He then composed countless Queen hits: Freddie Mercury’s piano was auctioned for two million euros. And other cult objects have also come under the hammer for record sums.
It is one of the highlights in the fund of the late Queen frontman Freddie Mercury: The support wing, a Yamaha G2 Baby Grand, was auctioned for 1.74 million pounds – the equivalent of two million euros – in London on Wednesday.
In all, the auction of the first 59 items raised more than £12m. The response to the first of a total of six auction rounds was great: 2,000 bidders from 61 countries registered with the traditional auction house Sotheby’s.
Mercury bought the black Yamaha grand piano in 1975 for a thousand pounds. The rock musician composed almost his entire work on it. However, the amount raised remained below Sotheby’s previously published estimate of £2m to £3m.
Piece of jewelery reaches a hundred times the estimated price
The prelude was a supposedly bulky object, the front door to the “Garden Lodge”, Mercury’s property in London. This went, including fees, for the equivalent of 480,000 euros – after a 20-minute bidding war.
Record offers hailed for treasures from the “Bohemian Rhapsody” era: Among other things, a silver bracelet was offered that Mercury had worn in the corresponding music video. Sotheby’s asked at least £7,000 for it. It was worth hundreds of thousands to interested parties: the highest bid was ultimately more than 810,000 euros.
Mercury had once worn the silver bracelet in the form of a snake with an ivory-white catsuit.
According to Sotheby’s, a piece of jewelery belonging to a rock star has never been paid for more at auction. The previous record holder was a talisman from Beatle John Lennon, which changed hands in 2008 for £295,000.
handwritten Lyrics brings 1.6 million euros
It got even more personal with Mercury’s handwritten lyrics. It was an “incredible privilege,” said auctioneer Oliver Barker, as he presented the handwritten draft of the rock classic “Bohemian Rhapsody” at a minimum bid of £500,000. After just a few minutes, the million mark was reached. In the end, including fees, it was the equivalent of 1.6 million euros.
Auctioneer Barker called the 15-page “Bohemian Rhapsody” manuscript, made up of pencil and pen notes, a “modern cultural icon”. It also shows that the title was originally intended to be “Mongolian Rhapsody”.
Other song manuscripts such as “Somebody to love” brought around 280,000 euros, for the Queen anthem “We are the champions” there were 370,000 euros.
Auction is for charity purposes
By next Wednesday, more of the 1,400 cult objects from the British singer’s estate are to go under the hammer at Sotheby’s. In addition to the piano and the song manuscripts, there is a lavish pool of stage outfits and works of art to choose from.
The pieces had previously been on display at an exhibition, including the famous crown and royal mantle worn by Mercury on stage during the 1986 Live Magic tour.
The items were sold by Mercury’s close friend Mary Austin, to whom he left his home and all his belongings after his death in 1991. The singer died at the age of 45 from pneumonia after contracting AIDS. A portion of the proceeds will go to charities.
With information from Annouk Schollähn, ARD London.