Who is Kashmira Cooke?

Kashmira Cooke is a younger sister of the legendary singer-songwriter and frontman of the British rock band Queen. She has no public career and all we know about her professional endeavors is that she has appeared in a few documentaries about her late brother, including “The Story of Bohemian Rhapsody” (2004) and “Freddie Mercury: Magic Remixed” (2006) .

Kashmira Cooke Early Life and Bio

Kashmira Cooke was born Kashmira Bulsara in 1952, in Stone Town, Zanzibar, Tanzania, a daughter of Jer and Bomi Bulsara, who were Parsis from the Gujarat region of the Bombay Presidency province of British India. It means that Kashmira is British in nationality while her ethnicity is Indian. She is a younger sister of the late singer-songwriter Freddie Mercury, best known as the frontman of the rock band Queen.

When Kashmira was twelve years old, her family decided to move abroad and escape the violence of the revolution in Zanzibar, so they moved to Middlesex, England, where they bought a small house. As for education, there isn’t much information about it; it is believed that Kashmira attended the same West Thames College as her brother, Freddie, but there is no evidence to substantiate this information.

Kashmira Cooke career

Kashmira Cooke earned her celebrity status thanks to her famous brother, but her profession is unknown as she did not follow her elder brother’s steps in show business. Still, Cooke appeared in a few documentaries about Freddie Mercury and Queen, such as ‘Freddie Mercury, the Untold Story’ (2000), ‘The Story of Bohemian Rhapsody’ (2004) and ‘Freddie Mercury: Magic Remixed’ (2006). . Kashmira was also a guest on an episode of “The One Show” in 2011.

Kashmira Cooke Personal Life

In 1972, Kashmira married Roger Cooke, a famous English singer-songwriter and record producer, who is best known worldwide for his collaborations with Roger Greenaway. Some of the songs he has produced include “You’ve Got Your Troubles” and “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing”. The couple has welcomed two children along the way; a son named Jamal Zook, and a daughter named Nathalie. After being married for four decades, Kashmira and Roger decided to separate and live their lives separately. The reason for this is still unknown while there is no information about Kashmira’s relations since the divorce. Kashmira’s father died in 2003 and in November 2016 her mother also died.

Kashmira Cooke net worth

Kashmira Cooke is a multi-millionaire thanks to the success of Queen and her late brother Freddie Mercury, whose net worth was estimated at $50 million at the time of his death in the early 90s.

The band is still making money, while Kashmira also receives an amount from Bryan Singer’s Oscar-winning biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody” (2018). It is believed that Mercury left 50% of his wealth to his former girlfriend and best friend, Mary Austin, while the other 50% is split between his parents and his sister, Kashmira. After the death of Mercury’s parents, 25% went to Austin, while Kashmira still received 25% of her brother’s wealth and continues to earn money from music royalties even after death.

Freddie Mercury Early Life and Education

Born as Farrokh Bulsara on September 5, 1946, in Stone Town, Zanzibar, Tanzania, Freddie Mercury brought the largest youth in India to where his family moved. He began piano and singing lessons at the age of seven, and since he was born with four supernumerary incisors, his vocal range was phenomenal.

In 1954, Mercury entered St. Peter’s School, a British-style boarding school for boys, located in Panchgani near Bombay. Four years later, Freddie formed a school band called the Hectics, which covered rock and roll legends like Little Richard and Cliff Richard. Before returning to Zanzibar in 1963 to live with his parents, Mercury attended St. Mary’s School in Mumbai. He then studied art at Isleworth Polytechnic in west London, before studying graphic art and design at Ealing Art College, graduating in 1969.

Career start and Queen

After graduation, Freddie was a member of numerous bands, also worked as a baggage handler at Heathrow Airport and sold second-hand clothes with Roger Taylor at London’s Kensington Market.

The two would later become close friends and members of Queen. In 1969 he briefly lived in Liverpool after joining local band Ibex, later renamed Wreckage. However, the band failed to take off, so Mercury moved south to Oxford and joined another band, the Sour Milk Sea. They also failed to gain recognition and in April 1970 Mercury joined drummer Roger Taylor and guitarist Brian May and became lead singer of their band called Smile. Bassist John Deacon joined in 1971, and Freddie Mercury renamed the band Queen, feeling the name would be more natural to remember and leave a strong impression. He also designed the band’s logo, using skills gained from Ealing Art College, combining four constellations from the four band members; two lions for Leo, a crab for Cancer and two fairies for Virgo.

