Queen's Brian May shares emotional Freddie Mercury tribute voyage

12 June 2019, 13:04 | Updated: 5 October 2023, 11:19

Brian May paid Freddie Mercury a beautiful tributes by making a trip to the late singer's birthplace of Zanzibar.

The guitarist visited the Freddie Mercury’s school and childhood home, in what he described as a “pilgrimage” he wanted to do for many years.

Explaining that Freddie's sister Kashmira Cooke helped him, he made the long journey with wife Anita Dobson and shared several images on Instagram.

Read more: Brian May unveils "amazing" new Freddie Mercury statue

He wrote: “At Freddie’s school. Under guidance from Freddie’s lovely sister Kashmir’s, and Abdul, our excellent Zanzibarian guide, we managed to retrace many of Freddie’s childhood steps.

“This something I dreamed of doing for many years. Nice to share with you folks.”

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At Freddie’s school. Under guidance from Freddie’s lovely sister Kashmira, and Abdul, our excellent Zanzibarian guide, we managed to retrace many of Freddie’s childhood steps. This something I dreamed of doing for many years. Nice to share with you folks. Bri

A post shared by Brian Harold May (@brianmayforreal) on Jun 11, 2019 at 4:47am PDT

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ZANZIBAR !!! Stone Town. This is the building where Freddie and his sister Kashmira lived when they were young. A pilgrimage !!! Bri

A post shared by Brian Harold May (@brianmayforreal) on Jun 11, 2019 at 4:46am PDT

He continued on another post: “ZANZIBAR !!! Stone Town. This is the building where Freddie and his sister Kashmira lived when they were young. A pilgrimage !!!”

He later added, alongside a childhood image of Freddie: "We’ve enjoyed spending the day with this little boy in our minds. A small boy with big dreams. A young man who became a brother to Roger and John and me for 22 years.

"A shy boy with whom we shared an impossible vision of making music that would change the world. Little did we dare to believe it would actually happen. I’m happy that through Instagram I’ve been able to share some of the experiences of today. "

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We’ve enjoyed spending the day with this little boy in our minds. A small boy with big dreams. A young man who became a brother to Roger and John and me for 22 years. A shy boy with whom we shared an impossible vision of making music that would change the world. Little did we dare to believe it would actually happen. I’m happy that through Instagram I’ve been able to share some of the experiences of today. I’ll post some more pics and stuff when I get sorted. Meanwhile ... Asante Sana Freddie. Cheers folks. And thanks @freddiemercuryb for this lovely pic I don’t recall seeing before. Bri

A post shared by Brian Harold May (@brianmayforreal) on Jun 11, 2019 at 9:28am PDT

The heartwarming trip left many Queen fans feeling rather emotional.

“I'm crying... I love you Bri, you deserve the world,” one fan said. Another joked: “IT’S TOO EARLY IN THE MORNING TO CRY, BRI.”

A third simply said: “Wholesome, beautiful, I’m gonna cry.”

Queen have found even more new fans in recent months, following the huge success of the Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody.

The movie won four Academy Awards, including Best Actor for Rami Malek, and broke box office records for the music drama genre.

Queen will also soon head out on a new tour, with Adam Lambert returning on vocals.