Queen Was Almost Called Something Else, According to Freddie Mercury’s Former Lover: “I Thought It Was a Terrible Name”

Coming up with a band name is no easy task. Whatever you choose sets the stage for your vibe and persona and what people think of when they think of your music.

According to Mary Austin, a close friend and ex-lover of Freddie Mercury‘s, the name “Queen” wasn’t the only option the members were considering.

Austin was considered a confidant by Mercury while he was alive. She currently lives in the frontman’s house and has access to many of the band’s original handwritten lyrics. However, Austin was first a friend of lead guitarist Brian May’s before she met Mercury in 1970. She also happened to be present when he, Mercury, and Roger Taylor were talking about possible band names.

May’s suggestion was “Build Your Own Boat”, and since Austin was May’s friend at the time, she opted to play pretend.

“They asked what I thought,” she explained to The Guardian. “I said I preferred Build Your Own Boat. I thought it was a terrible name. But Brian was my friend. I’d just met Freddie.”

Name Changes All Around

It was actually Mercury himself who came up with the idea for the name Queen back in the day. He also created the band’s crest, which features each of the four members’ zodiac signs.

As Mercury said in a Rolling Stone interview about the name, “It’s very regal obviously, and it sounds splendid. It’s a strong name, very universal and immediate. I was certainly aware of the gay connotations, but that was just one facet of it.” 

Before the group called themselves Queen, they actually went by the band name Smile. Originally, May formed the band with Tim Staffell, the singer, who would eventually meet Mercury at Ealing Art College in London. In 1970, Staffell left his position as lead singer to join a different band, and Mercury, already a fan, decided to give the role a go.

Around the same time that the band changed their name to Queen, Mercury, who had gone by Freddie Bulsara before, changed his last name to Mercury.

Photo by: Michael Montfort/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images