The Debut and Rise to Stardom

In July 1973, Queen released her self-titled debut album, which went gold in both the US and UK. A year later, the band recorded their second studio album “Queen II”, while also releasing “Sheer Heart Attack” in 1984, which achieved platinum status in the UK, and singles such as “Killer Queen”, “Now I’m Here” and “Lily of the Valley”. In 1975 the band recorded the most expensive album ever when it was released – “A Night at the Opera”. The album topped the UK Albums Chart for four non-consecutive weeks, while the song 4 on the US Billboard 200, becoming Queen’s first platinum-certified record in the US.The famous single “Bohemian Rhapsody” became the band’s most successful single in the UK, while the album sold more than six million copies worldwide sold.

Many reviewers described it as Queen’s best album and one of the greatest albums in rock music history. It received Grammy Award nominations for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus and Best Arrangement for Voices – in 2018 it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Queen continued with successful recordings and released another platinum album in 1976 called “A Day at the Races”. By the late 1970s, Queen had recorded two more studio albums: “News of the World” and “Jazz”, both of which went platinum in the US. “We Are the Champions”, “We Will Rock You” and “Mustapha” are just some of the singles from those two albums.

The 1980s and solo career

Queen opened the 80s with “The Game” and soundtrack for “Flash Gordon”. The former album achieved 4x Platinum status in the US and featured a famous single “Another One Bites the Dust” among others.

In 1982, the band recorded their tenth studio album “Hot Space”, which failed to achieve platinum status in the UK and US, but the single “Under Pressure” featuring David Bowie became one of the most popular songs of the year. By the late ’80s, the band had released three more albums: “The Works” (1985), “A Kind of Magic” (1986) and “The Miracle” (1989), which spawned numerous hit singles, including “Radio Go Go, “I Want to Break Free,” “A Kind of Magic,” “Princes of the Universe,” “Friends Will Be Friends,” “I Want It All,” and “The Invisible Man,” among others. Freddie Mercury started his solo career in 1985 with the album called “Mr. Bad Guy” during the period of the Queen’s recording hiatus.In 1988 he recorded “Barcelona” with the Spanish operatic soprano Montserrat Caballé.

Personal life and relationships

Since his first appearance on stage, many questioned his sexuality and speculated that he was gay, mainly due to his stage flamboyance.

These rumors later turned out to be true as Freddie has dated both women and men.

Freddie Mercury dated Mary Austin from 1970 to 1976, and they broke up after he told Austin about his sexuality. They remained close after the breakup, with Mercury often saying that Austin was his best and only true friend. During the early to mid-1980s, Mercury dated German restaurateur Winfried Kirchberger, while in 1985 he began a relationship with hairdresser Jim Hutton, and two of them remained together until Mercury’s death in 1991. Although many commentators described Mercury as a bisexual rock star, others said he did not hide the fact that he was openly gay. Freddie kept his distance from his partner Hutton in the early years of their relationship, but that changed in the last years of his life – his obituary states that he was a “self-declared bisexual”.

#FreddieMercury
Are #FreddieFriday Ladies and gentlemen ❤️👑 pic.twitter.com/UIKkYUK4N5

— Birgit Richter (@BirgitRichter10) June 12, 2020

Illness and death

The British press first reported that Mercury had tested positive for HIV in October 1986, but the musician denied being ill, but Jim Hutton confirmed that Mercury had tested positive for AIDS in April 1987. he did the public, and his last appearance on Queen’s album was in 1991 when “Innuendo” was released. The album had several singles, including ‘The Show Must Go On’. Mercury’s last public appearance was in February 1991, at the 1990 Brit Awards. He retired to his home in Kensington, West London, and issued a statement just 24 hours before his death that he had tested HIV positive and had AIDS had. On the evening of November 24, 1991, Mercury died in his home at the age of 45. In 2001, Mercury was posthumously inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003, and the UK Music Hall. of Celebrity in 2004.