When Freddie Mercury faced off with The Sex Pistols' Sid Vicious, and won

12 August 2022, 13:44 | Updated: 16 January 2024, 12:06

When it came to spats, Freddie Mercury was truly a 'Killer Queen'.

Though he certainly wasn't renowned for starting unnecessary feuds, it wasn't often that Freddie Mercury would be overshadowed in a war of words.

The legendary Queen frontman rarely held his tongue in instances when it may have been better to do so.

As a result, he had a famous feud with David Bowie regarding their classic hit 'Under Pressure', and even internal rows with his beloved bandmates Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon.

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But one of his most notorious arguments would be with a band who was deemed as one of the country's most dangerous during the 1970s: The Sex Pistols.

Horrifying the conservative British public with their string of lewd controversies and anarchic outlook, Freddie Mercury was one particular individual that was left completely unfazed by their reputation.

So much so, he'd end up kicking them out of the studio they were both recording at in 1977.

It's safe to say that The Sex Pistols completely altered the music landscape after the release of their only album Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols.

And it was their intention to belittle every rock band that had preceded them.

So, when Freddie admitted that his mission in Queen was to "bring ballet to the masses" it provided the perfect ammunition for one Sid Vicious to have a dig.

But the media furore surrounding the UK punk pioneers' hadn't gone unnoticed by Freddie.

Queen were recording their sixth studio album at Wessex Studios in London, and it just so happened that The Sex Pistols were recording on one of the same days.

Sparks flew however, when Sid Vicious stumbled in during Queen's session, clearly inebriated, and pulled Freddie aside to make a snide remark.

According to the band's former roadie Peter Hince in his book Queen Unseen, Vicious smirked and said to Freddie: "Have you succeeded in bringing ballet to the masses yet?"

Freddie Mercury Vs. Sid Vicious(Sex Pistols) 1977

But the singer sent Vicious 'GaGa' with his response as Hince recalled: ""Fred casually got up, walked over to him and jibed: ‘Aren't you Stanley Ferocious or something?'"

Then Freddie grabbed the snarling punk by the collar and chucked him out of their studio.

Vicious wasn't particularly admired by his peers given his infuriating and often embarrassing behaviour, with Roger Taylor branding him a "moron".

Freddie's account of the incident differs, exaggerating his victory ever so slightly in later day interviews.

He told one interviewer: "I called him Simon Ferocious or something, and he didn't like it at all."

"I said, ‘What are you going to do about it?’".

"He was very well marked. I said, ‘Make sure you scratch yourself in the mirror properly today, and tomorrow you're going to get something else" Freddie recounted.

“He hated the fact that I could even speak like that. I think we survived that test."

In fairness, he wasn't going to suffer any fools. The moral of the story is: don't mess with Freddie.