Editing Freddie Mercury (section)

===Zanzibar and India===
[[File:Freddie Mercury's birthplace.jpg|thumb|left|upright|The house in [[Zanzibar]] where Mercury lived in his early years]]

Mercury was born Farrokh Bulsara in [[Stone Town]] in the [[British protectorate]] of [[Sultanate of Zanzibar|Zanzibar]] (now part of [[Tanzania]]) on 5 September 1946.<ref name="LindaB_2000"/><ref name="inourstar.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.inoutstar.com/news/Freddie-Mercury-real-name-Farrokh-Bulsara-1876.html |title=Freddie Mercury (real name Farrokh Bulsara) Biography |publisher=Inout Star |access-date=11 July 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810151824/http://www.inoutstar.com/news/Freddie-Mercury-real-name-Farrokh-Bulsara-1876.html|archive-date=10 August 2011}}</ref> His parents, Bomi and Jer Bulsara,{{efn|The Bulsara family gets its name from Bulsar, now [[Valsad]], a city and district that is now in the Indian state of [[Gujarat]]. In the 17th century, Bulsar was one of the five centres of the [[Zoroastrian]] religion (the other four were also in what is today Gujarat) and consequently "Bulsara" is a relatively common name among Parsi Zoroastrians.}}<ref>{{cite web |last=May |first=Brian |author-link=Brian May |title=Freddie's Mum – R.I.P. |url=http://www.brianmay.com/brian/brianssb/brianssbnov16a.html#07 |publisher=brianmay.com |date=18 November 2016 |access-date=21 April 2022 |archive-date=14 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114112556/https://brianmay.com/brian/brianssb/brianssbnov16a.html#07 |url-status=dead }}</ref> were from the [[Parsi]] community of western India. The Bulsaras had origins in the city of Bulsar (now [[Valsad]]) in [[Gujarat]].{{efn|On Mercury's birth certificate, his parents identified as "Nationality: British Indian" and "Race: [[Parsi]]".<ref name="LindaB_2000"/> The Parsis are an ethnic group of [[Persian people|Persian]] origin and have lived on the Indian subcontinent for more than a thousand years.}}<ref name="LindaB_2000"/> He had a younger sister, Kashmira (b. 1952).<ref>{{cite news |last1=Simpson |first1=George |title=Freddie Mercury's sister shuts down myth on Queen singer's death |url=https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/music/1625948/Freddie-Mercury-sister-Kashmira-Bulsara-Freddie-Mercury-death |work=[[Daily Express]] |date=15 June 2022 |language=en |access-date=23 December 2022 |archive-date=10 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240910064138/https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/music/1625948/Freddie-Mercury-sister-Kashmira-Bulsara-Freddie-Mercury-death |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Whitfield |first=David |title=Freddie Mercury's sister Kashmira on the success of 'Bohemian Rhapsody' – and what happened when the Queen legend used to visit her in Nottingham |url=https://www.nottinghampost.com/whats-on/music-nightlife/freddie-mercurys-sister-kashmira-success-2710630 |newspaper=Nottingham Post |date=3 April 2019 |access-date=4 April 2019 |archive-date=4 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404130104/https://www.nottinghampost.com/whats-on/music-nightlife/freddie-mercurys-sister-kashmira-success-2710630 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Canning |first=Tom |title=Why Freddie Mercury will always be the champion to his Notts relatives |url=https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/celebs-tv/freddie-always-champion-notts-relatives-160630 |newspaper=Nottingham Post |date=12 August 2011 |access-date=21 April 2022 |archive-date=16 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191016155402/https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/celebs-tv/freddie-always-champion-notts-relatives-160630 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The family had moved to Zanzibar so that Bomi could continue his job as a cashier at the [[British Colonial Office]]. As Parsis, the Bulsaras practised [[Zoroastrianism]].<ref name="Sky 1992 8–9">{{citation|last=Sky|first=Rick|year=1992|title=The Show Must Go On|place=London|publisher= Fontana |isbn= 978-0-00-637843-3|pages=8–9}}</ref> Mercury was born with four [[hyperdontia|extra incisors]], to which he attributed his enhanced vocal range.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/review-bohemian-rhapsody-wont-rock-malek-223428252.html|title=Review: 'Bohemian Rhapsody' won't rock you, but Malek will|date=29 October 2018|first=Jake|last=Coyle|agency=[[Associated Press]]|publisher=[[Yahoo!]]|access-date=30 October 2018|archive-date=30 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330080438/https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/review-bohemian-rhapsody-wont-rock-malek-223428252.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bohemian-rhapsody-rami-malek-sinking-ones-teeth-into-a-role/ "'Bohemian Rhapsody': Sinking one's teeth into a role"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190304034022/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bohemian-rhapsody-rami-malek-sinking-ones-teeth-into-a-role/ |date=4 March 2019 }}. CBS News. Retrieved 3 March 2019</ref> As Zanzibar was a British protectorate until 1963, Mercury was born a [[British subject]], and on 2 June 1969 was registered a [[citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies]] after the family had emigrated to England.<ref>[https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C15734168 "Registrations of British Nationality. Certificate Number: R1/117889 . Name: Frederick Bulsara also known as Freddie Mercury"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191005193609/https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C15734168 |date=5 October 2019 }}. National Archives.gov.uk. Retrieved 6 October 2019</ref>

