Freddie Mercury’s Never-Before-Seen Personal Belongings Are Coming to Auction
The private collection of the late Freddie Mercury is coming to auction this fall, Sotheby’s revealed on April 26.
The never-before-seen collection, which Mercury kept at his home in Kensington, London, includes around 1,500 items ranging from stage costumes, handwritten song lyrics, artwork and personal belongings.
“For many years now, I have had the joy and privilege of living surrounded by all the wonderful things that Freddie sought out and so loved,” said Mercury’s friend Mary Austin, who has looked after the items for the past 30 years, in a statement. “It was important for me to do this in a way that I felt Freddie would have loved, and there was nothing he loved more than an auction.”
Draft song lyrics to be unveiled for the first time
Mercury’s nine-page manuscript of working lyrics to “We Are the Champions,” released by Queen in 1977, is estimated to sell for £300,000 ($374,000), while his handwritten lyrics to the 1974 song “Killer Queen” has an estimate of £70,000 ($87,000).
A velvet cape and replica crown of the St. Edward’s crown to be worn by King Charles III during his upcoming coronation are also coming to auction with an estimate of £80,000 ($99,000). The costume was worn by Mercury during his last tour with Queen in 1986.
The auction items will include Mercury’s 1975 Martin D-35 Acoustic Guitar, believed to have been used to record “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” in 1979, in addition to a miniature Tiffany & Co. silver mustache comb and a military-style ceremonial jacket created for Mercury’s 39th birthday party in 1985.
The art collection of Mercury, who studied Graphic Art and Design at Ealing Art School in the 1960s, will also be sold by Sotheby’s. James Jacques Tissot’s 1880 Type of Beauty painting, which hung in Mercury’s drawing room and was the last work he bought, is expected to sell for £600,000 ($748,000).
Mercury’s collection will be sold in six auctions by Sotheby’s in London, led by a sale dedicated to the most significant works. Subsequent sales will focus on items used or worn by Mercury on stage, personal belongings from his life at home, works from Japan and two sales dedicated to “crazy little things”—various eclectic objects collected by Mercury.
Prior to the auctions, the late Queen singer’s items will be shown in a month-long exhibition in London after touring New York, Los Angeles and Hong Kong in June.
“Fittingly lavish in scale, the auction will bring together the expertise of specialists from 30 different collecting categories, and see exhibitions held in four locations across three continents—all culminating in the longest, most spectacular, public exhibition in our company history,” said Oliver Barker, chairman of Sotheby’s Europe. “How else could we celebrate the legend that is Freddie Mercury?”
The sales will also be accompanied by the release of a limited-edition book detailing Mercury’s life and his collection, and a portion of the proceeds from the auctions will benefit the Mercury Phoenix Trust and the Elton John Aids Foundation, both of which fight to combat HIV and AIDs worldwide.