The lead singer of Queen was born Farrokh Bulsara on September 5, 1946 on Zanzibar island. Son of a British diplomat, he spent part of his childhood in India before moving with his family to London. In 1970, he began his singing career under the name Freddie Mercury. His group soon rocketed to international fame. Considered one of the greatest rock groups of all times, Queen marked rock and roll history with such world-famous hits as Show Must Go On and We Are The Champions.

The group recorded an album in 1978 in Montreux, a city on the shores of Lake Geneva that hosts the renowned Montreux Jazz Festival every year. Freddie Mercury was so taken with Montreux that he bought an apartment in Territet, overlooking Lake Geneva. The group recorded their last albums in their Montreux studio, where they produced some of their all-time greatest hits, such as Mother Love. Lake Geneva even appeared on the cover of their album Made in Heaven.

Freddie Mercury loved this peaceful city where he remain anonymous: If you want to find peace, go to Montreux. Mercury lived his last months there, before dying of AIDS on November 24, 1991. In 1996, bronze statue, now permanently laden with flowers, was erected in his honor on the quays of Montreux.