Rock
Another One Bites The Crust! Freddie Mercury’s godson says a toaster was the best gift he received from Queen singer
Bohemian Rhaps-o-tea and Toast... Freddie Mercury’s childhood treasures - including a £400,000 studio grand piano - are heading to a blockbuster London auction this October, but according to his godson a humble six-slice toaster is the best gift he ever received.
Freddie Mercury’s godson, Freddie Mack, says a six-slice toaster was the greatest gift he ever received from the Queen singer.
The late rock legend was famous for his grand, operatic stage presence, a lavish lifestyle and a well-earned reputation for showering those he loved with incredibly extravagant gifts.
Yet, despite a history of treating friends and family to everything from bespoke teddy bears to £6,000 Fortnum & Mason Christmas hampers, Mercury’s godson, Freddie Mack, has revealed that the most meaningful gift Freddie ever bestowed upon his family was a remarkably mundane kitchen appliance: a giant toaster
Mack - whose father is the German record producer Reinhold Mack - explained that the Radio Ga Ga hitmaker always looked out for those he loved. To Mercury, the smallest, most practical everyday details were what mattered most.
Speaking exclusively to Contact Music ahead of a highly anticipated UK music auction at Cumberland Hotel, he said: "We received this huge, it’s kind of silly, we received a big toaster that made six slices of toast at the same time.
"That was because Freddie said, 'You’re a big family, and you can’t eat toast together. And I wanted to make sure that you guys can all eat toast at the same time.'"
For Mack, the thoughtful gesture completely summed up the rock star's humble nature when he was away from the stadium spotlights.
He said: "The thought process is that when he goes out in his free time, and then he sees, like, this huge toaster, and is like, 'The Mack family needs that.' That’s humble. He always his eye out for someone else, always caring for other people."
The close family bond stems from Freddie Mack's father. He famously engineered and produced some of Queen's biggest 1980s albums - including The Game, Flash Gordon and Hot Space - forming such a tight personal relationship with the frontman that Mercury became godfather to his son.
Despite the endless array of elaborate gifts that a global rock icon could provide, Mack insists it is the domestic, everyday items that hold the most sentimental value.
He said: "That’s the strange thing. It’s the little things that are really the most special. Just like these small items that became part of our everyday lives ... the backstory is there."
While the rest of the world knew the singer as a larger-than-life rock god, to a young Mack, he was simply a regular presence around the house.
Growing up, Mack admitted it was initially a "mind-blown" experience to reconcile the global superstar he saw on television with the man who would turn up at the front door.
Freddie Mercury live at Wembley Stadium in 1986 / Credit: Avalon
Mack Laughed: "When I was very little, I would see him on television, and then the knock on the door, and then he stood in front of me, and it was hard to compute that these are the two same people.
"The music videos of Radio Ga Ga, which, you know, I really fancy that as a little kid, and then seeing him in T-shirts and jeans at the door, and then just hanging out with us, and, giving me presents and talking to me ... that was a beautiful thing."
He added: "Freddie on stage, I was always a whole separate thing. It was Queen and Freddie was completely different to me than Uncle Freddie."
Now a performer himself, Mack is channeling those early memories - and the stage lessons passed down by his godfather - into his own music. He recently performed a set of Queen covers at the annual Freddie Celebration Days in Montreux, an experience that introduced him firsthand to the enduring power of the band's followers.
"They’re keeping themselves alive. Yeah. I mean, it’s a phenomenon," Mack reflected when asked about the global community of Queen fans.
He added: "When social media broke, and people started getting ahold of me, that was at first weird, 'cause I always had this complete separation from, like, Queen fans and so forth. But over the years, it's just been such a warm, fantastic thing ... they just want to hear the stories and want to keep the memories alive. I hope I can do my part in helping purvey that history."
Looking ahead, Mack is ready to translate what he learned from tackling the legendary catalogue into his own original material.
He said: "We spent about half a year preparing these Queen songs. It definitely taught me a lot about songwriting, breaking down all these songs ... there are so many fine, minute details that maybe the average person wouldn't pick up that makes a song super complicated, for apparently no reason, but that’s what made it Queen. So I’m hoping that I can take what I learned and then put that into my music."
While Mack is looking to the future with his own music, fans will soon have a historic chance to bid on the physical pieces of his unique childhood history.
The extraordinary 82-lot archive, hit the auction block as part of 'The Reinhold Mack Collection', features incredible personal memorabilia from his father's time working in the studio. Among the deeply personal family treasures up for sale is the very Steiff teddy bear that Mercury famously gifted to his godson.
Lot # 298. The Reinhold Mack Collection: Freddie Mercury-Gifted Teddy Bear / Credit: Propstore Auction
Alongside the personal gifts, the centerpiece of the collection is the legendary Musicland Studios Yamaha C3 grand piano that a young Freddie Mack used to sit at.
The historic instrument was Mercury's foundational tool for composing solo material and massive Queen hits like Crazy Little Thing Called Love.
However, as the studio's famous house grand, it also passed beneath the fingertips of an incredible cross-section of music royalty - including Elton John, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, and Donna Summer.
The historic grand piano is expected to fetch between £200,000 and £400,000.
The incredible collection goes to auction during Propstore's Music Memorabilia Live Auction at London's Cumberland Hotel on October 1-2nd.
For more details, fans can visit propstoreauction.com
