The Yamaha piano in question was purchased by Freddie Mercury in 1975 and used to compose nearly all of his greatest hits. The musical instrument was expected to fetch up to £3 million.
The world famous Queen singer left his girlfriend Mary Austin his home and possessions. She decided to auction it more than 32 years after Mercury’s death. Last night the top pieces, including the piano, were auctioned in London. The other 1500 objects from his private collection will also go under the hammer in the coming days.
Exhibition
The auction house Sotheby’s organized an exhibition of Mercury’s belongings last month. A record number of more than 130,000 visitors came to this. Never before has an exhibition dedicated to one person attracted so many people.
The fifteen sides on which Mercury wrote the original lyrics of Bohemian Rhapsody with pencil and ballpoint pen went under the hammer last night for more than 1.5 million euros. It was read that the singer initially chose ‘Mongolian Rhapsody’ as the title. He also wanted to start the song with ‘Mama, there’s a war began’.
Furthermore, a snake bracelet from Mercury was sold (800,000 euros) and a garden door full of graffiti with fans was auctioned for 466,000 euros. Sotheby’s had estimated the value of the door at less than 30,000 euros. A Cartier ring, once a gift from Elton John, sold for more than 70 times its expected value. The piece of jewelery went under the hammer for 318,000 euros.
77 years
Mercury, who would have turned 77 last week, died in 1991 at the age of 45. He died less than 24 hours after releasing a statement saying he had AIDS and calling on fans to “fight this horrible disease.”
A portion of the proceeds from the auction will go to the Elton John AIDS Foundation, but the percentage has not been disclosed. In total, Sotheby’s expects that all objects together will fetch almost 13 million euros.
‘A disgrace’
Meanwhile, there is criticism of the auction. Queen guitarist Brian May said this week that he “can’t watch it.” “Freddie’s most intimate personal belongings and writings, which were part of what we shared together for so many years, are being sold to the highest bidder. For us, his closest friends and family, it is too sad,” he wrote on Instagram.
According to The Guardian fans of the singer also called the auction ‘a disgrace’ or ‘crazy’. “It’s a shame the items aren’t on display in a museum,” said another fan.
2023-09-07 00:17:12
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