Editing Freddie Mercury (section)

===Continued popularity===
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| quote = The charisma and power in his performance style has over the years led to many artists quoting him as one of their biggest inspirations today. The diverse scope of artists that love Mercury is huge.
| source = —Amy Weller, ''[[Gigwise]]''<ref>{{cite news|first=Amy|last=Weller|title=If it wasn't for Freddie Mercury...<!-- ellipsis in the original --> 13 artists inspired by the Queen icon|url=https://www.gigwise.com/photos/84002/9/if-it-wasnt-for-freddie-mercury-13-artists-inspired-by-the-queen-icon|date=5 September 2013|access-date=13 March 2018|work=Gigwise|archive-date=30 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330082547/https://www.gigwise.com/photos/84002/9/if-it-wasnt-for-freddie-mercury-13-artists-inspired-by-the-queen-icon|url-status=live}}</ref>
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Regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of rock music,<ref name="RSBestSingers2">{{cite web|date=12 April 2011|title=2. Freddie Mercury|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/rolling-stone-readers-pick-the-best-lead-singers-of-all-time-20110412/2-freddie-mercury-0762142|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110415091916/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/photos/rolling-stone-readers-pick-the-best-lead-singers-of-all-time-20110412/2-freddie-mercury-0762142|archive-date=15 April 2011|access-date=9 March 2014|work=Readers Pick the Best Lead Singers of All Time}}</ref><ref name="Billboard_20152">{{cite magazine|title=The 25 Best Rock Frontmen (and Women) of All Time|url=https://www.billboard.com/photos/6721847/best-rock-singers-of-all-time|magazine=Billboard|access-date=10 March 2019|archive-date=16 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170816012120/http://www.billboard.com/photos/6721847/best-rock-singers-of-all-time|url-status=live}}</ref> Mercury was known for his flamboyant stage persona and four-[[octave]] [[vocal range]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/article675005.ece|title=Dance: Deux the fandango|newspaper=[[The Times]]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615085921/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/article675005.ece|archive-date=15 June 2011|access-date=15 November 2008}}</ref><ref name="rollingstone.com2">{{cite magazine|date=3 December 2010|title=''RollingStone.com'' – 100 Greatest Singers of All Time|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/100-greatest-singers-of-all-time-147019/freddie-mercury-5-225069/|access-date=18 November 2018|magazine=Rolling Stone|archive-date=21 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201221155943/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/100-greatest-singers-of-all-time-147019/freddie-mercury-5-225069/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Independent2006" /> He defied the conventions of a rock frontman, with his highly theatrical style influencing the artistic direction of Queen.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Freddie Mercury|url=http://www.freddiemercury.com/en/biography|access-date=10 June 2020|website=freddiemercury.com|archive-date=2 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200602231235/http://www.freddiemercury.com/en/biography|url-status=live}}</ref>

The extent to which Mercury's death may have enhanced Queen's popularity is not clear. In the United States, where Queen's popularity had lagged in the 1980s, sales of Queen albums went up dramatically in 1992, the year following his death.<ref name="RIAA_2007" /> In 1992, one American critic noted, "What cynics call the 'dead star' factor had come into play—Queen is in the middle of a major resurgence."<ref name="Brown_1992" /> The movie ''[[Wayne's World (film)|Wayne's World]]'', which featured "Bohemian Rhapsody", also came out in 1992.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hxAEAAAAMBAJ&q=queen+waynes+world&pg=PA8 |title=Hollywood Records Hails Older Queen Product|magazine=Billboard |date=25 July 1992|page=8 }}</ref> According to the [[Recording Industry Association of America]], Queen had sold 34.5&nbsp;million albums in the United States by 2004, about half of which had been sold since Mercury's death in 1991.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=tblTopArt |title=Gold & Platinum – 22&nbsp;November&nbsp;2009 |publisher=Record Industry Association of America |access-date=22 November 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070701163039/http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=tblTopArt |archive-date=1 July 2007}}</ref>

