The sale of rock history Wednesday night in London saw nearly 140,000 fans pass through the doors of luxury auctioneers Sotheby’s to see the exhibit on display before the hammer dropped.
Twp prime items up for auction were Freddie Mercury's handwritten drafts for Queen's legendary hit Bohemian Rhapsody and that famous‘ Green Door’.
The robust sale began with the green door to Garden Lodge, the 'gateway' to Freddie’s private life. Scribbled with messages from devoted fans, it inspired a fifteen-minute bidding battle, eventually selling for £412,750.
#AuctionUpdate And we're off! After a 15-minute bidding battle, The Garden Lodge Door soars to £412k, more than 25x its estimate pic.twitter.com/V1a2DR5Zrn
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) September 6, 2023
The handwritten drafts for Bohemian Rhapsody sold for more than £1.3m.
“Written on paper for the now-defunct airline British Midland, the 15-page manuscript shows the different directions the singer considered for the band's six-minute epic. It shows how the superstar considered naming the song "Mongolian Rhapsody" in favor of "Bohemian".
Click on the link below for a complete report.
The first night of the #TheWorldofFreddieMercury auction series saw bidders from 61 countries drive 93% of lots over their estimate, with Bohemian Rhapsody lyrics and Freddie's Yamaha piano leading the sale.
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) September 6, 2023
Read more: https://t.co/8hU3uaiB5f
The items were put up for auction by Mercury's close friend, Mary Austin.
Mercury left his Kensington home and all his possessions to her when he died of AIDS-related pneumonia in 1991, at the age of 45.
