The assets of the Queen legend were auctioned in London on Wednesday.
The property of Freddie Mercury, who died of AIDS in 1991, was sold at a Sothesby’s auction. A picture from Queen’s concert in Hyde Park in 1976. PDO
The Yamaha grand piano, at which Queen’s late singer Freddie Mercury once composed the band’s biggest hits, was sold for a million dollars at an auction in London on Wednesday. The price of the instrument was 1,742,000 pounds (approx. 2 million euros), which was the highest selling price at the auction.
Mercury had acquired a grand piano for himself in 1975 after searching for six months for “the ideal instrument to bring his compositions to life”. A record 2,000 bidders from 61 countries submitted their offers for the grand piano.
The second most expensive single item was Bohemian Rhapsody -the original draft of the song, which fetched 1,379,000 pounds (approx. 1.6 million euros).
The story continues after the picture.
It was at this grand piano that Mercury composed Queen’s unforgettable hits. More than 2 million euros were paid for the instrument. PDO
Part of the proceeds from the auction will be donated to the Mercury Phoenix Trust and the Elton John Aids Foundation, whose activities focus on the fight against AIDS. Mercury died of AIDS in 1991.
– I miss Freddie to this day. “He was a wonderful friend, more full of love and life than anyone I’ve ever met, and a brilliant performer whose music has inspired and inspired millions of people,” Elton John said in a letter read at the start of the auction.
The auction began with the sale of the front door of Mercury’s Garden Lodge home. The auction house Sothesby’s had estimated before the auction that the price of the door would range from 15,000 to 25,000 pounds (17,500 to 29,100 euros), but in the end a whopping 412,000 pounds (480,000 euros) was paid for it.
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A handwritten sketch on the page of the airline’s calendar reveals that Bohemian Rhapsody was originally going to be called Mongolian Rhapsody. PDO
Mercury’s assets were sold Mary AustinMercury’s close friend and former fiancée, to whom the rock star bequeathed his fortune.
– Mary Austin has lived with and cared for the collection for over three decades, Sothesby’s book specialist Gabriel Heaton says news agency AFP.
Heaton says Mercury loved auctions, and the singer was a regular visitor to Sothesby’s auctions during his lifetime.
Austin believes Mercury would have loved this auction, Heaton adds.
The story continues after the picture.
Freddie Mercury and Mary Austin at Mercury’s 38th birthday in 1985. PDO
1,400 individual items belonging to Mercury were for sale at the auction. Among the items sold were the singer’s personal poetry book and his silver mustache comb. Mercury’s photo album of 265 pictures sold for £88,000 (€103,000).
Before the auction, the objects were displayed in the exhibition for a month. Public access to the exhibition was free.
Sothesby’s estimated in April that the total value of the objects to be sold would be at least 6 million pounds (7 million euros).