Peter Hince | 4 promotional photographs of Freddie Mercury for 'The Great Pretender', 1987

Peter Hince--Freddie Mercury

4 promotional photographs for 'The Great Pretender', 1987

(50.7 x 40.4cm each), two photographs colour-tinted

Freddie dons his crown and gown (lot 57) and pink dupion suit (lot 254) in this 1987 photoshoot by Peter Hince to promote 'The Great Pretender'. This set of four prints, two of which were hand-tinted by the photographer, were a gift from Hince to Freddie.

‘The Great Pretender’, originally released by The Platters in 1955, was a solo project by Freddie, recorded in January 1987 and released in February the same year. For the video, directed by David Mallett in February 1987, references are made to previous Queen videos featuring notable Freddie guises, ‘I Want To Break Free’, ‘Radio Ga Ga’, ‘It’s A Hard Life’, ‘I Was Born To Love You’, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, ‘Made In Heaven’ and ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’, emphasising his view of himself as ‘The Great Pretender’. It also featured Roger Taylor and actor and friend Peter Straker, alongside Freddie, as backing singers to Freddie’s ‘Great Pretender’.