Queen Official YouTube: 50 years after its release on 31st October 1975, Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody remains the definition of an all-time classic, still growing in power and stature as it sweeps through successive decades, captivating new generations of fans. Reissued earlier this month on blue vinyl to mark its half century the single immediately returned the song to the No.1 spot on the UK charts.
“The song continues to resonate,” says Brian May in an earlier episode of the new series of Queen The Greatest, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Bohemian Rhapsody and the clear-vinyl reissue of A Night At The Opera. “We go on stage and play it at the Albert Hall, with a full orchestra and 150-piece choir, and it’s fresh as a daisy. It’s new and exciting, and the reaction you get from people is just amazing.”
In modern times, with almost 3 billion Spotify streams, the original studio version of Bohemian Rhapsody remains at the heart of popular culture. Now, this latest episode of Queen The Greatest, takes a closer look at how this timeless anthem has evolved on the stage, sharing archive live footage from iconic Queen performances representing each of the past five decades.
The curtain goes up at the Hammersmith Odeon in December 1975, with historic first ever filmed footage of a silk-suited Freddie Mercury presenting the song that was then enjoying a nine-week run at UK#1. With the song in its infancy and its complexity, Freddie performs just a segment from the song as part of a medley as a full version was yet to be incorporated into their show. It would take until the bands 1977 US tour before Bohemian Rhapsody would be performed live virtually in its entirety.
A cut to the historic Live Aid benefit concert of July 13 1985, finds Freddie poised at the piano, Pepsi cups balanced precariously on the lid, performing the song as the opening salvo of the band’s historic 21-minute set , treating the London Wembley Stadium and one and a half billion strong worldwide audience to the performance that is forever acknowledged as truly having stolen the show. It would be faithfully recreated some thirty years later for the band’s Bohemian Rhapsody film which would go on to become the highest grossing music biopic of all time.
As Bohemian Rhapsody segues from its wistful piano intro to the ‘Galileo’ call-and-response and hard-rock headbang sections, we fast-forward to the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert of 1992, where a twirling and energetic guest vocalist Axl Rose who had joined Queen and Elton for a performance of the song in honouring Freddie, whips Wembley’s human sea into hysteria.
Underlining Bohemian Rhapsody’s capacity for reinterpretation, the episode skips onward to November 2003’s inaugural 46664 concert in Cape Town, South Africa, where Brian and Roger join the Soweto Gospel Choir to honour Nelson Mandela while raising funds for the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Finally, as Bohemian Rhapsody reaches its plaintive denouement – ‘Nothing really matters’ – we join the Adam Lambert-fronted lineup of modern times for 2014’s New Year’s Eve concert in the shadow of London’s Big Ben. And as Freddie duets with the band via projected archive footage, this living, breathing rock classic is brought full circle. “It will always be there, I think, Bohemian Rhapsody,” says Brian. “It’s truly immortal and that’s a good feeling.”
The current series of Queen The Greatest continues weekly through to the end of November. Stay tuned for more exclusive interviews – and order the limited-edition crystal-clear vinyl reissue of A Night At The Opera HERE.
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