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Heathrow Staff Pay Tribute To Freddie Mercury On His 72nd Birthday

Heathrow Staff Pay Tribute To Freddie Mercury On His 72nd Birthday

It's not that well known, but Freddie used to work as a British Airways baggage handler at the airport

Tom Wood

Tom Wood

As far as rock stars go, they don't come too much bigger than Freddie Mercury. The energetic, enigmatic frontman of Queen had it all - charisma, style, and - above all - a set of pipes that would make the organ at Bridgewater Hall feel a little bit insecure.

Well, today would have been Freddie Mercury's 72nd birthday. Unfortunately for everyone, he was taken from us far too soon, dying from complications relating to AIDS back in 1991. However, his legacy lives on.

In fact, not only is there a film coming out about his life later this year called Bohemian Rhapsody, but a tribute to the great showman came in today from an unlikely source.

British Airways

It's not that well known, but Freddie - who was born Farrokh Bulsara - used to work as a British Airways baggage handler at Heathrow Airport whilst he was a young man living in Feltham.

Obviously, he went on to become one of the world's biggest musical stars, but the people of British Airways haven't forgotten about his contributions behind the rubber curtains all those years ago.

To coincide with Freddie's birthday, and in partnership with the Bohemian Rhapsody film, they enlisted the help of several of their current Heathrow baggage handling team to re-enact some classic Mercury moves to the song 'I Want To Break Free'.

OK, so they weren't dressed as women pushing a hoover around Heathrow Terminal 3, but they did have wheely suitcases and fake moustaches, and that's more than enough.

They trained hard and pulled off the dance moves in front of a terminal full of amused and surprised travellers. It looks like they had a lot of fun doing it too.

One of the stars of the tribute video, Baggage Manager Adam Dewey, spoke before the video was filmed, he said: "Freddie Mercury is an undisputed rock legend and it has been an absolute blast planning his birthday celebrations at Heathrow Airport, where he once worked.

"Myself and the other baggage handlers taking part have put everything into these dance routines and we can't wait to see the faces on holidaymakers when they strut their stuff in the arrivals hall.

"The new film Bohemian Rhapsody has proved a great inspiration for all of us and we can't wait to be hot-stepping our way to the premiere next month."

British Airways

On top of that, Heathrow Terminal 5 will be celebrating 'Freddie Mercury Day' for the entirety of 5 September.

If you're called Freddie, Fred, Frederick, or Farrokh, you can have free access - along with your travelling companions - to one of BA's posh lounges. Not too shabby, I'm sure.

As for the film, you can catch Bohemian Rhapsody in cinemas on 24 October this year.

Here's hoping they capture the spirit of Freddie Mercury as well as the baggage handlers did.

Featured Image Credit: British Airways

Topics: TV and Film, british airways, News, Music, freddie mercury, Queen, UK