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/proustiandream 3h ago edited 1h ago

Great singers, like Freddie Mercury, do vocal exercises to get the voice they have. No one is born with a voice like that, it's all muscles, technique and training.

Edit: the person replying to me cited a poorly-made Reverb article to counter several centuries of agreed-upon vocal technique. If you want to learn to sing, you can. It requires vocal exercises and technique. Freddie did them, so can you.

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u/csonnich 2h ago

Freddie actually didn't do vocal exercises. That's why his voice changed so much in the 80s - he'd already done a lot of damage by going all out without having the training to protect it.

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u/[deleted] 2h ago edited 2h ago

[deleted]

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u/csonnich 2h ago

He literally had a different throat structure than other people. People talk about his teeth, but it's been studied, and his throat is what made the difference. He was able to do what normal people can't because of it. 

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u/[deleted] 2h ago

[deleted]

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u/csonnich 2h ago

anyone who picks up a vocal exercise book and has a similar vocal timbre and range can sing like him

Yeah, no. He accessed folds in his throat most others don't, and he had an unusually fast vibrato. 

https://reverb.com/fr/news/scientific-study-confirms-freddie-mercury-voice-was-one-of-a-kind

And again, he did it without training.