Freddie Mercury’s annual birthday celebrations will not be held this September, with an announcement being shared by the Queen icon’s official Twitter account as well as the band’s. “*Announcement: Official Freddie Mercury Birthday Party and Freddie Celebration Days 2020 Cancellation,” the post read. “@The_MPT sadly announce that the events in Montreux will not take place this September, due to the ongoing situation with coronavirus.”
A statement on Queen’s website said: “The pandemic affects all major cultural events and has severe consequences and repercussions for the organisation of future gatherings.
“The health of our party and festival-goers remain our priority.
“Our thoughts go directly to all attendees of both events who have already planned their trip to Montreux and the inconvenience that this decision will cause,” it continued. “We can only promise that we will do our very best to present you with an exceptional weekend of activities in 2021.”
The late Bohemian Rhapsody singer would have been 74 on September 5.
That day, the official birthday was scheduled to take place at Casino Barriere in Montreux, Switzerland.
The night was to feature live entertainment from Queen tribute act Bulsara and His Queens as well as a DJ set, food and drink.
The birthday party has been rescheduled for September 4, 2021.
The Freddie Celebration Days around the statue of the Queen star, which were to run from September 3 to 6, have also been cancelled.
In 1991, just days before his death, he went public with the diagnosis.
Mercury died on November 24, 1991, just weeks after his 45th birthday.
Nowadays, Queen perform with Adam Lambert as their vocalist in their collaboration Queen + Adam Lambert.
Earlier this year, guitarist Brian May opened up on the loss of Mercury in an interview with Japanese publication Asahi Shimbun.
“It’s something we all feel, certainly Roger [Taylor] and I feel it, yes,” he said.
“Sometimes when people ask you a question, we have a feeling we’d know what Fredde would say.
“It’s not because he was predictable, but we kind of know his unpredictability. And, of course, he was like a brother to us, so we know him very, very well.”
May also added: “Freddie is always with us. He has to [be] because he’s a co-creator.”
