Queen drummer Roger Taylor says Freddie Mercury sang like a ‘manic goat’ as he reveals how ‘dreadful’ the frontman sounded in the beginning

Roger Taylor admitted his Queen bandmate Freddie Mercury sang like a ‘manic goat’ as he revealed how ‘dreadful’ the front-man sounded when they first got together. 

The drummer, 75, explained how the late singer’s famously operatic singing voice left his mother horrified when the band first started out.

Roger said Freddie – who died in 1991 of bronchial pneumonia resulting from AIDS –  ‘turned out to be wonderful’, but the distinctive vibrato for which he is known took some fine tuning. 

Speaking at the launch of the band’s remastered eponymous debut album – originally released in 1973 – he said: ‘I don’t think you realise how dreadful he sounded before.

‘I mean, he sounded like some manic goat. He sounded extraordinary, his vibrato. My mother’s face when she saw him…’ 

Roger added: ‘He turned out to be our wonderful Freddie whom we will never forget. He became this colossal force who could reach to the back of any gig or a stadium in Argentina. He reached everyone.’ 

Despite Queen splitting after Freddie’s death at the age of 45, Roger and Brian May have continued to tour under the band’s name, with lead vocalist Adam Lambert.

The special launch event at London’s Ham Yard Hotel celebrated the newly mixed, mastered, expanded edition release of Queen’s iconic self-titled debut album.

Matt Everitt hosted the evening which included a Q&A with Brian and Roger, followed by an album playback. 

The band have completely reworked their debut album, more than 50-years after its original release. 

The mammoth six CD release features a rearranged track-listing, alternative takes, demo versions and live recording – notably from their very first gig in 1970. 

Speaking to Guitar.com, Brian admitted the album is now in a better state than it was upon its initial release in1973. 

He said: ‘I’m not saying the original version was bad – it just wasn’t what we dreamed of. Freddie  and John, too, were always conscious of this thing in our past which seemed like it couldn’t be fixed.

‘Every instrument has been re-examined from the bottom up. The guitars were originally recorded very dry, so we’ve remedied that.

‘I remember my dad saying, “There’s no ambience, Brian. I don’t feel like I’m in the room with you playing next to me.”

‘But we weren’t in a position to lay down the law, and we felt that if we stepped out of line we would lose the opportunity altogether.’

May also insisted the reworked album  is not a remaster.   

‘This is a brand new 2024 rebuild of the entire Queen debut album,’ the guitarist wrote on his website.  

‘All the performances are exactly as they originally appeared in 1973, but every instrument has been revisited to produce the ‘live’ ambient sounds we would have liked to use originally. 

‘The result is Queen as it would have sounded with today’s knowledge and technology – a first.’ 

Heading out after the launch party on Monday evening, Roger did the Can-Can in Soho with his daughters Tigerlily, Rory and Lola. 

The family enjoyed a night out in London, with Tigerlily, 30, sharing the moment they decided to break out and dance down the street on Instagram on Friday. 

The model showed off her long legs as she threw them into the air, with Roger also giving it his all. 

Rory, 38, struggled to keep up, while Lola, 24, giggled in the short clip. 

Tigerlily captioned the post: ‘Da da daaaa da da da daaaa BDE, big dork energy. Can-canning around soho with these freaks last night’. 

She added about her sister Rory: ‘I can’t. The lack of coordination and look of confusion’. 

Tigerlily is the daughter of Roger and his ex-wife Debbie, who were together for 15 years before splitting in 2004.

The exes also share daughter Lola and a son Rufus, 33 – who is a touring drummer for the Queen + Adam Lambert stage shows. 

Roger is also a father to son Felix, 44, and a daughter Rory, who is a GP, who he shares with Dominique Beyrand.