Freddie Mercury's Piano Used to Compose 'Bohemian Rhapsody' Sold for 3 Billion Won

Piano Auction Achieves Record High Price
Bohemian Rhapsody Autographed Sheet Music Sold for 2.3 Billion Won

The piano of Freddie Mercury, the lead vocalist of the British rock band Queen, has set a new record for the highest price at a piano auction.

The piano used by Freddie Mercury when composing "Bohemian Rhapsody" was sold for ?1,742,000 (approximately 3 billion KRW) at a Sotheby's auction in London on the 6th (local time), according to local media reports.

Photo by KBS

The previous record was held by the Steinway piano used by John Lennon when composing "Imagine." It was auctioned in 2000 and purchased by pop star George Michael for $2.1 million (2.8 billion KRW).

The new owner of the 1973 Yamaha grand piano used by Mercury has not been disclosed.

About 1,400 of Mercury's cherished items were auctioned this time. These were possessions kept by Mary Austin, Mercury's lover and friend, for about 32 years after his death.

The handwritten sheet music of Bohemian Rhapsody by Mercury was sold for ?1,379,000 (approximately 2.3 billion KRW). There were traces showing that the song title was initially written as "Mongolian Rhapsody" but was crossed out and corrected to Bohemian.

Freddie Mercury's grand piano exhibited in London on the 3rd of last month.
[Photo by AP]

Many expressed sorrow over Mercury's belongings being scattered through the auction.

Brian May, Queen's guitarist, posted on Instagram, "I cannot bear to watch Freddie's most personal possessions, which we shared for years, being auctioned tomorrow and sold to the highest bidder, scattering forever," and said he would not attend the auction.

Fans also said, "It's unfortunate that the belongings cannot be displayed in a museum where we can all see them. They will all disappear."

The total proceeds from this six-day auction are expected to reach ?11 million (18.3249 billion KRW).

After the auction concludes, Austin plans to donate part of the proceeds to the Mercury Phoenix Trust and the Elton John AIDS Foundation, but the amount of the donation has not been decided.

Queen was formed in 1971. Mercury was responsible for lyrics, composition, vocals, and was the frontman. Queen left behind numerous hit songs such as "We Are the Champions," "Bohemian Rhapsody," and "Love of My Life."

Mercury died on November 24, 1991, after revealing to fans that he had contracted AIDS.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.