Fifty years ago, one of the it-bands of the moment Queen released a song that would change the music panorama. Bohemian Rhapsody broke all the schemes and became an unforgettable anthem.
Queen’s legendary hit Bohemian Rhapsody was released on October 31, 1975. It was the first single from their album A Night at the Opera. This is why BoRhap is considered one of the “most influential rock songs” due to its creative ambition and commercial success.
The band formed by superstar and music legend Freddie Mercury, guitarist genius Brian May, iconic drummer Roger Taylor, and unforgettable bassist John Deacon made history in 1975. In an era where disco and punk music began to rise, Queen had another idea in mind.
Mercury arrived at the studio with an innovative yet multifaceted project that many thought impossible. A 6-minute song that had no chorus, divided into three different acts and with an operatic ensemble. At first their label tried to cut it short because no radio business approved the song to tune it live due to its rarities. Thankfully, the band stuck to the first version of the song, which is what became history.
Furthermore, in December 2018, the Universal Music Group announced that “Bohemian Rhapsody, the iconic single by British rock legends Queen, officially became the world’s most-streamed song from the 20th Century, as well as the most-streamed Classic Rock song of all time”. The music franchise also admitted that “Bohemian Rhapsody is regularly cited as one of the greatest songs ever recorded. In 2004, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and Freddie Mercury’s vocal performance was named by the readers of Rolling Stone magazine as the best in rock history”.
Anniversary celebrations
After this huge milestone, some celebrations will take place. A new mini-series was launched on Queen’s official channel The Greatest. This production consists of a 5-part series that revolves around the creation process of the song and album.
In its first episode, Brian May and Roger Taylor talk about Bohemian Rhapsody’s composition. Moreover, they comment on Freddie’s ability to create such a unique piece of music. “You didn’t know where Freddie was coming from,” says Brian. “He comes in and goes ‘there’s this bit, and there’s another bit we’ll do, and there’s the operatic and then there’s another bit we will do.’ ‘Oh yeah, OK Freddie.’ And basically, you have two choices, either going ‘well we’re really not feeling it,’ which we sometimes would do, or we all dive in, and the whole Queen machine swings into action”, May and Taylor in their docuseries.
Furthermore, some special phisical reeditions were put out. A 12” transparent blue vynil with the legendary hit, joined by I’m In Love With My Car on its B side. Iconic bandmates May and Taylor also gave some live performances after the anniversary. They played an orchestral version of Bohemian Rhapsody at Last Night of the Proms 2025.
