Mary Austin had the stories, the insight and the access. But writing a memoir about her lifelong relationship with Freddie Mercury felt insurmountable.
“I thought, no, I could never get this right,” Austin says from her home in London.
But about four years ago while living in Garden Lodge, Mercury’s cherished home in West London that he bequeathed to her upon his 1991 death, she and her two sons decided to hold an auction at Sotheby’s with some of Mercury’s artifacts – mostly furniture, artwork and some Queen lyrics found in a silver trunks.
But the real treasure would be the larger collection of Mercury’s handwritten lyrics, which, after much searching, were finally located in the upholstered piano stool in front of the Yamaha grand piano where
Mercury composed the bones of Queen classics including “Somebody to Love,” “We are the Champions”and“Bohemian Rhapsody.”
“I had a rush of memory. It was almost as if Freddie’s fluttering by, you know?” Austin says of the discovery.
Exploring the lyrics made Austin, Mercury’s former fiancée and lifelong confidante, realize they needed contextualizing. Her vivid and frank recollections frame “Freddie Mercury: A Life in Lyrics” (HarperCollins, 318 pps., out now), a handsome hardcover stocked with personal photos of the couple, Mercury with his beloved cats and in other unguarded moments, elegant art scribbles and dozens of pages of lyrics, many written on Mercury’s favorite notepad from British Midland airline in his small, cursive penmanship.
With the four-year process of crafting the book finished, Austin tells USA TODAY in her only U.S. interview that she wanted her perspective to “give a warmth of the moment. And that feels really good. That feels as though, for me, I can bring it to a close. I can do no more.”
Why Mary Austin has no desire to see 'Bohemian Rhapsody'
In the book, Austin shares that in early 1977, Mercury, who died of AIDS, told her he was bisexual. He did not argue her response of, “No, you’re gay.” The change in their relationship from romantic to friendship was “painful.” But, she continues to write, “What replaced it was not a consolation prize. What replaced it was something rarer … He came back to me when things went wrong and I never doubted why. I was there because I knew him, and because he knew that I did.”
Austin’s fierce devotion to Mercury is apparent even in conversation about non-book-related Queen topics.
In her polite British manner, Austin, when asked, said she hasn’t watched “Bohemian Rhapsody,” the 2018 biopic about the band that earned nearly a billion dollars worldwide. “I lived it. I don’t want to see somebody else’s version of how I felt or what I thought.”
She’s equally nonplussed about the versions of Queen that have toured since Mercury’s death.
“It’s not quite the same when the man who created the sound and the drive is not there anymore,” she says.
Freddie Mercury's cats were part of his soul
Mercury has a well-documented fondness for felines, but “A Life in Lyrics” illuminates his adoration of his numerous cats through dozens of photos.
On his final album with Queen, 1991’s “Innuendo,” Mercury included a tribute to his calico friend, “Delilah.” In the book, pictures of Mercury photographing the languid kitty in the landscaped backyard of Garden Lodge and kissing the top of her head are especially sweet, as are photos of him with another favorite, theebony beauty Goliath, seen perched on Mercury’s back and curled up in his lap.
Austin says the independent nature of cats appealed to Mercury’s personality.
“They don’t give of themselves unless they want to. And they’re affectionate because they decide to be affectionate,” she says. “And I suppose they’re feral.”
Queen's Live Aid performance almost didn't happen
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But Mercury was reluctant to perform at what became the biggest music event in history. After Austin prodded him to participate, Mercury “pulled away from me. I suppose you could say we fell out. And in the days leading up to the concert, he stopped talking to me altogether,” she writes.
Instead of taking her usual place at the side of the stage during a Queen performance, Austin bought her own tickets to Live Aid and watched from the crowd.
Reflecting on the experience now, Austin recalls how bad the sound had been at the festival leading up to Queen. “And then they came on and it was a few seconds of struggle and then the sound was amazing. And suddenly the crowd lifted as though they, too, were embracing the moment.”
Does Mary Austin have a favorite Queen song?
Asked to choose the Queen songs she most enjoys, Austin smiles.
“I really, really don’t have one,” she says. “I find myself humming all sorts of different ones, which is good because my humming is terrible and I get to a certain point and think, no.”
But even humming can conjure feelings, mostly because Austin is among a select few who possess profound memories of the icon behind the music.
“I can start to hum ‘We Are the Champions’ and end up in all sorts of places emotionally and mentally,” she says. “I can see a man onstage, a man dripping with sweat, turning his back to the audience and walking. The memories are so many.”
Mary Austin hopes fans will see the 'joy' of Mercury's musical creations
Because Austin was so close to Mercury, amassing the material for “A Life in Lyrics” allowed her a different perspective on inarguably one of the most visceral and charismatic frontmen in rock history.
She hopes the book will portray the “richness” of Mercury and spotlight “the joy of what he created.”
Fans know of Mercury’s talent and dedication, but Austin hopes that through this trove of photos coupled with her words, they will see Mercury as a whole person.
“I think I'm now realizing quite how powerful a performer, an entertainer, he really was. I was living with, now I'm observing and seeing this from a different perspective,” she says. “And now I can see the legend.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Freddie Mercury’s closest friend opens up about the Queen icon like never before | Exclusive
