20 Facts About Queen Frontman Freddie Mercury on the 20th Anniversary of His Death

Music fans around the world have paid their respects for Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, who died 20 years ago today.

1. Freddie designed the famous Queen emblem himself, thanks to a degree in art and graphic design from Ealing Art College.

2. He once owned as many as 10 cats, even dedicating an album and a song dedicated to them (Mr. Bad Guy)

3. He had a long-term relationship with a woman in the early 70s named Mary Austin. When he died, he left her most of his money, his house, and his recording royalties.

4. His trademark "bottomless mic" happened by accident. Whilst performing a show early in Queen's career, his mic stand snapped mid-performance. Instead of replacing it, he carried on performing and continued to use mic stand from then on.

5. Queen won the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution in 1990. All four members of the band came to the stage to accept the award. It was Mercury's last appearance in front of an audience.

6. Freddie was an avid and fastidious philatelist (stamp collector). His extensive collection is still exhibited at stamp shows world-wide as being under the estate of his birth name.

7. He was voted number 59 in the BBC's poll of the 100 greatest Britons, but was born in Zanzibar.

8. Freddie Mercury's birth name was Farrokh Bulsara. He legally changed his name to Freddie Mercury around 1970, when Queen was formed

9. He and family were Parsi and practiced Zoroastrian religion. His funeral service was performed by a Zoroastrian priest.

10. Freddie wrote Crazy Little Thing Called Love in the bath. He was in the tub at a hotel and got inspired for the song, it is said that he even had the piano brought to his tub to allow him to compose.

11. Freddie Mercury was inducted into the Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame (as a member of Queen) in 2001.

12. A species of yellow flowers was named after Freddie Mercury after his death.

13. When asked what one of Queen's most famous songs Bohemian Rhapsody meant, he replied "It bears no real meaning, it's all rhyming nonsense."

14. A statue was unveiled in Montreux, Switzerland on 25 November 1996. It stands at over three meres high and overlooks Lake Geneva.

15. Kurt Cobain mentioned Freddie Mercury in his suicide note, explaining how he admired and envied his ability to perform and embrace the love of his audience.

16. Freddie had a recorded range of three (almost four) octave, with a majority of his singing falling in the tenor range.

17. Although flamboyant entertainer on stage, Freddie was supposedly meant to be very shy in real life and hardly ever gave interviews.

18. Queen's originally lead singer was one of Freddie's friends, Tim Staffell, who recommended to Freddie work with the band instead.

19. Freddie wrote the song Who Wants To Live Forever? In a car whilst the band were driving back from watching preview of the film Highlander.

20. A film about Freddie Mercury will begin shooting in 2012, with Borat star Sacha Baron Cohen set to play him.