Bohemian Rhapsody Facts for Kids

"Bohemian Rhapsody" is a super famous song by the British rock band Queen. Freddie Mercury wrote this amazing song for their 1975 album, A Night at the Opera. It's a long song, almost six minutes, and it's special because it doesn't have a normal repeated chorus. Instead, it has many different parts: a slow start, a gentle ballad, an exciting opera section, a loud hard rock part, and a calm ending. "Bohemian Rhapsody" was one of the first songs from the 1970s progressive rock style to become popular with everyone, not just rock fans.

"Bohemian Rhapsody" became a huge hit! It was the number one song in the UK Singles Chart for nine weeks. By early 1976, it had sold over a million copies. Then, in 1991, after Freddie Mercury passed away, the song became number one again for five more weeks. This made it the UK's third best-selling single of all time. It's also the only song by the same artist to be the UK Christmas number one twice!

The song was also number one in many other countries. These included Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and the Netherlands. It has sold over six million copies around the world, making it one of the best-selling singles ever. In the United States, it reached number nine in 1976. But it became even more popular in 1992, reaching number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. This happened after it was featured in the movie Wayne's World. In 2018, the movie Bohemian Rhapsody about the band Queen came out. This made the song popular all over the world again!

What Makes "Bohemian Rhapsody" Special?
Who Played on the Song?
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What Makes "Bohemian Rhapsody" Special?

Even though some people weren't sure about the song at first, "Bohemian Rhapsody" is now Queen's most loved song. Many people think it's one of the greatest rock songs ever made. The song also came with a truly amazing promotional video. The magazine Rolling Stone said that this video was so important, it "practically invented the music video" seven years before MTV even started! The Guardian newspaper said its music video was one of the 50 most important moments in rock music history. It showed how important videos could be for sharing music.

In 2004, "Bohemian Rhapsody" was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame. This means it's a very important and classic song. It has appeared on many lists of the greatest songs in popular music. Readers of Rolling Stone even voted Freddie Mercury's singing in this song as the best in rock history! In December 2018, it became the most streamed song from the 20th century. It has been downloaded or streamed over 1.6 billion times!

Who Played on the Song?

Here are the talented musicians who played on "Bohemian Rhapsody":

Freddie Mercury – He sang the main parts and backing vocals. He also played the piano and sang the middle opera parts.
Brian May – He played the electric guitar and sang the low opera parts.
Roger Taylor – He played the drums, timpani, and gong. He also sang the high opera parts.
John Deacon – He played the bass guitar.

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Recording track sheet (replica)
One of Side-A labels of the US single release
The Queen Extravaganza performing the song at the Fox Theatre, Detroit in 2012
Robbie Williams on stage in Poland in 2015 performing the song with the Queen image in the background
From left to right: Deacon, Taylor and May in concert in Hanover in 1979. Behind the drum kit is the tam-tam used at the end of "Bohemian Rhapsody".
Footage of Mercury singing "Magnifico" in the operatic section of the "Bohemian Rhapsody" music video during a Queen + Adam Lambert concert at the United Center, Chicago, June 2014.

Bohemian Rhapsody facts for kids

Contents

What Makes "Bohemian Rhapsody" Special?

Who Played on the Song?

Images for kids

See also