Denis O’ReganFreddie Mercury met Queen in Wembley, 1986
NOS News•today, 22:39•Edited today, 23:04
Freddie Mercury’s earliest draft for Queens Bohemian Rhapsody raised more than 1.5 million euros at an auction in London. The crown and royal mantle worn by the singer at the end of performances on the band’s last tour was auctioned for just under $750,000 at Mercury’s estate auction.
The fifteen calendar leaves with scribbled text and melody from Bohemian Rhapsody offer new insight into how the British band’s biggest hit came about. This is how Mercury initially chose the title Mongolian Rhapsody and considered the opening line “Mama, there’s a war began”, instead of “Mama, just killed a man”. On another sheet he scribbled catchphrases to use, from the familiar “Galileo” and “Scaramouche” to dropped words like “Belladonna” and “Matador.”
In addition to this composition, the original lyrics of other major hits were also for sale, such as Somebody to Love, We Are the Champions in Don’t Stop Me Now. They all left for amounts between 2.8 and 3.75 tonnes.
The snake bracelet Mercury wore in the music video for Bohemian Rhapsody raised a record amount of more than 800,000 euros. This easily surpassed John Lennon’s leather talisman, which sold for €340,000 in 2008 and has since been the most expensive rock jewel ever sold at auction. Mercury’s piano was the object that raised the most at the auction with 2 million euros.
Queen Music Ltd / Sony Music Publishing UK Ltd
The Queen logo drawn by Mercury
Queen Music Ltd / Sony Music Publishing UK Ltd
Mongolian Rhapsody, later pas Bohemian Rhapsody
Queen Music Ltd / Sony Music Publishing UK Ltd
We are the champions
Queen Music Ltd / Sony Music Publishing UK Ltd
Mercury signed himself and his bandmates
Queen Music Ltd / Sony Music Publishing UK Ltd
Presleys Jailhouse Rock
Queen Music Ltd / Sony Music Publishing UK Ltd
Don’t Stop Me Now
Queen Music Ltd / Sony Music Publishing UK Ltd
Somebody to Love
All 1400 lots of the multi-day auction at the renowned house of Sotheby’s come from Mercury’s London home, Garden Lodge. He left it to his ex-lover Mary Austin after his death in 1991. She now thinks it’s time to say goodbye, although she calls it “a difficult decision to close this special chapter in my life”.
“It has been a joy and privilege to be surrounded by all the wonderful things Freddie has collected over the years,” she said in a press release. “This is an opportunity to share the many facets of Freddie’s life, private and public, so the world can better understand and remember his unique and amazing personality.” She calls the auction the best way to do that, “because there was nothing Freddie loved more”.
Getty ImagesFreddie Mercury met Mary Austin
In addition to much Queen material, from the lyrics and Mercury’s logo design to a room full of gold records, many of the singer’s personal items were offered. His flamboyant stage persona is subtly reflected in the baroque elegance of his bedroom’s Fabergé clock, lalique lalique or a Tiffany silver mustache comb.
In addition, the artworks that filled Mercury’s home were for sale, from the Picasso hanging in the kitchen to the Chagall on his mantelpiece. The famous Garden Lodge door, on which fans wrote messages en masse after his death, also came under the hammer, as did a jukebox full of rock and roll classics by Little Richard and Bill Haley.
Queen guitarist Brian May announced yesterday, on the day Mercury would have turned 77, that he is not behind the auction. “Freddie’s most intimate properties and lyrics that are part of what we’ve shared all these years are being sold to the highest bidder and getting scattered. I can’t look at them,” he wrote on Instagram. “It’s too sad for his close friends and family.”
With a sales price of 480,000 euros, the door yielded a multiple of Sotheby’s estimated value of around 30,000 euros. The auction house had estimated the jukebox at the same value, but it turned out to be worth much more and sold for just under half a million euros.
For example, most objects fetched much more than the appraised value. An onyx ring that Elton John had once given Mercury even flipped over 55 times.
Sotheby’s
Queen’s mantle and crown
Sotheby’s
Freddie Mercury’s wing
Sotheby’s
Costumes of the Queen frontman
Sotheby’s
The table setting at one of his dinner parties
Sotheby’s
A room full of gold records
Sotheby’s
Cat lover Mercury collected everything from his favorite species
Sotheby’s
Adidas shoes from Mercury
Sotheby’s
Fabergé clock
Sotheby’s
Tiffany’s silver mustache comb
Sotheby’s
Mercury’s zonnebril
Mercury’s clothing was also popular. From the tight catsuits of his early years to the cat waistcoat of his latest music video, These Are the Days of Our Lives had he kept his outfits. Enthusiasts will easily recognize the salmon pink suit from The Great PretenderIt Radio Ga Gajacket or the bombastic costume nicknamed the Shrimp It’s a Hard Life.
Sotheby’s put everything on display for four weeks for the fans, who regularly stood in long queues at the door. The auction house offers especially for them under the motto Crazy Little Things also trinkets from the singer that would normally not make it into the catalogue.
Rhythmic clapping
That the singer is still popular is evident from the prices here: for a simple cat figurine or Japanese porcelain that was estimated at a few tens of euros by the auction house, bids of twenty times have already been received.
Six auctions will be held until next Wednesday to sell everything, tonight it was the turn of the masterpieces first. In total, this opening night, on which all 59 lots were sold, raised more than 14 million euros. Those present in evening clothes closed the meeting with the rhythmic clapping of We Will Rock You.
Assistant Peter Freestone explains how precious the auctioned items were to Mercury:
Sotheby’s veilt 30.000 items van Freddie Mercury
2023-09-06 20:39:45
#million #euros #original #text #Bohemian #Rhapsody
