'Freddie Mercury Close': London street named after Queen singer

[February 25, 2020] LONDON (Reuters) - A street in the London suburb where Freddie Mercury lived as a teenager was renamed Freddie Mercury Close on Monday at a ceremony attended by the late Queen frontman's sister.

Their family moved to Feltham in west London after fleeing the revolution in Zanzibar in 1964.

Local authorities agreed to rename part of Hanworth Road - the address of the headquarters of the World Zoroastrian Organization. Mercury was born a Zoroastrian and practiced the ancient religion as a child.

The family actually lived a short walk away at 22 Gladstone Avenue. That site was marked with a blue plaque in 2016.

Mercury died in 1991 aged 45 due to complications from AIDS. The Mercury Phoenix Trust, a charity set up after his death, supports projects fighting HIV and AIDS worldwide.

(Reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft; editing by Andrew Heavens)

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