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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Gay icon Freddie breaks free in Iran |
| 2004-08-24 |
| BRITISH rock band Queen, fronted by outlandish gay icon Freddie Mercury, have become the first rock band to be given the official seal of approval in Iran with the release of an album of their greatest hits. Mercury, who died of AIDS in 1991, was proud of his Iranian ancestry and supposed Zoroastrian origins. Zoroaster was a Persian prophet who lived around 600BC and founded a religion named after him. Mercury's link with Zoroastrianism made Queen one of the most popular bands in Iran despite Western music being largely frowned upon in the Islamic republic, where homosexuality is considered a crime. "Authorities approved of the tunes that had a social theme, leaving out the love songs," an executive in the record company releasing the album said. The album contains smash hits such as Bohemian Rhapsody, Miracle and I Want to Break Free. Western music is strictly censored in Iran and those selling foreign music need special permits, although millions of bootleg banned CDs and cassettes are sold on the black market throughout the country. The Queen album is already selling very well. The cassette, costing less than $US1 ($1.40), comes complete with an explanatory leaflet, which tells rock fans that Bohemian Rhapsody is about a young man who has accidentally killed someone and, like Faust, sold his soul to the devil. On the night before his execution he calls God in Arabic and so regains his soul from Satan. Other Western acts to have had albums of selected songs released on the official Iranian market are Elton John, Julio Iglesias and Gypsy Kings. There are also books containing original and translated lyrics by many Western singers such as Leonard Cohen, Celine Dion and even white rap artist Eminem, published to respond to the ever-increasing demands of a nation where 70 per cent of the population is under 30. |
| Posted by:tipper |