Hi, I'm Georgiana, your English teacher. Thanks for joining me for a new episode of the Speak English Now podcast.

If you want to help, please share the podcast on social media. That would mean a lot. Thanks.

Before we start, visit my website, speak Englishpodcast.com, and subscribe to my free mini-course. Okay, let's start. Today I'm going to talk about a band named queen and a legendary Freddie Mercury.

And with a mini-story, you're going to practice your speaking in English while learning fascinating

facts about Freddie.

Have you heard of a band named Queen?

Of course you have.

I'm just kidding.

And how much do you know about their singer and songwriter Freddie Mercury?

Some people believe that Mercury was British.

But did you know he was born in Zanzibar, September

1946? Then you probably guess by now that his real name wasn't Freddy Mercury. His birth

name was Faroch Boulshara. I was curious about how to pronounce his name, so I have done my research,

though I'm still not sure if I'm pronouncing it correctly.

Did you know that Freddy was born with four extra teeth in the back of his mouth?

He never fixed his teeth because he feared it would ruin his voice.

In 1964, Freddy's family moved to England, and in 1966, he enrolled in Ealing College of

Art to study graphic illustration. There he met Tim Stafel, who introduced him to his band Smile.

Watching Smile made Freddy realize that he really wanted to be in a band himself.

Therefore, after he finished his diploma in graphic art and design, he joined a band called IBEX, playing the lead

guitarist. Later on, he formed the band Queen in 1970 with guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor.

He wrote numerous hits for Queen, including Bohemian Rhapsody,

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