Freddie Mercury’s piano has sold at auction for $2.2 million. The instrument he used to compose Queen hits including ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ went under the hammer at Sotheby’s in London this week.
It was part of an auction of the late singer’s possessions – with the Yamaha baby grand as the star lot – but despite raising millions, the final price fell short of earlier estimates that it could sell for between $2.5 million and $3.8 million.
Other items sold included handwritten lyrics for ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ – with the original working title of the song ‘Mongolian Rhapsody’ – which fetched $1.7 million. Another key lot was a Cartier onyx and diamond ring given to Freddie Mercury by his friend Sir Elton John, who sent a letter to the auctioneers to be read out before the sale.
In the letter, Sir Elton said: “I miss Freddie to this day. He was a wonderful friend, more full of love and life than anyone I’ve ever met”.
The ring fetched $339,000 – nearly 70 times its estimated sale price. Another piece of jewellery that went under the hammer was the snake bracelet worn by the singer in the music video for ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, which sold for $870,000.
Freddie Mercury left all his possessions to his close friend Mary Austin after he died of complications from AIDS in 1991. She is now selling them in a series of six auctions, with part of the proceeds going to the Mercury Phoenix Trust and the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
Explaining why she finally decided to sell the items more than 30 years after Freddie’s death, Mary Austin said in a statement released by Sotheby’s: “For many years now I have had the joy and privilege of living surrounded by all the wonderful things that Freddie sought out and loved so much”.
She continued, “But the years have passed and the time has come for me to make the difficult decision to close this very special chapter in my life. It was important to me to do this in a way that I felt Freddie would have loved, and there was nothing he loved more than an auction. Freddie was an incredible and intelligent collector who showed us that there is beauty, fun and conversation in everything.
