Queen’s famous song “Bohemian Rhapsody” could have had another title, reveals a manuscript written by Freddie Mercury.
By QM with AFP
© TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP
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Un world famous tube that could have been called otherwise. Queen’s famous song Bohemian Rhapsody written by Freddie Mercury, could have been called mongolian rhapsodyaccording to the manuscript of the song, written by the hand of the musician and recently unearthed in favor of an auction at Sotheby’s.
Written in ballpoint pen and pencil on paper from a now defunct airline, ‘British Midlands Airways’, the draft Bohemian Rhapsody reveals on 15 pages the different directions that Freddie Mercury had considered for this famous title of Queen. Sotheby’s mentions an estimate between 800,000 and 1.2 million pounds sterling (930,000 to 1.4 million euros).
The manuscripts of Freddie Mercury never presented to the public, will be exhibited in New York, the first stage of a tour before their auction in London in September, announced Thursday, June 1 the auction house. After New York until June 8, the manuscripts will stop in Los Angeles and Hong Kong. They will then be exhibited in August in the British capital before being sold in a series of auctions.
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Revealing pages of Freddie Mercury’s hard work
Among the other drafts of the singer who died of AIDS in 1991 are those of Don’t Stop Me Now, Somebody to LoveAnd We Are the Championsestimated between 200,000 and 300,000 pounds (225,000 to 339,000 euros).
With such early drafts being “easily lost or discarded”, the pieces up for auction offer “a fascinating dive into how the songs” of Freddie Mercury “were developed and assembled”, “while reminding us of their musical complexity and sophistication. “, underlined Gabriel Heaton, specialist in manuscripts at Sotheby’s.
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These pages reveal the artist’s hard work, his “incredible care” in creating Queen’s signature vocal harmonies, he added. Among the other exhibits is a red notebook from the early 1970s, arguably one of his earliest collections of lyrics, whose 42 pages also feature sketches of the band’s logo and coffee stains.
1,500 items put up for sale
A yellow spiral notebook, 24 pages of lyrics for the band’s seventh album in 1978, Jazzwhich includes the title Don’t Stop Me Nowwill also go on sale, along with costumes, including the satin jumpsuit worn by Freddie Mercury in the music video for Bohemian Rhapsody in 1975.
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The complete catalog of the sale must be unveiled at the end of July at the beginning of August. When the auction of the 1,500 objects, including stage costumes and paintings by Matisse or Picasso that belonged to Freddie Mercury, was announced in April, Sotheby’s had estimated that it would reach a total of at least 6 million pounds (more of 6.7 million euros).
Profits will be donated in part to the Mercury Phoenix Trust and Elton John Aids Foundation, two organizations involved in the fight against AIDS.