Q is for Queen

There can be no two ways about this one. Even though I'm not a huge fan of either Freddie or Queen, there's no denying that they had a massive impact on the pop scene, pop culture and the world around them.

The first time I became aware of Freddie Mercury was when he did a duet called "Barcelona" with opera singer Montserrat Cabelle. The main reason I became aware of this was because my mother, a classical singer and music teacher, nearly had apoplexy about this collaboration. That was 1988, and at the age of 13, I honestly couldn't decide who squawked more. ;-)

Nevertheless, the song was a huge hit, got a lot of airplay, and the video got a lot of time on the TV. It was the official song of the Olympic Games that year, and indelibly printed the image of a young, virile Freddie on my mind.

World AIDS Day 1 December - Elton John AIDS Foundation

Today is World AIDS Day. It always interests me that things like AIDS get a day. AIDS isn't for just a day. It's forever. We think about things for a day, and then, if they don't affect us personally, tomorrow we stop thinking about them. I guess that's the way human nature is. 

I first heard about AIDS back in 1985. I think a lot of people first heard about it then, because it's when the first famous person died of it. Handsome actor and leading man Rock Hudson was taken from us on October 2 1985 at the age of 60. Cause of death: AIDS. Before that, a few people had died of it. But nobody we knew. AIDS was highly stigmatised. It was something that came from monkeys, came from gay people, came from everywhere and anywhere, but it was something sordid that WE didn't do.  Although the death of Rock Hudson due to AIDS was tragic, it gave a friendly name and face to AIDS, and made us realise that if it could happen to Rock, it could happen to us. Rock Hudson was homosexual, which fuelled the supposition that AIDS was a disease for homosexuals but stated that he felt he may have contracted the disease through a blood transfusion in 1981, which still stands today as his lover did not contract the disease.