Freddie Mercury Google Doodle Honors Singer’s Birthday

To honor Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury on his 65th birthday, Google has created a 98-second long animated video featuring the singer and his bandmates playing their Top 10 song 'Don't Stop Me Now.' Mercury's birthday was actually on Monday, but the search engine didn't want to interfere with Labor Day, so they held the Google Doodle until Tuesday morning. 

(We, on the other hand, worked through the weekend to bring you a list of the 10 Best Queen Songs of all time.)

The late frontman goes on quite a journey during the clip. He begins with his band on a glitzy stage with the Google logo behind him. Throughout the song he's seen soaring through the cosmos, riding a tiger and driving a race car to the moon. On Monday the Mercury Phoenix Trust -- a charity set up by Queen's remaining members to raise money and AIDS awareness -- said they were happy with Google's tribute:

"(We are) incredibly excited that Google is celebrating the 65th birthday of legendary musician and pioneer Freddie Mercury with a fun, quirky, animated tribute to the Queen frontman. This worldwide tribute from Google is something that doesn't happen very often."

Mercury died in Nov. 1991, just one day after publicly announcing he had contracted AIDS. He's remembered not only for his innovative songwriting, but for the way he came alive on stage. Off stage he was described as shy, but on stage he shed any such accusations, comfortable performing for crowds as big as 200,000.

Previous Google Doodles include a live-action tribute to Charlie Chaplin in April, a video celebrating John Lennon's 70th birthday last Oct. and a tribute to guitarist Les Paul. Members of Queen celebrated Mercury's birthday at the Savoy Hotel in London.

Watch the Freddie Mercury Google Doodle Video