Noddy Holder looks back on relationship with Queen’s Freddie Mercury: “I said, ‘You’re never going to be a pop star’”

Noddy Holder has reflected on his friendship with Freddie Mercury, revealing that the Queen frontman would share his aspirations with him.

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The moment took place during a rare TV appearance from the Slade singer, when he appeared as a guest on the Channel 4 morning show Sunday Brunch over the weekend (December 17).

In the programme, the glam icon shared anecdotes about his extensive time in the music industry, particularly the elaborate outfits he would wear on stage during the ‘70s. It was here that he reflected on his relationship with Freddie Mercury – back before the singer found fame with Queen.

In the conversation, he recalled the origins of his iconic mirror hat and dispelled the myth that he bought it from the iconic rock singer.

“I made the top hat with mirrors. I bought the hat in Kensington Market,” he explained (via The Independent). “You know people think I bought it off Freddie Mercury. But I went to Kenny Market [to get it]. Freddie used to have a stall there, him and Roger from Queen selling shirts and paraphernalia.”

He continued, explaining how Mercury would tell him about his hopes to become famous while running the clothing stall. “I went down to Kenny Market because I used to buy shirts off him, and Freddie used to say to me, ‘Noddy darling I’m going to be a big pop star like you one day’.

“I said ‘Get off Freddie’, in more colourful language.‘Go on Freddie. You’re never going to be a pop star’… He showed me, didn’t he?”

He continued, “Anyway two stalls down they used to sell old Victorian memorabilia and I bought the top hat there and stuck my own mirrors on and it became the famous icon of the glam rock era.”

He added that although the finished result became iconic, he was only able to wear it for three songs per performance due to the weight of it.

In other Noddy Holder news, the singer recently told the BBC about the real source of inspiration behind Slade’s festive 1973 hit ‘Merry Christmas Everybody’.

“I went to the local pub in Wolverhampton and went back to my mum and dad’s after and I sat up all night with a bottle of whisky and wrote the total lyrics that night,” he explained.

He also said it was the “hardest song we ever had to record” after drummer Don Powell narrowly escaped death in a car crash earlier that year and had to re-learn his instrument.

Elsewhere, in October, Holder’s wife Suzan revealed he had been diagnosed with esophageal cancer five years ago and at the time was only given six months to live.

Holder told the BBC that while he would never be cured, he was “on a level playing field at the moment”, and determined to enjoy himself: “I was more worried for my missus and my kids and my grandkids than I was for me,” he said.

“I do live life day to day, and I thought well I’ve done a lot of good stuff in my life, I’ve had a lot of fun if the end is within sight in six months I’ll see it through.”