Queen guitarist Brian May has posted a birthday tribute on his blog to the late Freddie Mercury, who would have turned 65 today.
May left a heart-felt message for his bandmate, who died nearly 20 years ago.
The We Will Rock You performer said: "I was first introduced to Freddie Mercury - a paradoxically shy yet flamboyant young man - at the side of the stage at one of our early gigs as the group SMILE. He told me he was excited by how we played, he had some ideas - and he could sing!
"I'm not sure we took him very seriously, but he did have the air of someone who knew he was right. He was a frail but energised dandy, with seemingly impossible dreams and a wicked twinkle in his eye."
He added: "Freddie was fully focused, never allowing anything or anyone to get in the way of his vision for the future. He was truly a free spirit.
"Some people imagine Freddie as the fiery, difficult diva who required everyone around him to compromise. No. In our world, as four artists attempting to paint on the same canvas, Freddie was always the one who could find the compromise - the way to pull it through."
Freddie would have turned 65 today
Speaking of his time recording with Mercury, May said: "To create with Freddie was always stimulating to the max. He was daring, always sensing a way to get outside the box. Sometimes he was too far out... and he'd usually be the first to realise it."
He concluded: "Freddie would have been 65 this year, and even though physically he is not here, his presence seems more potent than ever.
"He gave people proof that a man could achieve his dreams - made them feel that through him they were overcoming their own shyness, and becoming the powerful figure of their ambitions. And he lived life to the full. He devoured life.
"He celebrated every minute. And, like a great comet, he left a luminous trail which will sparkle for many a generation to come."
