Fifty years after it entered the official British rankings – the UK Singles Chart -, “bohemian rhapsody” She returned to the center of the scene thanks to the personal stories that surrounded her, according to an extensive interview with Peter Freestonethe personal assistant who accompanied him Freddie Mercury During the last years of his life.
The six-minute piece, which has sold more than six million copies worldwide, reached the top of the charts in November 1975 I stayed there for nine weeks queen He was on tour.
Freestone, who was a close friend, housemate and personal assistant to the musician for 12 years, provided unpublished details about the song’s genesis and reception. “For most people, if you mention Queen, the first thing they say is Bohemian Rhapsody.”Freestone said in an interview with the media The sun.
The band made a quick video of the show,” Freestone recounted.Top of the pops“, Filming was done in just four hours At Elstree Studios on a budget of around £4,000.
Article It was first broadcast on the BBC on 20 November 1975.. According to Friston, the visual piece was “groundbreaking for its time” and took aesthetic influences from series such as “Doctor Who.” He explained that the filming responded to the need for television support while the band was unable to perform live due to the tour.
The former assistant described the contrast between the song’s pitching and Mercury’s stage fright: “He was afraid every time she touched him. I didn’t enjoy performing it live because there’s only a piano section; “He was afraid he would make a mistake and everyone would laugh.”
Freestone added that on one occasion, during his tour of Canada in the 1980s, The song’s removal from the repertoire sparked public outrageSo they had to add it again the next night.
The Humanity of Freestone and Mercury: The Intimate Story Behind the ‘Bohemian Odyssey’
Regarding the origin and structure of the subject, Friston explained it indirectly “bohemian rhapsody“It arose from the fusion of many incomplete ideas that resided in Mercury’s head. As he detailed, the band decided to package “three songs into one,” a move that Freestone described as a “genius move.”
The meaning of words sustains public and academic debate. In 2015, lyricist Sir Tim Rice Confirm it The song represents Mercury’s “coming out.”This is the interpretation from which Friston distanced himself.
Freston pointed to the social context of the singer’s youth, in which homosexuality was illegal until the 1960s, and emphasized that despite the explicit readings, For Mercury, the songs were essentially “about love, both finding it and losing it.”.
Figures from the band itself and the music world also offered reviews. Guitarist Brian May He interpreted the importance of the subject matter as being inextinguishable: “I think Bohemian Rhapsody is something you never get tired of,” May said.
Your compatriot Roger Taylor A reappearance of the theme has accompanied recent events, such as the performance with orchestra and choir in the “Last Night of the Concerts”.
Freestone also contributed recollections of his own life with Mercury.: He listed household routines, hobbies, and celebratory episodes, such as the night Mercury was found in a container after a fight in which his drink had been spiked.
at the moment, Friston lives in the Czech Republic and runs an AIDS foundation. He concluded by saying: “I am proud that one of his great works, Bohemian Rhapsody, maintains its legacy after half a century.”
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