Behind the statue is businessman Baek Roon-yeob. He had to fight for a long time to be allowed to erect the monument. Since 2014, he had emailed the Queen rights marketing company monthly, asking them to approve his work.
In her long history, Queen’s paths also recently led to South Korea. Shortly before the band’s first concert in the country, band members and representatives of the record company also met with the businessman in South Korea. The fact that a Queen concert was able to take place in South Korea is thanks to the great success of the Oscar-winning biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody”.
The businessman Baek not only received great praise for the unique, life-size monument of Freddie Mercury. It was also criticized for erecting a “statue of a homosexual”. With his memorial, Baek hopes “to persuade those who are critical of sexual minorities to reconsider their attitudes”.
A video message from Queen’s guitarist Brian May was shown at the unveiling of Freddie Mercury’s statue. He emphasized that he was “in spirit” with the unveiling. Referring to Freddie Mercury, he said about the monument: “I know he would have been happy about it!” The singer died in 1991 as a result of an AIDS disease.
Queen is currently performing with singer Adam Lambert.
