Paul Prenter was the manager of Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of rock band Queen, from 1977 to 1986. He was also a lover of Mercury.
A biopic film about the band Queen titled ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ was released in May 2018. The film was a critical and commercial success. The character of Prenter in the film is essayed by Allen Leech.
Paul Prenter – His relationship with Queen and Freddie Mercury
- Before meeting Freddie, Paul was a radio DJ and played in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He first met Freddie in 1975 in a bar.
- Paul became Freddie’s manager in 1977. During this period, the two had a se*ual relationship. This aspect of their association was later supposedly used by Paul to blackmail Freddie as the singer had not officially come out of the closet.
- For the first 5 years, the relationship between Paul, Mercury, and Queen was largely fine. Things however started to go downhill from 1982 after the release of the band’s album Hot Space. Other band members were not happy with the influence that Prenter exerted on the music of Queen. Roger Taylor and Brian May of Queen were particularly critical of the sound of the album Hot Space and blamed Paul for it.
- Mercury fired Prenter as his manager in 1986 and ended their relationship. In the film ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, the firing of Paul is shown to have occurred in 1985 before the Live Aid concert.
- After getting fired, Prenter sold a story in 1987 to The Sun tabloid about the personal life of Freddie. The story had details about the singer’s se*uality, including his relationship with hairdresser Jim Hutton. Paul claimed that Mercury had slept with hundreds of men and that two of Mercury’s lovers had passed away due to AIDS. He also sold photos of Freddie to the tabloid.
- After getting fired and selling the story, Paul returned to Belfast when he spent all the money that he had received for the story and photos. He then allegedly went back to Mercury to ask for more cash.
- Paul died of a smoking related AIDS complication in Belfast in 1991, a few months after the death of Mercury.
Paul Prenter – Photos
Paul Prenter – The SUN Article