Freddie Mercury as we all know, the famous homosexual Parsi front man of Queen, died in 1991 due to complications caused by HIV/AIDS. This titan helped drastically raise public awareness of the disease, which had still yet to become well-known.
Now, there are so many possible ways to avoid his death in 1991, but I feel like going for a HUGE curveball. This will involve a bit of ASB, The Beatles, the other three members of Queen, and lots of pagentry... I think.
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1939: Bomi Bulsara and his wife have intercourse, deciding they are ready to have children. Bomi moves his wife and himself to Liverpool before the outbreak of the war, deciding that life would be better in the United Kingdom itself, despite racial reasons.
1940: Farrokh Bulsara is born in Liverpool, England.
1945: After the end of the war, Bomi finally concedes his son's wishes, and enrolls him in a music class after school, realizing that his slightly off-beat son has a great styling for music.
1954: Freddie, now 14, meets John Lennon for the first time at his school. The two become fast friends.
1957: The Quarrymen is started up in Liverpool by John Lennon and Farrokh Bulsara. They begin to look for two more musicians to join them, the search goes on in vain.
October 1957: Paul McCartney joins The Quarrymen as a bassist, followed shortly behind by a much-younger George Harrison in 1958, as a guitarist. John is reluctant to let the much younger Harrison into the band, until Bulsara convinces him to let the kid in, stating that "his passion burns brighter than a star."
1958: Now that he's 18, Freddie formally changes his name to Frederick Mercury, taking the nickname "Freddie" as his name.
1960: The Quarrymen rename to "The Beatles", and begin performing regularly in underground music halls in Liverpool and Hamburg.
August 1962: The Beatles switch up positions with the flamboyant, 22 year old Mercury become the Beatles front-man, allowing for Ringo Starr, a talented drummer, to join the band.
September 4, 1962: "Love Me Do" is recorded.
1963: The Beatles come to the United States for the first time. The Beatles style becomes immensely popular, with the matching suits, and other amenities. Freddie expresses to the band his "distaste for the lemming style", and suggests they try a more casual fit. The Beatles music doesn't change, but their style does.
1963-1967: The Beatles enjoy immense global popularity as their albums sell well in every part of the world.
1965: "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away" is composed by The Beatles, John Lennon sings it on their album, "Help!"
1967: The Beatles release two albums that they have been working on. One is Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, featuring one of the first times Ringo has sang on an album, and "One Dream", which features pre-dominantly songs written by Mercury. Many songs included were pieced together with his little scribbles made in a notebook. Notable songs include "Bohemia", "Miracle" and "Seven Seas of Rhye", which rockets the album to #1 across the world.
1969: The Beatles release Abbey Road, with Freddie singing "Here Comes the Sun". Tensions amongst the Beatles begin to grow, as Freddie publicly announces his homosexuality, now that it is legal in the United Kingdom. Freddie takes Lennon on vacation to France. Lennon does not go to the art museum where he met Yoko Ono. Yoko Ono passes into history as an unknown public activist in the United States.
1970: Let It Be releases, and The Beatles break up later that year, despite Freddie's best efforts to keep the band together. At the same time, a smaller band in the United Kingdom breaks up, called Smile. Brian May goes back to his scientific pursuits, and retires from music all together. John Deacon stops performing while looking for a new band, while Roger Meddows becomes a soloist.
1971: Freddie Mercury and John Lennon announce their relationship, to the shock of the former Beatles, and other members of the community.
October 1971: Imagine, a duet between Lennon and Mercury, releases in the United Kingdom. It becomes immensely popular, as their voices "harmonize in almost heavenly quality" according to Billboard US.
1971-1980: Mercury and Lennon tour the world as a duet band, with John Deacon and Roger Meddows join the band in 1975, and perform with them, with many songs being written ((most of OTL Queen's songs are written in this time period))
December 1980: John Lennon is assassinated, and Freddie goes into depression, vowing never to love again. He stays with the other two band members, and the band is renamed "Imagine" in John's honor.
1980-1986: Imagine continues to tour, and works for Africa Live AID in 1985. In 1986, the Hungarian government invites the band to perform live in Budapest. In 1985, Freddie is invited to be part of USA for Africa's recording of We Are The World.
1986: Imagine performs in Budapest, and brings Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison along with, leading to a great performance of Imagine songs, and songs of The Beatles.
1986-1989: Imagine finishes touring for the final time, and dissolves in late 1989. Mercury begins a solo career.
1989-1999: Mercury's solo career.
1999: Mercury, aged 59, retires from music all together and spends time with his and John's adopted daughter, Lucille, who is now 19.
2000: Mercury becomes a public speaker on HIV and AIDS, of which public awareness is lacking (the infection rate hasn't changed from OTL, though.)
2001: George Harrison dies, and Freddie attends his funeral.
September 2001: Freddie, at age 61, is attacked in his home in New York City by several American ultra-conservatives, during a wave of anti-Islamic fervor, merely because he is Persian/Iranian.
2002-2013: Freddie, well into his seventies now, has spent these years in relative quiet because of his wishes to be left well enough alone. Every now and again, a song will sneak its way into the charts, but he is content with his life with his daughter and grandchildren.