World’s first Freddie Mercury museum is on an African island
Freddie Mercury, pictured here as a baby with his mother, was born Farrokh Bulsara in Stone Town, Zanzibar, on September 5, 1946.
Freddie Mercury Museum Zanzibar
A copy of Freddie Mercury's Zanzibari birth certificate, listing his name as Farrokh.
Freddie Mercury Museum Zanzibar
Mercury spent much of his childhood in Zanzibar, a semi-autonomous island off the coast of Tanzania. He also attended boarding school in India.
Freddie Mercury Museum Zanzibar
In 2002, Zanzibari businessman Javed Jafferji opened a souvenir shop on the first floor of a home the Bulsara family once lived in. He named it after his hero.
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Jafferji (right) and his friend Andrea Boero (left), also a Mercury fan, partnered with Queen Productions Ltd. in the UK to convert The Mercury House into a museum, chronicling Mercury's early years in Zanzibar.
Freddie Mercury Museum Zanzibar
The museum opened on November 24, 2019, the 28th anniversary of Mercury's death.
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Photos of Freddie Mercury performing with Queen hang outside the museum in Zanzibar's Stone Town neighborhood.
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The centerpiece of the museum is this black piano, which Freddie Mercury played as a child.
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Mercury would go on to form Queen, and attain legendary rock status.
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A melting pot of cultures and traditions, Mercury's birthplace is known for its sunsets and spices. Stone Town was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000.