Original recording of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody lyrics could be sold for $1 million
The original lyrics, penciled by Queen's Freddie Mercury while writing Bohemian Rhapsody's hit on a small piece of paper, could be sold for nearly a million dollars at an upcoming major auction of his estate.
And if you're in London in August and September, you'll be able to see this and more at a new month-long exhibition that will immerse visitors in the world of Freddie, showcasing some of the true legend's most interesting and rare memorabilia of the 20th century.
The centerpiece of the Sotheby's auction was Freddie's beloved piano, on which he composed some of the band's greatest hits. These are just two rarities in Mercury's massive property sale, which are on display for the public a month before the start of the sale on his birthday, September 5th.
Other handwritten lyric drafts include "Don't Stop Me Now", "Someone to Love", and "We're the Champions". The surviving sheets give a fascinating insight into how his songs were designed and developed.
All 15 Sotheby's London galleries will present their space for the costumes, handwritten songs, drawings, furniture and other items that surrounded the Mercury.
The sale includes, for example, the long red cape and crown he wore during his most recent stage appearance with Queen in 1986, as well as early cat costumes he sewed his own "Mercury Wings" onto.
Other previously unpublished works include poems written when he first came to London from Zanzibar at the age of 18, signing them with his real name, Fred Bulsara.
The piano is a children's Yamaha G2 grand piano, which he purchased in 1975 after he decided that his current piano was no longer up to the level of his elevated vision. He barely fit in the small apartment he shared at the time with Mary Austin.
“Freddie saw him as more than just an instrument,” she said. - It was a continuation of himself, his means of creativity. He never smoked at the piano or put a glass on it, and no one else did."
A few months after its introduction, he used the instrument to develop the band's cult track Bohemian Rhapsody, released later that year. The piano moved home with the couple until 1986, when it moved for the last time to Garden Lodge.
The exhibition is free on a first-come, first-served basis and runs until 5 September at Sotheby's on New Bond Street, London.
ORIENT news