[[File:Freddie Mercury's stamp collection.jpg|thumb|upright|Mercury's stamp album at the [[Postal Museum, London|Postal Museum]] in London]]
Mercury spent most of his childhood in India where he began taking piano lessons at the age of seven while living with relatives.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100808050139/http://www.queenonline.com/history/35 Queen Online – History: Freddie Mercury], Archived on 8 August 2010.</ref> In 1954, at the age of eight, Mercury was sent to study at [[St. Peter's School, Panchgani|St. Peter's School]], a British-style boarding school for boys, in [[Panchgani]] near [[Bombay]].<ref name="Jones_1998">{{harvnb|Jones|2011}}.</ref>
Inheriting his father's interest in [[philately]], between 9 and 12 years old Mercury collected stamps, many of which were from the British Commonwealth.<ref name="Stamps"/> One of the rare personal possessions of Mercury in museum ownership, his stamp album is displayed in the collection of the [[Postal Museum, London|Postal Museum]] in London.<ref name="Stamps">{{cite news |title=Freddie Mercury's 'priceless' stamp collection to be celebrated |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/jun/11/freddie-mercurys-priceless-stamp-collection-to-be-celebrated |access-date=9 July 2023 |work=The Guardian |archive-date=10 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240910064138/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/jun/11/freddie-mercurys-priceless-stamp-collection-to-be-celebrated |url-status=live }}</ref> At the age of 12, he formed a school band, [[the Hectics]], and covered [[rock and roll]] artists such as [[Cliff Richard]], [[Elvis Presley]] and [[Little Richard]].<ref name="Hodkinson_2004"/><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/music-news/8828994/Freddie-Mercurys-family-tell-of-singers-pride-in-his-Asian-heritage.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/music-news/8828994/Freddie-Mercurys-family-tell-of-singers-pride-in-his-Asian-heritage.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Freddie Mercury's family tell of singer's pride in his Asian heritage|last=Bhatia|first=Shekhar|journal=The Daily Telegraph|date=16 October 2011|access-date=27 February 2018|issn=0307-1235}}{{cbignore}}</ref> One of Mercury's former bandmates from the Hectics has said "the only music he listened to, and played, was Western pop music".<ref>{{cite web| url =http://scroll.in/article/815380/freddie-bucky-mercury-the-12-year-old-rockstar-from-panchgani| title ='Freddie Mercury was a prodigy': Rock star's Panchgani school bandmates remember 'Bucky'| last =Alikhan| first =Anvar| date =5 September 2016| website =Scroll.in| access-date =5 September 2016| archive-date =6 September 2022| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20220906222257/https://scroll.in/article/815380/freddie-bucky-mercury-the-12-year-old-rockstar-from-panchgani| url-status =live}}</ref> A friend recalls that he had "an uncanny ability to listen to the radio and replay what he heard on piano".<ref name="O'Donnell_2005"/> It was also at St. Peter's where he began to call himself "Freddie". In February 1963, he moved back to Zanzibar where he joined his parents at their flat.<ref>{{cite book|author=Jones, Lesley-Ann |page=[https://archive.org/details/mercuryintimateb00jone/page/327 327]|title=Mercury: An Intimate Biography of Freddie Mercury|url=https://archive.org/details/mercuryintimateb00jone|url-access=registration |date=2012|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-1-4516-6397-6}}</ref>