Freddie Mercury's Tragic Real-Life Story

Just in case you're wondering what sort of awesomely cool parents would name their kid "Freddie Mercury," that's not his real name. (Yes, shocking.) Freddie Mercury was born Farrokh Bulsara, which would have been a pretty good rock star name in the modern world but in the '80s, not so much. His family was Parsee

Just in case you're wondering what sort of awesomely cool parents would name their kid "Freddie Mercury," that's not his real name. (Yes, shocking.) Freddie Mercury was born Farrokh Bulsara, which would have been a pretty good rock star name in the modern world but in the '80s, not so much. His family was Parsee — ethnically Persian followers of the Zoroastrian religion. He spent part of his childhood in India and part in colonial Africa, but in 1963 his family was forced to flee Zanzibar to London after the country achieved independence and poor Africans started targeting wealthier Indian families.

In London, Mercury, who was given the nickname "Freddie" by teachers in India, enrolled in graphic design classes at Isleworth Polytechnic. His mother, Jer Bulsara, told The Telegraph that she made him apply for graphic design jobs between all the songwriting he was doing while holed up in his bedroom. "Had he got one of those jobs, things would have been quite different." Instead, he pissed off the neighbors with all the noise and moved out.

"I am proud for everything that comes up for my boy," his mother said. "The whole world seems to know him. They know who Freddie Mercury is. My boy was a genius." So in case you're still wondering what sort of awesomely cool parents he had, there you go.

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