Sometimes the best results happen “Under Pressure”.
He was born Farrokh Bulsara in Stone Town in the British protectorate of Zanzibar (now part of Tanzania), in East Africa on 5 September 1946. His parents, Bomi and Jer Bulsara, were Indian Gujarati Parsi (Persian descent), from western India.
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. As Zanzibar was a British protectorate until 1963, Bulsara was born a British subject, and on 2 June 1969 was registered a citizen of the United Kingdom.
In the spring of 1964, the family fled to England from Zanzibar to escape the violence of the revolution against the Sultan of Zanzibar and his mainly Arab government, in which thousands of ethnic Arabs and Indians were killed.
They settled to 19 Hamilton Close, Feltham, Middlesex, UK. After first studying art at Isleworth Polytechnic in West London, the young Farrokh studied graphic art and design at Ealing Art College, graduating with a diploma in 1969.
He would later use his graphic arts skills to design various album covers and the logo for the band he helped form.
