--- description: Researchers have pinpointed the scientific reasons for why Freddie Mercury was such a good singer. title: Science Explains Why Freddie Mercury’s Singing Voice Was So Good image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte736e77538042c80/69888fd35f570f5093b208bd/freddie-mercury.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Science Explains Why Freddie Mercury’s Singing Voice Was So Good  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 19, 2016 10:57 PM CUT  Freddie Mercury (1946-1991), singer with Queen, standing in front of a drumkit as he sings into a microphone on stage during a live concert performance by the band at the National Bowl in Milton Keynes, England, United Kingdom, in 1982. Freddie Mercury (1946-1991), singer with Queen, standing in front of a drumkit as he sings into a microphone on stage during a live concert performance by the band at the National Bowl in Milton Keynes, England, United Kingdom, in 1982.Fox Photos—Getty Images  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 19, 2016 10:57 PM CUT Researchers have [pinpointed the scientific reasons](http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3109/14015439.2016.1156737 "undefined") for why Freddie Mercury was such a good singer. The legendary lead singer and lyricist for [Queen](http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/09/04/remembering-freddie-mercury-5-videos-to-celebrate-his-65th-birthday/?iid=sr-link3 "undefined"), who died more than two decades ago, could modulate his voice to make himself sound both smooth and rough on cue — possible because of his vibrato frequency, according to [_Entertainment Weekly_](http://www.ew.com/article/2016/04/19/queen-freddie-mercury-voice-science "undefined"), citing a new study. A team of researchers studied Mercury’s voice, using sound recordings of his past performances and interviews in their analysis. Their findings were recently published in the journal _Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology_. “Overall, based on perceptual assessment, Freddie Mercury seemed to have ample control over vocal registration,” the study states. Mercury died in 1991 from broncopneumonia brought on by AIDS. He was 45. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4300153/freddie-mercury-voice-study/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4300153/freddie-mercury-voice-study/"},"headline":"Science Explains Why Freddie Mercury’s Singing Voice Was So Good","datePublished":"2016-04-19T22:57:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T09:31:23.203Z","description":"Scientists studied recordings of his past performances and interviews","url":"https://time.com/4300153/freddie-mercury-voice-study/","keywords":["Music"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte736e77538042c80/69888fd35f570f5093b208bd/freddie-mercury.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte736e77538042c80/69888fd35f570f5093b208bd/freddie-mercury.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Queen Live","caption":"Queen Live","creditText":"Fox Photos—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4300153/freddie-mercury-voice-study/","name":"Science Explains Why Freddie Mercury’s Singing Voice Was So Good"}}]}] ```