A bust of the British rock band Queen’s lead singer, Freddie Mercury, was unveiled in Balatonszemes, Hungary, on Sunday, 26 July. It is only the third publicly displayed sculpture dedicated to the legendary singer, following those in Montreux, Switzerland, and Jeju, South Korea.
‘The Queen Camp has been held in Balatonszemes for more than three decades and has since grown into a full-scale festival. Every year, it attracts fans from both Hungary and abroad, creating a unique gathering where visitors can enjoy not only Queen’s music but a wide range of other programmes as well,’ Arnold Gyarmati, chairman of the Queen Friends’ Association and the driving force behind the project, said, explaining the inspiration for the new monument.
Balatonszemes, a town of around 1,600 residents, is a popular holiday destination on the southern shore of Lake Balaton. Although Mercury performed in Hungary with Queen in July 1986, the concert took place at Budapest’s People’s Stadium (today’s Puskás Arena)—and the singer had no known connection to the Balaton region.
‘A public survey conducted by a local civic organization showed strong support for creating a bust of Freddie Mercury. The organizers of a festival that has been running for 33 years wanted to honour an artist whose work has left a lasting mark on global culture. The municipality is not commissioning the statue—we are simply supporting this community initiative,’ Mayor Zsolt Iváncsics of Balatonszemes told the Hungarian tabloid Blikk.
The bust was created by Hungarian sculptor András Sándor Kocsis.
Mercury co-founded Queen in London in 1970 along with lead guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor.
The band rose to international fame in the mid-1970s with hit singles such as Seven Seas of Rhye (1974) and Bohemian Rhapsody (1975). Their later hits include We Will Rock You (1977), Don’t Stop Me Now (1979), and Another One Bites the Dust (1980).
Mercury was one of the first openly gay international music superstars. He died of AIDS in 1991 at the age of only 45.
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