His performances defined an era, and his life story has been dissected in tell-all books as well as on the big screen.
But now further revelations may open up an unknown chapter in the life of Freddie Mercury.
The question of whether or not Mercury had a secret daughter, whom he told no one about and would now be 48-years-old, has divided fans and the closest people in his life.
A forthcoming book by Lesley-Ann Jones tells of a woman known only as B, who claims that the woman is in fact the Queen frontman’s daughter – conceived during a fling with the wife of a close friend in 1976.
“Freddie Mercury was and is my father,” she says in a handwritten letter. “We had a very close and loving relationship from the moment I was born and throughout the final 15 years of his life. He adored me and was devoted to me.”
Little is known about B other than her age and the fact she is a medical professional working in Europe. She claims Mercury entrusted her with 17 journals that cover the final years of his life, which Jones says are “the closest thing to a Freddie Mercury autobiography that the world will ever know”.
The claims, which first emerged in May and were apparently common knowledge among Mercury’s inner circle, have been met with mounting pushback from some people who knew the singer best.
When asked about B, the Queen guitarist Brian May said he wanted to remain “neutral”. However, his wife, the former EastEnders star Anita Dobson, dismissed the claims as “fake news”. Mary Austin, a close friend of the singer, also doubted whether Mercury would have kept the fact he had a daughter secret from his inner circle.
“Freddie had a glorious openness, and I cannot imagine he would have wanted to, or been able to, keep such a joyful event a secret, either from me or other people closest to him,” Austin told the Sunday Times.
Austin inherited about half of an estimated £9m estate that Mercury left after the singer, who was diagnosed with Aids in 1987, died aged 45 of bronchial pneumonia in 1991.
Mercury had relationships with men and women (including Austin) and described himself as bisexual.
“The truth is that I am simply not the guardian of such a secret,” said Austin. “I’ve never known of any child, or of any diaries. If Freddie had indeed had a child without me knowing anything about it, that would be astonishing to me.”
The woman referred to as B responded by saying she was “devastated” by Austin’s comments.
Jones – whose book Love, Freddie will be published next month – defended the validity of the claims when they first emerged, saying that a DNA test had been conducted that supported the version of events presented in her Mercury biography.
She also pointed to the lack of a vocal rejection of the claims by the remaining members of Queen as further evidence that the details in her book were true.
“What I would say is that the real inner circle – the other members of Queen and Freddie’s sister – would have denied this if they could, weeks ago, when the story broke,” Jones said. “They cannot because, as Freddie’s daughter says, they know that it is true.”
Jones, who has written a series of books about music’s biggest names, has been talking up more revelations that appear in Love, Freddie – claiming she has been “crafting a narrative that will overturn everything we thought we knew about him and his legacy”.