(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DON'T STOP ME NOW")

QUEEN: (Singing) Having a good time. I'm a shooting star leaping through the sky like a tiger...

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Renee Montagne. The year Queen's Freddie Mercury died, an asteroid was spotted in the sky. This week, in honor of the late singer's 70th birthday, that asteroid officially became 17473 Freddiemercury. Bandmate Brian May joked that the rock star already has a planet named after him, but this, he said, is a very special dot of light. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.