Where were you when....

Where were you when JFK was assassinated? Chances are, like me, you weren't even born at the time.

So where were you when you heard Freddie Mercury died? The man gave up his fight against AIDS on the 24th November 1991. It happened overnight Australian time, so most people didn't find out until the next day.

I, for one, was in Maths class, last period on that Monday 25th, when the kid behind me happened to mention to me that Freddie has died. I didn't believe it. On the walk to the train station on the way home I spoke to a couple of mates and hadn't heard the news either, thus strengthening my argument that my mate over my shoulder in Maths had no idea what he was on about.

When my mother picked me up at the other end of my train journey, I said to her "some bloke in my Maths class tried to tell me that Freddie Mercury died overnight". She replied "He did. He died of HIV". I couldn't believe it. I felt so stupid. And sad. I played "Greatest Hits 1" all night after that.

It was probably the first time that a rock star's death had had any impact on me. I remembered when Stevie Ray Vaughan died. That was strange, but then I'd only heard one song of his ("Crossfire") so it didn't bother me terribly. On the other hand, Queen's music I'd grown up with, or at least since they issued "Radio Ga Ga" in 1984. I'd followed them ever since then, so Freddie's death came as quite a shock.

So where were you when you first heard about Freddie's death? Did it bother you? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts with us.

Enjoy!