Freddie Mercury’s Personal Items Sell for $50.4M at Auction — Including $189,000 for Tiffany Moustache Comb
1,400 of the former Queen frontman's possessions went under the hammer at Sotheby's London
Freddie Mercury’s personal items have fetched a huge $50.4 million at auction.
On Friday, Sotheby’s — who auctioned off 1,400 of the late singer’s possessions — announced the auction’s impressive total in a press release.
Items that went under the hammer included Mercury’s Yahama grand piano and a silver Tiffany & Co moustache comb, which sold for $189,000, greatly surpassing its pre-auction estimate of $500 to $750.
Mercury’s piano sold for $2.2 million, a record for a composer’s piano, according to Sotheby’s. However, the auction house had initially predicted that it would fetch between $2.5 million to $3.8 million.
The former Queen frontman’s instrument was used to compose many of the band’s biggest hits, including "Bohemian Rhapsody,” and the handwritten lyrics for the song also fetched a whopping $1.7 million. The 13-page item included the track’s working title, "Mongolian Rhapsody," and alternate lines and lyrics.
Related: Freddie Mercury's Personal Notes Show Iconic Queen Song Was First Called 'Mongolian Rhapsody'
Meanwhile, the silver snake bangle worn by Mercury in the music video for "Bohemian Rhapsody” in 1975 sold for $881,717 — a record for a piece of jewelry belonging to a rockstar, according to Sotheby’s.
A rare surviving school book, signed Frederick Bulsara on the front, also fetched $88,786. Mercury was born Farrokh Bulsara in Zanzibar in 1946.
The items were part of Sotheby’s “Freddie Mercury: A World of His Own” exhibition, which was held in London over a month and featured six days of auctions.
Related: Queen Releases 'Very Passionate' Unheard Song 'Face It Alone' Featuring Freddie Mercury's Vocals
Nearly 42,000 bids were placed across the six days from bidders from 76 countries for the never-before-seen private possessions.
“It’s hard to put into words just how special working on Freddie Mercury’s collection has been,” David MacDonald, Head of Single Owner Sales at Sotheby’s London, said per the release.
“To be able to see first hand, via all the beautiful things he loved and lived with, Freddie in the round, to be able to share that with so many fans and admirers around the world — there’s nothing that comes close. So many magical moments, and so many magical objects - but perhaps the one that cast the strongest spell was Freddie’s silver moustache comb. I mean — how else to tend the most famous moustache in the world? It had to be silver, and it had to be Tiffany. And for one determined buyer, it had to be theirs," MacDonald continued.
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Mercury left all of his possessions to his first love and close friend, Mary Austin. In April, Austin, who cared for the items for more than 30 years at Mercury's former Garden Lodge home in Kensington, London, revealed why it was time to let the possessions go.
"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. But the years have passed, and the time has come for me to take the difficult decision to close this very special chapter in my life," Austin said in a Sotheby's press release.
"It was important to me to do this in a way that I felt Freddie would have loved, and there was nothing he loved more than an auction. Freddie was an incredible and intelligent collector who showed us that there is beauty and fun and conversation to be found in everything."
"I hope this will be an opportunity to share all the many facets of Freddie, both public and private, and for the world to understand more about, and celebrate, his unique and beautiful spirit," she added.
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