Ready, Freddie, go for brickie Scott
It's a kind of magic for Freddie Mercury impersonator Scott Maley – who swapped life as a brickie to belt out Bohemian Rhapsody for a living.
The Queen fanatic spends his days and nights travelling the world performing as his hero in tribute band Queen on Fire.
But the 39-year-old has not forgotten his Black Country roots, and loves performing for audiences in Stourbridge as much Singapore.
The group formed in the mid 1990s and was originally called Killer Queen, starting off playing humble venues around the West Midlands.
But their popularity soared, largely thanks to Scott's likeness to the late, great star and his incredible vocals.
The group ditched their day jobs and now perform a hectic schedule of gigs worldwide.
Despite a change in personnel over the last 13 years, Scott has remained from the start to help take centre stage at shows in countries such as Austria, Germany, Spain and Holland.
The band, which has recently signed up to new management in a bid to increase its popularity in theatres, has also performed in front of a massive 40,000 people in Portugal.
The five-piece act includes Nick Mathers, aged 36, who is guitarist Brian May, drummer Jason Chambers, 30, bass player Simon Mann, 37, from Telford and 31-year-old Thomas Bissell from Halesowen who plays the keyboard.
And despite their success Scott, who lives in Bloxwich, says they do not let the fame go to their heads.
"We get to play around the world and at some great venues. We get to meet some wonderful people," he said.
"Obviously I do get compared to Freddie but others see it more than me as I still just see myself as Scott, and people who know me just refer to me as Scott.
"I am a down to earth person but given a gift to entertain. It is great when a show goes well as we want people to enjoy themselves.
"We have got a fantastic fanbase in the UK and they follow us everywhere.
"We can travel down to Cornwall and we have people turn up there who live in the Midlands. If I didn't enjoy it, and didn't do it the right way I would have stopped by now. It means a lot to me and involves my whole life.
"There is not a feeling like it when on stage."
Concerts in Belgium and Lithuania beckon later this year, and the group dreams of making it big in America.
Scott added: "I feel very humbled to perform as Freddie and as long as I'm doing the job right and people want us to carry on we will do. Freddie was a true star, a great performer and a great front man. It is wonderful as we are all Queen fans ourselves, and it is great when people come and say that song was from a certain Queen tour. I take it very seriously on stage and for 90 minutes I have got to entertain those people.
"It has been a journey of ups and downs and I have really enjoyed it but there is more to come as long as we are entertaining people and they are enjoying it. It would be nice to play in America where there is a massive Queen following."
