Tears, flowers in London mark three decades without Freddie Mercury

Jorge Hinojosa and Enrique Rubio

London, Nov 24 (EFE).- Barely 24 hours after announcing that he was HIV positive, the life of Freddie Mercury, one of the greatest vocalists in the history of rock, was extinguished to the shock of a world that was just beginning to feel the devastating effects of AIDS. Today, thirty years after his death, many fans paid tribute to him in front of his former home in London.

It was 1991 and the specter of AIDS had already left society’s more marginalized circles to become a disease that also attacked the rich and famous.

On November 7, basketball legend Magic Johnson, one of the most popular public figures of the 1980s, revealed at a press conference that he was HIV positive. A little more than two weeks later, Farrokh Bulsara, better known by his stage name Freddie Mercury, released a statement through his agent.

“Following the enormous conjecture in the press over the past two weeks, I wish to confirm that I have tested positive for HIV and have AIDS,” the singer announced, asking for respect for his private life.

Only one day later he died, at the age of 45, at his home in Logan Place, in the wealthy London neighborhood of South Kensington.

Dozens of fans of the Queen singer paraded in front of the house on Wednesday.

“My birthday present is to come to Freddie’s house,” Sonia Olvera Villanueva, a Mexican who lives in the Spanish city of Getafe (Madrid), told Efe.

For this woman, who became a fan of the vocalist as a result of the movie “Bohemian Rhapsody,” visiting Mercury’s final resting place is the “dream” and the “illusion” of her life.

“I came with my daughter, who accompanied me from Getafe. I am a nurse, I work at night and I made changes to be able to come here, I can’t believe it. Since I got here I have been crying with emotion, I have screamed, my head hurts and I can’t believe I’m here, in Freddie Mercury’s house,” said Olvera.