Freddie Mercury's 'dreadful singing' sounded like a 'goat'

Freddie Mercury's "dreadful" singing sounded like a "goat", according to his Queen bandmate.

Roger Taylor, 75, claims that before the late singer perfected the vocals that made him famous, he "sounded like some manic goat".

Speaking to The Sun newspaper's Bizarre column at the launch of the band’s remastered debut album 'Queen 1' at the Ham Yard Hotel in London, Roger said: "I don’t think you realise how dreadful he sounded before.

“I mean, he sounded like some manic goat. He sounded extraordinary, his vibrato.

“My mother’s face when she saw him . . . ”

However, bandmate Brian May, 77, moved to defend Freddie, saying: "He turned out to be our wonderful Freddie whom we will never forget. He became this colossal force who could reach to the back of any gig or a stadium in Argentina. He reached everyone.”

The pair also blasted the BBC for refusing to platform them for years, before they finally got a lucky break.

Roger said: "We could not get on 'Top Of The Pops', which was being filmed at the BBC weather studio – about the size of the average bathroom.

"And someone cancelled, it might have been David Bowie, and we got the slot and that was the breakthrough for us.

"'Top Of The Pops', thank God, has gone."