[[File:Denis Bourez - Madame Tussauds, London (8748155098).jpg|thumb|Mercury's wax figure displayed at [[Madame Tussauds]], London]]
Estimates of Queen's total worldwide record sales to date have been set as high as 300&nbsp;million.<ref name="Cota_2006"/> In the United Kingdom, Queen have now spent more collective weeks on the [[UK Album Charts]] than any other musical act (including [[the Beatles]]),<ref name="BBC_2005a"/> and ''Queen's Greatest Hits'' is the [[List of best-selling albums in the United Kingdom|best-selling album]] of all time in the United Kingdom.<ref name="Brown_2006"/> Two of Mercury's songs, "[[We Are the Champions]]" and "[[Bohemian Rhapsody]]", have also each been voted as the greatest song of all time in major polls by [[Sony Ericsson]]<ref name="Haines_2005"/> and ''[[Guinness World Records]]''.<ref name="CNN_2002"/> Both songs have been inducted into the [[Grammy Hall of Fame]]; "Bohemian Rhapsody" in 2004 and "We Are the Champions" in 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.grammy.org/recording-academy/awards/hall-of-fame |title=Grammy Hall of Fame Award |work=The GRAMMYs |access-date=27 September 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110122042616/http://www.grammy.org/recording-academy/awards/hall-of-fame |archive-date=22 January 2011}}</ref> In October 2007 the video for "Bohemian Rhapsody" was voted the greatest of all time by readers of ''[[Q (magazine)|Q]]'' magazine.<ref name="BBC_2007"/>

Since his death, Queen were inducted into the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] in 2001, and all four band members were inducted into the [[Songwriters Hall of Fame]] in 2003.<ref>{{cite web|title=Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: Queen|url=http://rockhall.com/inductees/queen|year=2007|access-date=6 February 2010|archive-date=20 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020051356/http://rockhall.com/inductees/queen/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.songwritershalloffame.org/ceremony/entry/C3124/207916|title=2003 Award and Induction Ceremony: Queen|publisher=Songwritershalloffame.org|access-date=28 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101217214545/http://songwritershalloffame.org/ceremony/entry/C3124/207916|archive-date=17 December 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> Their Rock Hall of Fame citation reads, "in the golden era of [[glam rock]] and gorgeously hyper-produced theatrical extravaganzas that defined one branch of '70s rock, no group came close in either concept or execution to Queen."<ref>{{cite news |title=Queen join rock royalty |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1230959.stm |date=20 March 2001 |access-date=26 October 2018 |work=BBC News |archive-date=25 November 2002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021125184719/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1230959.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> The band were among the inaugural inductees into the [[UK Music Hall of Fame]] in 2004. Mercury was individually posthumously awarded the [[Brit Award]] for Outstanding Contribution to British Music in 1992.<ref>{{cite news |title=1992 Brit Awards: Winners |url=https://www.brits.co.uk/history/shows/1992 |access-date=23 June 2019 |publisher=Brit Awards |archive-date=3 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190803104934/https://www.brits.co.uk/history/shows/1992 |url-status=dead }}</ref> They received the [[Ivor Novello Award]] for Outstanding Song Collection from the [[British Academy of Songwriters, Composers, and Authors]] in 2005, and in 2018 they were presented the [[Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award]].<ref name=Ivors/><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/queen-tina-turner-to-receive-grammy-lifetime-achievement-award-w515260|title=Queen, Tina Turner to Receive Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award|date=10 January 2018|first=Jon|last=Blistein|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=8 March 2018|archive-date=19 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180619040158/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/queen-tina-turner-to-receive-grammy-lifetime-achievement-award-w515260|url-status=dead}}</ref> Queen were awarded the [[Polar Music Prize]] in 2025, with their citation describing Mercury as "one of the most charismatic front figures in the history of music".<ref>{{cite web |title=Queen — Polar Music Prize |url=https://www.polarmusicprize.org/laureates/queen/ |website=www.polarmusicprize.org |access-date=30 March 2025}}</ref>