Freddie Mercury is one of those guys that you didn’t know could get any cooler, until you learn that he was the ultimate cat dad.
His treated his cats like they were his children. Apparently, while on the road, Freddie Mercury would often call home and ask to speak to his beloved cats. At Christmas, each cat had his or her own stocking filled with treats and toys.
He even dedicated an album to a few of his cats, and wrote a song for another!
It makes a lot of sense, then, that they appear in the new Queen biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody, starring Rami Malek as the band’s flamboyant frontman. Malek recently won an Oscar for Best Actor for this role.
In the movie, Mercury exclaims that each cat has its own bedroom in his new home. The singer’s phone calls to his cats made it on-screen, too.
When It All Began
His love of cats began in the 1970’s when his girlfriend, Mary Austin, bought them two cats, named Tom and Jerry. This is when he started calling them while away on tour.
Austin was caring for the animals when he was away, and she’d hold the receiver up to the cats so they could listen to Freddie talking. This continued through the years with all of his cats.
Freddie eventually hosted a total of ten cats. Most were rescued from shelters or animal hospitals. And just like in the movie, Freddie Mercury really did give each cat their own bedroom.
The cats were often fed fresh chicken or fish that was prepared for them, instead of ordinary cat food.
Well-Loved Til the End
When Mercury became ill, he spent his final months with watercolors trying to paint a portrait of his beloved Delilah, a tortoiseshell that he wrote a song for.
In one of his final interviews, he stated that he had included Mary Austin and his cats in his will, saying “I’m leaving it all to Mary and the cats.”
So, to celebrate Malek’s Best Actor Oscar, and the ultimate cat dad, Mercury himself, here is a collection of photos featuring Mercury and all of his feline children!
