Queen shook the music world 50 years ago with their creativity bohemian rhapsody.
Number one in the UK for nine weeks between November 1975 and January 1976, it was an epic that transformed the group into international stars and household names.
It is the third best-selling single in British history to date Strike! He reaches No. 1 in 2024 with the 40-year-old Last Christmaswas the only Christmas song to reach number one twice in the UK in its original form.
It still is, if you don’t count the flow. However, it is the most streamed song in Britain released in the 1970s, and by September 2025, it had accumulated over 4.4 billion plays globally.
Queen guitarist Brian May reflects on how Freddie would be celebrating if he were alive today.
He smiles and says, “I think maybe he’ll open a bottle of Cristal. He’ll be very, very happy, and I can see this kind of evil smile on his face, like, yeah, we did it after all, right?”
“Bohemian Rhapsody” was first released during the economic downturn of the mid-1970s, a time of high inflation, energy crises, and industrial unrest. The UK, described as “the sick man of Europe”, was crying out for a little theatrical escapism. But Quinn is still surprised by its impact.
“We thought this would be a great track for our new album [A Night at the Opera]Brian stated, adding, “Which we hope will save us, because we are heavily in debt and in a very bad position as far as management is concerned.”
“We definitely weren’t thinking about the songs being No. 1, we just felt like it was the best song on the album,” Taylor adds. “It was the most interesting and unusual thing.”
“When times are tough, music can really save you and lift your spirits. I’ve received a lot of letters over the years saying one of our songs lifted people out of depression and gave them a new sense of purpose,” Brian revealed.
“So maybe it was a good time for that bohemian rhapsody. It’s a mystery, and I’m glad it’s a mystery, because no one really knows where “Bohemian Rhapsody” came from. No one could have predicted that it would fall on the ears of the common people at that moment and have such an amazing impact. “So I think ‘Rhapsody’ would have done well anytime, but it was certainly well-timed in terms of the way people felt,” he added.
“It’s true now, there’s a lot of despair too,” Brian May concluded. “When I look at the wars going on again, I think, well, maybe I should do something about it. Then I think, Brian, just keep doing what you can do. You can’t solve every problem. So I’ll still be a musician.”