Freddie Mercury’s piano revealed as star lot at London auction

The baby grand piano belonging to “Queen” frontman Freddie Mercury has been unveiled as the central lot in a new auction held at Sotheby’s in London.

Bought in 1975 and imported to England from Japan, Mercury’s Yamaha G2 is estimated to fetch between £2-£3 million ($2.5-$3.8 million) when it goes under the hammer in September. It was the instrument he used to compose the seminal track “Bohemian Rhapsody” that same year.

So cherished was the piano, Mercury’s longtime partner Mary Austin recalls the songwriter saw it as an extension of himself and kept it in immaculate condition. “He would never smoke at the piano or rest a glass on top of it, and would ensure nobody else did either,” said Austin in a Sotheby’s press release.

The instrument reportedly traveled from apartment to apartment with the “Queen” star, until his final resting place at Garden Lodge in West London where Mercury died in 1991. It was at this flat where the piano took pride of place, in a sunbathed spot in the musician’s drawing room.

Alongside the piano, Sotheby’s will be auctioning a series of Mercury’s personal items and clothes. Lots range from the historic silver sequined catsuit worn on the “News of the World” tour in the late 1970’s to more everyday items owned by the artist, such as a collection of chopsticks or a Sony D-50 compact disc player.

Also included is a previously unseen early draft of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” expected to fetch between £800,000 and £1.2 million ($995,000 to $1.5 million) in auction. The handwritten sheet of lyrics include a series of markings and annotations that suggest the song was once ideated as “Mongolian Rhapsody.”

Mercury’s hallowed piano will be on display at Sotheby’s from August 4 until September 5, where visitors can see the instrument in person along with 1,200 other lots that span from his early school life to the height of fame.

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