Freddie Mercury (September 5, 1946 – November 24, 1991)
Queen’s leader denied that he had contracted HIV almost until his death – at that time the whole world was already sure that the singer died of AIDS. It is believed that its first symptoms appeared in 1982. In 1986, British tabloids reported that the artist had been tested for HIV. but Mercury said he was “perfectly fine”. He said publicly that his test was negative in 1987, but today we know that the diagnosis was made then.
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For several years – until 1990 – British tabloids developed the topic of Freddie Mercury’s alleged illness. Their conclusions were based on pauses in speech and gaunt appearance. The artist and his relatives denied everything. Even a very weak Mercury refused to talk about AIDS. As Brian May later recalled, the artist asked him to write more material – he was ready to sing for colleagues to mix records after his death.
In June 1991, Freddie Mercury retired and moved to a house in Kensington. He was losing his vision and it was becoming increasingly difficult for him to get out of bed.. The artist refused medication and took only painkillers.
On November 22, Freddie Mercury made a public statement in which he admitted that he had AIDS and had kept it a secret to protect his right to privacy. He died on November 24, 1991. The cause of death was bronchopneumonia caused by acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.
Rudolf Nureyev (17 March 1938 – 6 January 1993)
The legendary ballerina, who fled the USSR in 1961 and lived mostly in France, tested positive for HIV in the first half of the 80s. For several years after his diagnosis, he acted as if nothing had happened and he was fine. However, by the end of the decade, his physical abilities began to decline and this began to disappoint his fans. summer 1991 dancer had to admit she was starting to fadeand a year later developed the final stage of the disease.
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In March 1992, Nureyev arrived in Kazan, where he served as conductor. He returned to Paris with a fever and immediately went to a hospital in one of the suburbs of the French capital. Here he was operated on due to pericarditis, an inflammatory lesion of the heart membrane.
In July 1992, pericarditis symptoms returned. The artist has already refused therapy. Rudolf Nureyev last appeared on stage at the Palais Garnier in Paris on October 8 and presented his production of La Bayadere, based on Marius Petipa’s choreography.
On November 20, 1992, Nureyev went to the hospital again. He remained there until his death on January 6 the following year.
Isaac Asimov (1919 or 1920 – April 6, 1992)
It was revealed only 10 years after Isaac Asimov’s death that the cause of death of the famous science fiction writer was AIDS. Later, his widow Janet and his child Robin from his first marriage decided to make this information public; the woman herself added this information when editing Asimov’s autobiography.
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The author contracted the infection through a blood transfusion during coronary bypass surgery in 1983. The disease was carefully hidden from everyone. Isaac Asimov feared that prejudice against HIV-infected people would spread to his family.
After the writer’s death, his body was cremated. The official cause of death was announced as heart and kidney failure.
Anthony Perkins (April 4, 1932 – September 12, 1992)
American actor, known for his role as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. He had to undergo treatment for facial paralysis while filming the television horror film Psycho IV: The Beginning in 1990. Against this background, tabloids spread rumors that the actor had HIV, he had to take a test, and the result turned out to be positive.
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For two years, the artist refused to publicly reveal that he was HIV positive., applies to different clinics under fictitious names. His wife and two children were tested regularly; came out negative. The actor publicly announced that he had AIDS just a few weeks before his death. He died due to pneumonia that developed as a result of his illness.
Gia Carangi (January 29, 1960 – November 18, 1986)
The American model, who appeared on Vogue covers and Dior and Armani advertising posters, became one of the first female celebrities to die of AIDS. Gia at the peak of her career in 1980 Karanji started using drugs – and I quickly became addicted to heroin. Her career went into decline – despite attempts to return to work, the model never recovered.
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Gia Carangi, who spent all her savings on drugs, spent the last three years of her life wandering around the homes of her lovers, friends and relatives, sometimes working part-time in a clothing store, cafeteria, and even as a sex worker.
In December 1985, the girl developed double pneumonia. Karangi was admitted to a hospital in Pennsylvania, where he was diagnosed with AIDS. In the autumn, the former catwalk star was hospitalized again after she was found raped and beaten on the street. She died a month later from AIDS-related complications. There was no one from the fashion world at his funeral.
