Rock Music History....in Zanzibar?

In the midst of the tropical island paradise of Zanzibar, lies a significant piece of pop music history.

A walk through the narrow alleyways of the Stone Town, leads you to Mercury House No. 39, the building where the late rock star, Freddie Mercury spent most of his childhood.



Freddie Mercury was born as Farouk Bulsara on 5th September, 1946 to Parsi parents who had migrated to the East Africa island from India.

He was sent to boarding school in Bombay, India in 1955 and stayed there until 1963 when he returned to Zanzibar. It was in India that Farouk became Freddie. At the age of 17, Mercury and his family fled to the UK during the 1964 Zanzibar Revolution.

Together with guitarist Brian May, bassist John Deacon and drummer Roger Taylor, he formed the group Queen in 1970 and they would go on to enjoy unparalleled success for the next decade and a half with total worldwide sales of 300 million albums.

In 2008, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked him number 18 on their list of the 100 greatest singers of all time. Mercury died in 1991, from complications arising from HIV/Aids.

Zanzibar retains reminders of its ties to the rock legend including the apartment where he and his sister were born and raised.

Mercury House, which has since been converted into a hotel, is on the main thoroughfare of the islands - nestled between restaurants, souvenir shops and forex bureaus.

Besides a sign board at the entrance with a biography of Mercury and the sight of several tourists taking pictures of the building, there is little else to indicate that this is the street where one of the world’s most revered pop legends was born.

Located right by the seaside is Mercury’s, a restaurant built as a tribute to the late singer where a local group of musicians called The Coconut Band play a mix of Kiswahili and English classics every Saturday night.

With pictures of Freddie Mercury and other Queen memorabilia at every corner, this is a spot that seems very popular with tourists.