“He Will Always Be My Freddie”: A Mother’s Reflection on the Private Life, Dreams, and Cultural Identity of Freddie Mercury

“He Will Always Be My Freddie”: A Mother’s Reflection on the Private Life, Dreams, and Cultural Identity of Freddie Mercury

In an intimate and poignant 2011 interview with The Sunday Telegraph, Jer Bulsara, the mother of Freddie Mercury, opened up about the lesser-known sides of her iconic son—the quiet dreamer, the proud Parsee, the humble boy who never forgot his roots. Conducted by journalist Shekhar Bhatia, the piece offers a rare glimpse beyond the dazzling lights and theatrical persona of Queen’s legendary frontman. It reveals the tender bond between a mother and her son, and the complex identity that Mercury quietly carried throughout his life.

From the early days in England, when Freddie was typing up job applications for graphic design roles—hoping deep down they wouldn’t lead anywhere—to the noise complaints that ultimately nudged him to leave home, Jer recalls a young man on the brink of self-discovery. “I hope I don’t get these jobs,” he told her, already sensing a different calling. His rejection of the conventional path was less rebellion and more destiny. Even after failing his driving test, he was undeterred. “One day I will be chauffeur driven everywhere,” he predicted—half in jest, half in certainty. “My boy certainly had a dream,” she reflected.

As Queen rose to global superstardom, Freddie’s public identity evolved. His Asian roots began to fade from view in the media and public consciousness. But within his family, those roots were never denied. “Freddie was a Parsee and he was proud of that,” Jer affirmed. The nuances of his background often got lost in translation—especially in the West, where “Asian” was narrowly equated with Indian identity. “He was Persian by ancestry,” said Roger Cooke, Freddie’s brother-in-law, defending him against accusations of cultural erasure. “If he distanced himself, it was not from shame—but perhaps because people misunderstood who he truly was.”

Though not devoutly religious, Freddie’s Zoroastrian heritage and Parsee upbringing shaped his worldview in subtle, enduring ways. His family’s values—hard work, humility, and deep familial bonds—remained embedded in him even at the height of his fame. Amidst the chaos of tours, chart-topping albums, and adulation, Freddie found comfort in the simplest of things. “He would come home and say, ‘Mum, are you making your special cheese biscuits?’” Jer recounted fondly. “He just wanted a normal life at home and to leave his work on the side.”

This image—of a global rock icon, quietly sitting in his mother’s kitchen, asking for home-cooked snacks—is perhaps the most powerful in the entire interview. It strips away the artifice and spectacle, revealing a son who, in the privacy of family, never outgrew his boyhood. Despite a career that took him to every corner of the planet, Freddie remained deeply connected to his family. He sent postcards from around the world and kept them close, even as his public identity became mythic.

For Jer, the loss of her son is both a personal and global grief. But it’s also filled with pride. “My boy was a genius,” she said, her voice carrying both maternal warmth and the ache of absence. “It makes me proud that he remains my Freddie and has not been forgotten.” Her words are a powerful reminder that behind the stage makeup and stadium anthems stood a quiet soul, a loving son, and a man of rich heritage and dreams.

“He was taken away,” she said softly, “because God loved him more.”

This moving portrait of Freddie Mercury, through the eyes of his mother, is more than just a biography—it’s a testament to the man behind the myth. A son who never forgot who he was, even as the world tried to define him.

“I made Freddie type some letters for jobs and when he posted the applications he said’ I hope I don’t get these jobs’. The applications were for graphic design. Had he got one of those jobs, things would have been quite different. In the end, he thought it was too much because he was in his bedroom most of the time and an elderly neighbours were complaining about the noise and he decided to leave home.”

As he was on the verge of musical success, he failed his driving test, but told his family not to worry. His mother said: “He said it didn’t matter. I said he didn’t want to spend his life on buses and he said: ‘It doesn’t matter because one day I will be chauffeur driven everywhere’. I thought that my boy certainly had a dream.”

As he became more famous, his Asian upbringing and heritage faded increasingly into the background. But it was never something he forgot himself, his family say; being Asian was part of his life. His background made his sense of identity complex. Being a Parsee meant he identified more with his Persian ancestry than India, where his parents were brought up and he was educated. Hurtfully, there were people who said he was burying his Asian roots.

Roger Cooke, his brother in law, said: “To an English mind, Asian means Indian. It doesn’t in Freddie’s particular case, he was Persian by ancestry. He was accused of denying his Indian heritage. I don’t think he ever did, but if he did, it would have been because he was Persian.”His mother added: “Freddie was a Parsee and he was proud of that, but he wasn’t particularly religious.”At the height of his fame, Mercury would want nothing more than to sit in the kitchen as his mother cooked for him.”He wanted to be as normal as possible,” she said. “Business was on one side and his family on the other. He would come home and say ‘ Mum are you making your special cheese biscuits?’ Whenever he was in the studio and working long hours, he would say ‘Mum, make some more because all the boys are there’ and I would say of course, why not. He just wanted a normal life at home and to leave his work on the side. But he was just so good to us and tell us everything that was happening. He would send postcards from around the world.”

Mrs Bulsara added: “I am proud for everything that comes up for my boy. The whole world seems to know him. They know who Freddie Mercury is.
My boy was a genius. It makes me proud that he remains my Freddie and has not been forgotten.
It is because God loved him more.
That’s why he was taken away.”

Sunday Telegraph, Interview with Freddie’s mum, Jer, October 2011 – by Shekhar Bhatia.