How Freddie Mercury bonded with his ex-fiancée's new partner

New York Post

29-04-2025

Freddie Mercury wrote 'Love of My Life' — the ballad from Queen's classic 1975 album 'A Night at the Opera' — about Mary Austin, his girlfriend he met in 1969.
And even after he came out as bisexual to his then-fiancée in the '70s, ending their romantic relationship, the two retained their special, loving bond.
In fact, Mercury remained extremely close to Austin even after she found another partner in bassist Jo Burt.
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5 Freddie Mercury remained very close to former fiancée Mary Austin after he came out to her as bisexual in 1976.
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5 'It was an amazing thing to be asked to record with him,' said Jo Burt of working with Freddie Mercury on 'Mr. Bad Guy.'
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'This was the great love of his life, in a sense,' Burt exclusively told The Post. 'I think he was quite lucky because I was the kind of guy who appreciated the love they had between them.'
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Burt met Austin in 1981, five years after she had split up with Mercury. 'I'd been introduced to Mary, and she and I became partners for the next six years or so,' said Burt.
Knowing Austin's history with Mercury, Burt was 'a bit nervous' about meeting the 'Bohemian Rhapsody' singer.
'Obviously, the initial introduction to him was pretty nerve-racking,' he said about meeting a 'cautious' Mercury. 'He was going to have to agree to somebody else taking over that part of his life.'
But Mercury was won over by Burt, grateful that Austin had found a new love in her life.
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5 Freddie Mercury's former fiancée Mary Austin was with the Queen singer until the end when he died from AIDS in 1991.
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'He often said to me how pleased he was that she was happy and her life was expanding more than I think probably she expected,' said Burt. 'I never ever got between that friendship that they had. I understood it completely, and I think he appreciated that fact as well.'
Indeed, Burt himself became 'very close' with Mercury as a result of their mutual love for Austin, who was with the Queen frontman until the very end when he died from AIDS in 1991 and inherited most of his fortune.
'I got to know Freddie really well, ' said Burt. 'I lived in the flat that he bought for [Austin], and I became very much part of his family.
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5 'I never ever got between that friendship that they had,' said Jo Burt of Freddie Mercury's relationship with Mary Austin.
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'The rest of the guys in Queen, they each had their own sort of family situations, which they pretty much retired to when they weren't working,' he continued. 'And Freddie had his own, although not with a wife and kids. It really was quite a family affair.'
Burt and Mercury also bonded over their music connection. 'Funny enough, I was being managed by John Reid, who also managed Freddie sometime before,' he said. 'And the fact that he was in the same business that I was … we understood each other.'
Indeed, when Mercury set out to make his debut solo album 'Mr. Bad Guy' — which was released 40 years ago on April 29, 1985 — he recruited Burt to play fretless bass on 'Man Made Paradise.'
5 Jo Burt played fretless bass on Freddie Mercury's 1985 debut solo album, 'Mr. Bad Guy.'
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'It was an amazing thing to be asked to record with him,' said Burt. 'I played almost exclusively fretless bass by this time, and Freddie was quite intrigued by that. He used to joke that I've been ripped off because I didn't have any frets.
'But it was a fantastic situation to sit in the studio [across from Mercury], as opposed to across the dining room table. I'd love to say that I was second only to [Queen's] John Deacon as a bass player.'