Holston (April 23, 1932 – March 26, 1990)
The American fashion designer has become famous for his minimalist designs and the luxurious materials he uses to create his collections. Customers included Lauren Bacall, Elizabeth Taylor, Greta Garbo and Anjelica Huston. Halston’s first fame came with the pillbox hat she wore for U.S. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy at her husband’s inauguration in 1961.
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The fashion designer tested positive for HIV in 1988. When his health began to fail, he moved to San Francisco, where family members took over Holston’s care. In 1990, the fashion designer died in hospital from Kaposi’s sarcoma, a disease often caused by AIDS. His body was burned.
Derek Jarman (January 31, 1942 – February 19, 1994)
The British artist and avant-garde director was diagnosed with HIV in 1986, and he immediately began speaking openly about it. He reflected his experience of living with HIV, which quickly turned into AIDS, in his paintings and films: Today, in the Tate Gallery, you can see Derek Jarman’s works in which large paint strokes are powerfully dispersed on the canvas. “I want to release the anger that everyone with HIV feels“explained Jarman. In 1993, he depicted the gradual loss of vision due to AIDS in the film Blue.
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After the diagnosis and almost until the end of his life, the director who discovered Tilda Swinton’s talent for cinema (she starred in the films “Caravaggio”, “Parting View of England”, “Edward II”) lived in a house. Near a nuclear power plant in Kent – there he laid out a garden, which is even featured in some books on landscape design. In 1993, he managed to exhibit his painting “Blue” at the Venice Biennale. He died in London at the beginning of 1994.
Tom Fogerty (9 November 1941 – 6 September 1990)
Musician and co-founder of the band Creedence Clearwater Revival – his brother John was the band’s leader and Tom Fogerty himself acted as rhythm guitarist – fell victim to HIV due to contaminated blood transfusion. In the early 1980s, the musician, who was already married at that time, underwent back surgery, during which an infection entered his body.
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The development of AIDS resulted in tuberculosis, from which the musician died in 1990. He is survived by his wife and six children.
Keith Haring (May 4, 1958 – February 16, 1990)
One of the most famous and expensive artists of the late 20th century learned he was HIV positive in 1988, at the height of his fame. He did not hide his diagnosis from the public — Keith Haring raised awareness of the AIDS epidemic.
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Especially in 1989, he painted a mural titled “Together we can stop AIDS” in one of the disadvantaged areas of Barcelona, where drug use was widespread. “When AIDS became a reality of my life, it became the subject of my creativity.“, Haring explained. He died of AIDS-related illness at his home in early 1990.
Ofra Haza (19 November 1957 – 23 February 2000)
Perhaps the most famous Israeli singer’s diagnosis was understood only after his death. While the whole country was mourning the death of the star, one of the local newspapers unexpectedly reported that the cause was AIDS.
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This caused a scandal in Israeli society. The singer’s illness didn’t just surprise his fans; It later turned out that Ofra Haza hid her diagnosis from hospital staff In Tel Aviv, where he was admitted two weeks before his death. The reaction to the newspaper’s report turned out to be contradictory: some argued that it violated the journalists’ right to privacy, while others believed that if Ofra Haza was a public person, the circumstances of her death could also be made public.
Israeli doctors were horrified that the singer hid the diagnosis; This was in 2000, when attitudes towards HIV had already changed and science had come a long way in terms of therapy. “This takes us back to the beginning of the epidemic, when the disease was almost demonized and stigmatized, whereas now we are doing a much better job of dealing with it. In this sad case, if the details are omitted, it turns out that Ofra Haza died of embarrassment due to terrible fear of talking about the disease“, said Dr. Zvi Bentwich, head of the AIDS center in Rehovot.
Her husband, businessman Doron Ashkenazi, was suspected of infecting the singer. As it turned out later, he was also sure that Ofra Haza had contracted the infection during a blood transfusion in Turkey, where she was hospitalized due to a miscarriage. The artist’s husband died of an overdose a year after her death.
Source: Gazeta
Brandon Hall is an author at “Social Bites”. He is a cultural aficionado who writes about the latest news and developments in the world of art, literature, music, and more. With a passion for the arts and a deep understanding of cultural trends, Brandon provides engaging and thought-provoking articles that keep his readers informed and up-to-date on the latest happenings in the cultural world.