recognising his talent as a singer and showman would no doubt please the late rock icon, as he regularly expressed his insecurities about playing piano on stage.

One Queen superfan, however, has made a video to disprove Freddie's doubts.

Freddie Mercury’s insane piano skills

The compilation video takes several highlights from live Queen performances from over the years, and mashes them together to show what a true piano maestro Freddie really was.

Read more: Backstage pass: Snapshots of Freddie Mercury's weird and wonderful life on tour

Starting out with a live show of 'White Queen' in 1975, the video also shows Freddie playing 'The Millionaire Waltz' in 1977 and 'Play The Game' at Milton Keynes Bowl in 1982.

What follows are his piano sections in 'We Are The Champions' during 1985's Live Aid set, and both 'Seven Seas Of Rhye' and 'Bohemian Rhapsody' from their 1986 Wembley Stadium concert respectively.

Each video displays Freddie's virtuosity and versatility behind the piano, an instrument he deemed himself to be mediocre at playing.

It's true that Queen sets featured a lot less tracks with prominent piano pieces in them as they entered the 1980s.

Whether that's because the band's sound progressed and moved away from the more operatic rock that helped establish Queen worldwide, we're not too sure.

Read more: Who were Freddie Mercury's parents? Queen singer's family explained

But they tended only to feature major numbers like 'We Are The Champions' and 'Bohemian Rhapsody' which rely heavily on the piano.

Freddie supposed removed 'Somebody to Love' from their setlist as the decade went on because of his insecurities of playing it live, despite the song being one of his personal favourites.

A lifelong lover of classical music and opera, Freddie likely and unfairly compared himself to the great piano players throughout the ages, which was likely the source of his insecurity.

Read more: The Story of... 'Bohemian Rhapsody' by Queen

Given he could hold the audience in the palm of his hand away from the piano, it likely informed his decision to include less piano-orientated Queen songs in their performances.

Regardless, his passion for opera and classical music made a huge imprint on Queen's own craft, and was the reason they became one of the world's biggest bands in modern history.

Freddie evidently wasn't that bad after all. In fact, he was brilliant.