The former bandmates of Queen legend Freddie Mercury will be invited to the grand unveiling of a memorial to the star in Feltham town centre.

Fans of the group were getting excited this week as word spread that guitarist Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor and bassist John Deacon could visit the town, where the flamboyant singer lived for nearly 10 years.

The Queen frontman studied art at West Thames College after arriving in Feltham at the age of 17 from his home country of Tanzania in 1964.

Queen fan Councillor Peter Hills, a self-confessed air guitarist, said Hounslow Council will ask the band members, along with the cast of West End musical We Will Rock You, to attend the ceremony at the end of June.

He said: “We have been in contact with Feltham town centre managers and they are very interested in it.

“The next thing is to try to get some celebrities to come down and open the memorial.

“Hopefully we will start to get some responses in the next couple of weeks.

“We will just put out as many invitations as possible and if we can get one, two or even three then I think we’ve really cracked it.”

Designs for the memorial have not yet been completed, but it is likely to be a Hollywood-style star with the singer’s name in the town centre precinct.

Councillor Linda Nakamura, chairman of the west area committee, said the plans had already attracted a lot of attention from music magazines and radio stations.

The committee had saved £9,000 in running costs and agreed to use £2,000 towards the memorial.

Coun Nakamura said: “It is going to be the only memorial of its kind in Feltham, and I think people will enjoy it because he was so popular.”

  • What do you think of the memorial? Post your comments below.