Freddie Mercury left Elton John a gift days before he died with a heartbreaking note that arrived on Christmas
Legendary Queen frontman Freddie Mercury had been close friends with singer Elton John for many years.
John had been one of the only people who was allowed into Freddie's inner circle in his final days before he died from AIDS in 1991. John described the immense agony and helplessness in watching his friend's health slowly deteriorate.
While Mercury kept the illness a secret, he was still keen to spend some time with John. However, John could only spend limited amounts of time at his bedside as he found it too upsetting.
In his memoir, John shared, "He was too frail to get out of bed, he was losing his sight, his body was covered in Kaposi's sarcoma lesions, and yet he was still definitely Freddie, gossiping away, completely outrageous," Mirror reports.
"I couldn’t work out whether he didn’t realize how close to death he was or if he knew perfectly well but was determined not to let what was happening to him stop him being himself," John revealed. He added he was determined to make sure Mercury would feel loved even while losing his fight to AIDS.
In his final days, Mercury was still thinking of the people he loved and had bought very thoughtful Christmas presents which were delivered after he had died. One of them was for his close friend John along with a special note.
The gift was a painting by Henry Scott Tuke who was one of John's favorite artists. The art piece had been wrapped up in a pillowcase and had a note attached. The note read, "Dear Sharon, I thought you'd like this. Love, Melina. Happy Christmas."
The note was a tribute to the nicknames that the two friends had for each other and had used their drag queen names. "By all rights, Freddie should have spent those final days concerned only with his own comfort. But that wasn't who he was. He truly lived for others," John shared.
"Freddie had passed on November 24, 1991, and weeks after the funeral, I was still grieving. On Christmas Day, I learned that Freddie had left me one final testament to his selflessness. I was moping about when a friend showed up at my door and handed me something wrapped in a pillowcase."
"I opened it up, and inside was a painting by one of my favorite artists, the British painter Henry Scott Tuke. And there was a note on the front from Freddie," he recalled. "Years before, Freddie and I had developed pet names for each other, our drag-queen alter egos. I was Sharon and he was Melina. Freddie's note read, 'Dear Sharon, I thought you'd like this. Love, Melina. Happy Christmas," he explained.
John went on to add how he was overcome with emotions and had been crying like a child while "this beautiful man, dying from AIDS, and in his final days, he had somehow managed to find me a lovely Christmas present."
"As sad as that moment was, it's often the one I think about when I remember Freddie because it captures the character of the man. In death, he reminded me of what made him so special in life," he concluded.