Producer Reinhold Mack Shares the Thoughtful Gesture That Let Him Know Friend Freddie Mercury Never Forgot His Family (Exclusive)
Producer Reinhold Mack Shares the Thoughtful Gesture That Let Him Know Friend Freddie Mercury Never Forgot His Family (Exclusive)
Angela AndaloroThu, September 3, 2026 at 8:25 PM UTC
0
From left: Freddie Mercury and Reinhold Mack at Musicland StudiosCredit: © Peter Hince -
Music producer Reinhold Mack was working at Musicland Studios in Munich when he got the opportunity to work with Queen
Mack, now 77, became close friends with frontman Freddie Mercury in the process, making him his youngest son’s godfather
Mack is auctioning off some mementos from his time with Queen in Propstore’s upcoming auction, just weeks after what would have been Mercury’s 80th birthday
Reinhold Mack appreciated the way Freddie Mercury fit into his family’s fold.
The music producer recently chatted with PEOPLE ahead of Propstore’s $4 million Music Live Auction, taking place Thursday, Oct. 1 to Friday, Oct. 2. Over 80 items provided by Mack are from the time he worked with Queen, as well as his subsequent friendship with the band’s frontman.
Mack’s youngest son, John Frederick, known to family as “little Freddie,” was born as the band worked on the 1982 album, Hot Space, at Musicland Studios in Munich. Mack remembered his wife joking around with the band as they worked on their album, which notably took them a “really long time” to make.
Reinhold Mack (center) poses with QueenCredit: © Peter Hince
“My wife said, ‘It’s probably easier to conceive and give birth to a child than you guys getting an album done.’ And in that time, she conceived and gave birth to little Freddie, who is his godson,” Mack tells PEOPLE.
Mercury was happy to take on the title and was jovial at the baby’s christening. “He was exceptional. For a rockstar of his profile, he was down to earth. He was the biggest thing, but he’d never forget a birthday,” Mack says.
Available in auction: teddy bear gifted to the Freddie Mercury’s godson, John FrederickCredit: Propstore
Mack remembers how excited his family would get to receive cards in the mail from Mercury on special occasions. “He wrote birthday cards, he wrote Valentine’s cards, Christmas cards when he wasn’t in the country. It was really very unusual, but he liked my wife’s cooking,” he says.
One of Mercury’s most thoughtful gestures, Mack says, was when the singer visited his home and discovered that their toaster only handled four slices at a time. “He saw there were three boys and man and wife, and that we had a toaster where we’d only get four pieces of toast out of that. So he had somebody go out and find a Dualit toaster with six slices on it and gave that to us as a present,” the producer recalls.
Advertisement
— sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
One time, Mercury surprised his godson with a very special gift. “He bought him a rocking horse. I think some pictures exist where little Freddie was totally scared of the rocking horse. And he got him this teddy bear, which was much taller than little Freddie was, and this teddy bear has some mileage on it, maybe nearly a hundred thousand miles of going from Europe to America, going back to England, going back to Germany, going back to LA,” Mack says.
Available at auction: Yamaha C3 grand piano played by Freddie MercuryCredit: Propstore
As for parting with the bear at auction, Mack says his son had a sweet perspective on it. “I think for little Freddie, he had maybe a hard time giving that away. But he wrote a little couple of lines saying that, ‘It’s not the object, but it’s the thought,’ which always will stay in his mind,” the producer notes.
Mack has adopted the same attitude as he prepares to part with over 80 items from his time with Queen and Mercury, including the Yamaha C3 grand piano the singer played extensively at Musicland Studios.
“I can only follow what little Freddie said. For us, it’s the pieces we hold onto. In terms of the auction, we’re trying to find people who have a similar interest in Freddie’s life, so that these items won’t just live on a shelf for the sake of saying we still have them,” Mack says.
Propstore’s $4 million Music Live Auction takes place from Oct. 1 to Oct. 2. Auction registration is now open, and the full catalog is available for preview.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
