The piano that Freddie Mercury used to compose “Bohemian Rhapsody” was just sold for $2.2 million on Wednesday as part of Sotheby’s 1,500-piece estate sale of the singer’s treasured possessions.
According to Rolling Stone Magazine, “His collection, which Mercury once described as ‘exquisite clutter,’ included handwritten lyrics for Queen’s operatic anthem that sold for $1.7 million. Notably, the 15 pages of lyrics — written on stationary for a defunct airline — reveal that the song was nearly titled ‘Mongolian Rhapsody’ before the singer crossed it out and replaced it with the similarly syllabic ‘Bohemian.’ Additional items tied to ‘Rhapsody’ sold at a premium on Wednesday. A gold Cartier brooch the band’s manager gifted each member after the song hit number one and branded with the words ‘Queen number 1’ went for $208,000, while the silver snake bangle the frontman wore in the music video was auctioned for $881,717 — setting a record high for a piece of jewelry once owned by a rock star, according to Sotheby’s.”
Many more items were sold but the craziest for sure was Mercury’s piano selling at so high a price, the Yamaha Grand piano even surpassed the amount paid for John Lennon’s Steinway which sold for $2.1 million. His whole estate was sold with so many treasures from Queen and Mercury himself.