Marc Martel, the man who sang as Freddie Mercury in “Bohemian Rhapsody”: “I’m not an imitator” | INTERVIEW

Not a copycat Freddie Mercury, as he hastens to clarify. But Marc Martel (Montreal, 1976) was born with a voice range almost identical to that of the late Queen singer and has successfully capitalized on that amazing resemblance. For example, putting the vocal parts to the movie “Bohemian Rhapsody”, those that rami maleck couldn’t sing.

How much of that Oscar awarded to Malek belongs to you, we ask. And he laughs: “No, Rami did all the work, he is an amazing actor. I contributed my voice to the filmbut that was an acting award, not a singing one.”

Follower of several singers with a well-remembered voice –from George Michael to Eddie Vedder, from Richard Marx to Jeff Buckley–, Martel actually He began his professional career with a Christian rock band. “My faith is the most important foundational issue of my life,” he says of the 13-year experience. He still composes from time to time, especially some Christmas songs, but not as often as then, because the Mercury phenomenon took over his life.

Because in recent years Martel has devoted himself practically exclusively to going on tour with his Queen-themed concerts. like the one will bring it to Peru for the first time on May 12with the show called The Ultimate Queen Celebration.

That is why he insists that his is not an imitation. “I am not an imitator. What I do is draw a fine line between paying tribute to Freddie Mercury, but at the same time being Marc Martel on stage, says the artist. I don’t pretend to be Freddie, I’m Marc. Only in my voice people will be able to hear the sound of Freddie like no one else in the world can. Or at least no one I know”.

And wouldn’t you have liked to be able to go on tour with your own music and your own songs? “Let’s see, to be honest, I think that no singer-songwriter imagines that he will sing someone else’s music. I would love to sing my own music, but there is such a hunger in the world for Queen music that I could work on it as much as I wanted. Every day we receive emails and calls from people asking us for the show, all over the world. And that keeps me busy“, it states.

For this reason, although it sounds paradoxical, Martel is somewhat distrustful of those imitation programs – of the “Yo Soy” type – that abound in the world. “I think these kind of shows are a continuation of karaoke. People go to karaoke because they want to show what they have, be it good or bad. And these shows exploit that desire. So they have a double edge: on the one hand, they allow new talents to be discovered; for another, sometimes encourage the ridicule of people who think they are goodBut they are not”.

Finally, is there anything, apart from the voice, in which Freddie Mercury and Marc Martel are alike? “I think Freddie was very intense onstage, but offstage he tended to be calmer. I could relate to that -answer back-. Being like a kind of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: when I’m at a concert I really turn on. But when I go down I’m much more calm and shy”.

• Marc Martel will perform with The Ultimate Queen Celebration on May 12 at Arena Perú del Jockey. Tickets will be on sale from this Thursday, March 3 on Teleticket.