Written by Freddie Mercury for the band’s 1975 album A Night at the Opera. It is a six-minute suite, consisting of several sections without a chorus: an intro, a ballad segment, an operatic passage, a hard rock part and a reflective coda.
The song is a more accessible take on the 1970s progressive rock genre. It was reportedly the most expensive single ever made at the time of its release, although the exact cost of production cannot be determined.
When it was released as a single, “Bohemian Rhapsody” became a commercial success, staying at the top of the UK Singles Chart for nine weeks and selling more than a million copies by the end of January 1976.
It reached number one again in 1991 for another five weeks when the same version was re-released following Freddie’s death, eventually becoming the UK’s third-best-selling single of all time.
It is also the only song to be the UK Christmas number one twice by the same artist. It topped the charts in several other markets as well, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and The Netherlands, later becoming one of the best-selling singles of all time selling over 6 million copies worldwide. In the United States, the song originally peaked at number nine in 1976.
It returned to the chart at number two in 1992, and also appeared in the film Wayne’s World, which contributed to the revival of its American popularity.
Although critical reaction was initially mixed, “Bohemian Rhapsody” remains one of Queen’s most popular songs and is frequently considered one of the greatest rock songs of all time.
The single was accompanied by a promotional video, which many scholars consider ground-breaking. Rolling Stone stated that its influence can’t be overstated, practically inventing the music video seven years before MTV went on the air.
The Guardian ranked the music video number 31 on their list of the 50 key events in rock music history, adding it ensured videos would be a mandatory tool in the marketing of music.
In 2004, Bohemian Rhapsody was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2012, the song topped the list on an ITV nationwide poll in the UK to find “The Nation’s Favourite Number One” over 60 years of music, while Mercury’s vocal performance was chosen as the greatest in rock history by readers of Rolling Stone.
For more details about the song, please see addition information on Wikipedia.
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- Queen - The Works - EX - UK - vinyl LP - £15.00, $19.95, €17.55 (New Item) (arrived 01-Dec-2021 14:37)
QUEEN The Works (1984 UK 9-trackvinyl LP including Radio Ga Ga and I Want To Break Free. The picture sleeve has some age foxing, shelfwear and a small area of residual sticker wear to the front but comes with the lyric inner while the vinyl remains in excellent condition WORK1)
- Queen - Backchat + P/S - UK - 7" vinyl - £12.00, $15.96, €14.04 (New Item) (arrived 17-Nov-2021 14:31)
QUEEN Backchat (1982 UK 7" vinyl single with an intact four prong centre, also including Staying Power, paper picture sleeve. The sleeve displays only light signs of wear whilst the vinyl remains Excellent with only light cosmetic surface marks EMI5325)
- Queen - Queen II - Dutch - vinyl LP - £35.00, $46.55, €40.95 (New Item) (arrived 16-Nov-2021 16:12)
QUEEN Queen II (Rare 1974 Dutch 11-track vinyl LP housed in a glossy gatefold picture sleeve. The sleeve shows minimal shelfwear whilst the vinyl appears barely played 1A062-95186)
- Queen - At The Beeb - EX - UK - vinyl LP - £55.00, $73.15, €64.35 (New Item) (arrived 17-Nov-2021 10:23)
QUEEN At The Beeb (Original 1989 UK Band Of Joy label issue 8-track LP, featuring recordings for BBC radio made in February [prior to the band signing with EMI] and December 1973, housed in a picture sleeve featuring an early photograph of theband with notes on the sessions printed on the reverse. This was later issued by Hollywood Records in the USA on vinyl picture disc LP & CD and sounded slightly different due to remastering. The sleeve has only a little light storage wear andthe vinyl has minimal signs of play, overall an excellent example BOJLP001)
- Queen - Innuendo - EX - UK - vinyl LP - £85.00, $113.05, €99.45 (New Item) (arrived 17-Nov-2021 10:33)
QUEEN Innuendo (1991 UK 12-track LP, the fourteenth studio album by the British rock band featuring four songs specially edited for the vinyl edition - I'm Going Slightly Mad, Don't Try So Hard, The Hitman & Bijou, spot lacquered picture sleeve with illustrated lyric inner. The sleeve shows light general wear with what appears to be an extra (2mm) chunk of card to the top edge (manufacturing fault?), whlist the vinyl has just a few light cosmetic marks and few other signs of play. A superb example of this classic 90s vinyl pressing PCSD115)
- Queen - A Night At The Opera - White Vinyl - French - vinyl LP - £150.00, $199.50, €175.50 (New Item) (arrived 17-Nov-2021 10:36)
QUEEN A Night At The Opera (Limited Edition 1976 French Pathe Marconi/EMI label 12-track LP pressed exclusively on White Vinyl, housed in its gatefold lyric picture sleeve with the large 'Special Disque En Couleur' colour sticker attached. The cover has some light foxing otherwise light wear with no spilts or rips, the labels have little to no spindle marks whilst the vinyl appears barely played. Recommended DC10)
- Queen - I Want To Break Free - John Deacon - UK - 7" vinyl - £25.00, $33.25, €29.25 (New Item) (arrived 17-Nov-2021 13:07)
QUEEN I Want To Break Free (1984 UK 7" single with an intact four prong centre, also includes Machines Or Back To Humans, housed in the 'John Deacon' picture sleeve. The sleeve displays some light wear mostly to the edges and the vinyl looks barely played QUEEN2)
- Queen - Save Me - Picture Sleeve - UK - 7" vinyl - £8.00, $10.64, €9.36 (New Item) (arrived 17-Nov-2021 13:41)
QUEEN Save Me (1980 UK 7" vinyl single with intact four prong centre, also including Let Me Entertain You, card picture sleeve EMI5022)
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