Never one to back down from a challenge, Freddie Mercury’s champion status stands alone, and a piece of that history is now heading to auction via Propstore.
The legendary Queen singer crafted some of his band’s biggest hits on a Yamaha C3 Grand Piano, just a singular part of an extensive offering of Freddie Mercury and music-related memorabilia set to go under the hammer at live auction via Propstore in London this October.
The piano and other foundational pieces of music history hail from famed Queen producer Reinhold Mack and Mack’s son, Freddie Jr. Notably, the elegant instrument stands out distinctively as the only piano onsite at Munich’s Musicland Studios, and was also used by the likes of The Rolling Stones.
As Sotheby’s has noted in the past, the piano at large was an utterly formative part of Mercury’s work: Another Yamaha baby grand piano treasured by the artist was the end result of the singer’s search for “the perfect piano,” the auction house noted. “The success of the band’s first three albums, each of which showcased increasingly complex musical ideas, meant Freddie’s musical ambitions were fast outgrowing his trusty old upright piano,” Sotheby’s said.
Of the forthcoming auction of the Yamaha C3 grand piano, Propstore notes that “Freddie Mercury was among the piano’s most prolific users, with the instrument being his foundational songwriting tool.” The auction also includes the likes of an AKG C414 EB microphone from Musicland Studios, plus a selection of handwritten Mercury lyrics from his debut solo album. The Yamaha baby grand piano used by Mercury to craft “Bohemian Rhapsody” also sold for $2.2 million as recently as 2023, as noted by CNN, while this particular Yamaha C3 grand piano was used to craft another Queen hit, “Crazy Little Thing Called Love.”
As Robb Report notes, the iconic piano could fetch as much as $528,000 at auction, while the refined instrument is “considered to be one of the most important Mercury-related pieces to hit the block since a 2023 sale of his personal items.” A chance at securing a piece of musical history awaits, as Propstore notes the piano itself “stands among the most significant recording pianos ever to come to auction.” Find out more online via the auction house now.