“I’d sit alone and watch your light, my only friend through teenage nights and everything I had to know, I learned it on my radio.” When Freddie Mercury sang these words he may well have been speaking directly to me, telling me it’s ok to be impossibly shy, awkward, different, this magical little box holds all the answers – just follow the light.

Freddie Mercury Portrait by Kevin McHugh Art

The thing about being out of step with all your friends and classmates is that sooner or later you get left behind. At a time in my life that should have had me out experiencing the world, I found a different font of knowledge to draw from. I retreated to my room and pressed ‘play’. Music became my education. I discovered the wonders of AC/DC at full tilt, the ferocity of Guns N’ Roses, the 50’s inspired perpetual teenage universe described by Meat Loaf and the sheer power of Queen, where everything was turned up to 11.

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