2023-09-15 13:43:12
The estate of the legendary British rock singer Freddie Mercury brought in a total of 40 million pounds (46.51 million euros) at an auction lasting several days. All 1,406 lots had been sold and more than the maximum estimated value was paid for almost all of them, the auction house Sotheby’s announced on Friday in London. For example, Mercury’s mustache comb only fell at 152,000 pounds – it had previously been valued at 400 pounds.
The most expensive single item in the auction lasting several days was a baby grand piano, the Yamaha G2 Baby Grand, at 1.74 million pounds, on which the Queen frontman, who died in 1991, composed the rock classic “Bohemian Rhapsody” and many other songs. However, in this case the highest bid remained below the original estimate. A note with Mercury’s handwritten draft lyrics to “Bohemian Rhapsody” fetched £1.38 million. The auction opened spectacularly on September 6th with the entrance door to Mercury’s home scrawled by pilgrim fans – estimated price: up to 25,000 pounds, sales proceeds: 412,750 pounds. Not only musical memorabilia such as instruments, drafts of song lyrics and stage costumes went under the hammer, the rich collection of paintings, art objects and furniture also found new lovers.
The treasures came from Mercury’s London private home in Kensington, the “Garden Lodge”. The singer left the property to his long-time girlfriend Mary Austin (72), who has now separated from almost everything. Part of the proceeds should go to charitable foundations. But not everyone was enthusiastic regarding the auction: Queen guitarist Brian May (76) had criticized the fact that “the most intimate personal items and writings” were being auctioned off and “scattered forever”.
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