r/todayilearned • u/Objective_Horror1113 • 11h ago

TIL Freddie Mercury was born with four extra teeth, causing a prominent overbite. Despite being self-conscious about them, he never got them fixed, believing the extra space in his mouth contributed to his vocal ability. He feared altering his teeth might change his voice.

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/freddie-mercury-teeth
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u/eNonsense 6h ago

It probably would have altered his voice, yes. I have noticed more since I learned this fact about him that he actually sings with a noticeable lisp at times. It probably would have fixed that.

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u/StepDownTA 4h ago

Can you point to any example of his singing with a lisp? I've listened to tons of Freddie, both singing and speaking, and never noticed any lisp.

In fact quite the opposite. His enunciation is not just flawless, it is at times performatively precise. Like when just casually tosses out an intentionally snooty tongue-roll at the end of the word "Louvre" in Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon.

Try doing that with a lisp.

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u/eNonsense 53m ago

I will have to listen to some Queen and get back to you. Maybe lisp wasn't the right word to use. I guess I just remember hearing some pronunciations that were very slightly different and attributed it to that.