Dovedale Towers, (Freddie Mercury’s temporary home)

You don’t associate Freddie Mercury with Penny Lane in Liverpool do you? The Beatles yes - but Freddie? Not really. Here I am at the building where he once rented a room when it was a guest house. It’s now a big pub called The Dovedale.

He stayed here before Queen existed. He was unknown and still called Freddie Bulsara. In 1969 he joined a Liverpool band named Ibex (which later became Wreckage) and they were moving back up north to perform. Freddie didn’t want to move up to Liverpool but thought he would give it a try for a while. He made his first on-stage debut at The Sink Club in Liverpool (it had an "Exclusive Membership Card" that you needed to gain entry - a rubber plug on a piece of string.)

The Dovedale pub took its name from Dovedale Towers that once stood here. Ships passing on the River Mersey gained their bearings from it. The building you see in the photos has been an orphanage, an art gallery, a Russian Embassy and a guest house. It was the latter when Freddie lived here. The parents of one of the Ibex s roadies owned it and Freddie heard there was a vacant room.

When Ibex performed at The Sink on 9th September 1969 there were guest appearances from two unknown men Brian May and Roger Taylor (still at university studing astronomy and dentistry respectively.) This was the first time that the three soon-to-be Queen members played together. Ibex wasn’t a success and Freddie returned to London. He joined a second band called Sour Milk Sea but it failed to find success. In April 1970 he joined Brian May and Roger Taylor in a group called Smile. When the bassist left and John Deacon took his place Queen emerged.

Freddie would return to Liverpool though. Queen played at Cavern Club, Liverpool Stadium, Liverpool University and Liverpool Empire Theatre. The first time the band performed Bohemian Rhapsody was in front of a live audience at the Empire Theatre in November 1975.

It’s on Penny Lane itself…

Freddie in the flat…

Looking up Penny Lane…

…and down Penny Lane…