What It Was Really Like To Attend One Of Freddie Mercury's Outrageous Parties

One of the most notable parties Queen ever threw was a launch party for their album "Jazz," which took place at the Fairmont Hotel in New Orleans in 1978. Showbiz Cheatsheet reported the party had a "witchcraft" theme, according to record label executive Bob Hart, and the hotel ballroom was decorated with 50 "skeletal dead trees," adding to the event's aura of unhinged debauchery.

Per NME, the party featured nude waitstaff, nude models wrestling in a pit of liver, dwarves walking around with trays of cocaine on their heads, and a man biting heads off live chickens. Other attendees included snake charmers, back rooms where music industry elite could go to get "intimate," and an endless amount of champagne that added up to a total bill of $200,000, according to Showbiz Cheatsheet.

But that wasn't the only wild party Mercury would throw that year. Dangerous Minds reported for a 1978 birthday party in Ibiza, Mercury "flew 700 of his pals to the island off the coast of Spain," all of whom were treated to a fireworks display so enormous it could be seen from nearby Majorca. This kickstarted a birthday weekend tradition that is still thriving today, despite the fact that Mercury tragically died of AIDS in 1991.