He must have been so easy to love, Freddie. It has been a revelation to see the videos with the songs, although one could wish that some of the same sequences, such as the one on the flat bed train car with makeup-masked model, weren't shown for so many different songs, particularly since there are thumbnails of different videos along the bottom of, say, an album cover among the YouTube Queentube page listings.
I noticed from the videos that way Freddie stayed close to Brian much of the times when he wasn't singing, watching Brian's fingers on his guitar -- it seemed he always wanted to learn as much as he could.
I'm not sure why everyone didn't know Freddie was gay or bisexual, given the short haircut and mustache. But, then, I've lived in San Francisco for nearly my entire life and saw that style among gays from the beginning -- and it's still in fashion. But it was never as attractive on Freddie as his own thick, loose hair -- he looked tremendously sexy and exotic.
The second-best thing I like about Freddie is his voice -- four octaves!
The thing I most like knowing about was his devotion to Mary Austin. To find an unbreakable bond such as theirs is the rarest thing in the world, although the transition from lovers to friends must have been painful for both. I love "Love of my Life," but isn't it just like a man to throw you out of his bed, then say you hurt him when you try to go on without him.
I think Brian's "No One But You" is about as touching as "Danny Boy," plus comes with video. How Queen must have missed him, as frontman, singer, songwriter, friend. And I expect they still do.
Just discovering Queen this year, at age 60, is somewhat embarrassing (I've always been blues and R&B), but I must say, I miss Freddie, too, and wish I hadn't been disdainful of "heavy metal" and written them off as such, when what could be less so than "Sleeping on the Sidewalk" (Brian), "Seaside Rendezvous (Freddie), "Another One Bites the Dust" (John) and "Hijack my Heart" (Roger), as well as too many others to mention by all of them.
I hope some day to visit Freddie's statue, although I think I'd have preferred something other than that horrid yellow short jacket with tabs. We must be grateful that we don't paint statues, as the Greeks did.

Shannon Bryony
San Francisco