We’ll explain everything but the meaning of “Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the fandango?”
British rock band Queen (clockwise from top: Brian May, Freddie Mercury, Roger Taylor and John Deacon pose for an Electra Records publicity still to promote their album ‘A Night at the Opera’ in 1975.
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” is turning 50. The epic single, which Queen front-man Freddie Mercury liked to call a “mock opera,” was recorded in late August and September 1975 and was released on Oct. 31, 1975.
The song has long been considered a classic. In October 1977, just two years after its release, it was named the best British single of the previous 25 years by the British Phonographic Industry. The song was voted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2004 and the National Recording Registry in 2022.
The song’s video surpassed one billion views on YouTube in July 2019, making it the oldest video to reach one billion on the platform. In 2021, the song was certified Diamond by the RIAA for combined digital sales/streams equal to 10 million units.It’s the only song from the 1970s to be certified Diamond.
Two of the principals on the recording are no longer with us. Mercury, who wrote the song; sang lead, backing and operatic vocals; and played piano on the track, died in 1991 at age 45. Roy Thomas Baker, who co-produced the track (and five Queen albums in the 1970s) died in April at age 78.
The other three band members are still alive and well: Brian May, who played electric guitar and sang operatic vocals on the track, is 78; Roger Taylor, who played drums, timpani and gong and sang operatic vocals, is 76; and John Deacon, who played bass guitar, is 74.
Here are 14 things to know about a classic single on the 50th anniversary of its release.
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“Bohemian Rhapsody” was Queen’s first top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.
Image Credit: Paul Natkin/Getty Images It reached No. 9 in April 1976. Queen had narrowly missed the top 10 when its breakthrough hit “Killer Queen” peaked at No. 12 in May 1975.
The strong showing for “Bohemian Rhapsody” came despite its unconventional style and its length (5:50). It was the longest song to make the top 10 since Elton John’s “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” (6:45) eight months earlier.
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The song topped the Official U.K. Singles Chart for nine weeks, the longest run in nearly 20 years.
“Bohemian Rhapsody” was Queen’s first No. 1 U.K. hit. “Killer Queen” had peaked at No. 2 in the band’s home country. Its nine-week run on top was the longest since Paul Anka’s “Diana” ruled the roost for nine weeks in 1957.
Improbably, “Bohemian Rhapsody,” with its opt-repeated phrase “mamma mia,” was replaced at No. 1 on the U.K. chart by ABBA’s “Mamma Mia.”
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Freddie Mercury wrote “Bohemian Rhapsody,” but it wasn’t his highest-charting Hot 100 hit.
Mercury also wrote the rockabilly-influenced “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” which in 1980 became the band’s first No. 1 hit. Mercury was also the sole credited author of “We Are the Champions” (No. 4) and three songs that just missed the top 10: “Body Language” (No. 11), “Killer Queen” (No. 12) and “Somebody to Love” (No. 13).
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The song brought Queen its first two Grammy nods, though they didn’t win either one.
Queen was nominated forbest pop vocal performance by a duo, group or chorus, but lost to Chicago’s “If You Leave Me Now.” Queen was also nominated for best arrangement for voices (duo, group or chorus) but lost to Starland Vocal Band’s “Afternoon Delight.”
These losses may seem like head-scratchers today, but here’s some historical context: Both “If You Leave Me Now” and “Afternoon Delight” had been No. 1 hits on the Hot 100. As noted, “Bohemian Rhapsody” had peaked at No. 9. Also, “If You Leave Me Now” was Chicago’s first No. 1 hit following 10 top 10 hits that had fallen short of the top spot. And the ballad represented a new musical direction for the group.
Both the Chicago and Starland Vocal Band hits received Grammy nods for record of the year. “Bohemian Rhapsody” did not. So, the Grammy shut-out for “Bohemian Rhapsody” wasn’t considered an upset at the time, though the song is obviously considered more of a classic today than either of those other hits. As noted above, “Bohemian Rhapsody” has been voted into both the Grammy Hall of Fame and the National Recording Registry. The Chicago and Starland Vocal Band hits have yet to receive either accolade.
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Queen made a music video for the song, a rare move in 1975.
The video was recorded in just four hours on Nov. 10, 1975. It was directed by Bruce Gowers, who had directed a video of the band’s 1974 performance at the Rainbow Theatre in London. Today, the visual is widely considered one of the most important of the pre-MTV era, and a precursor for much that would come in the music video age.
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A Night at the Opera was titled after a 1936 Marx Brothers movie.
Image Credit: Screen Archives/Getty Images “Bohemian Rhapsody” was featured on Queen’s fourth album, A Night at the Opera. The album was titled after a 1936 movie by the legendary comedy troupe, The Marx Brothers.
The band’s next album, A Day at the Races, was also titled after a Marx Brothers movie. And here, the plot thickens: A Day at the Races was the Marx Brothers’ follow-up film to A Night at the Opera. Queen could have kept this going a little longer by titling their next album Room Service, after the film which came next in the Marx Brothers filmography, but the band went with News of the World instead.
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The Rolling Stone review of A Night at the Opera didn’t mention its most famous track.
The magazine’s review of A Night at the Opera, which ran in its April 2, 1976 issue, didn’t even mention “Bohemian Rhapsody,” instead singling out “The Prophet’s Song” as the album’s standout track.
The magazine has since paid the song more notice. In 2004, the song ranked No. 163 on the inaugural Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list. It dipped just a few spots to No. 166 on the 2010 revision but then zoomed to No. 17 on the 2021 update (which followed the release of the hit biopic Bohemian Rhapsody). On the most recent revision of the list in 2024, it held its ground at No. 17 – making it the fourth-highest-ranking track from the 1970s, following Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” (1971), Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” (1977) and Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” (1972).
Here’s what Rolling Stone had to say about the track in the latest update: “ ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ contains a reported 180 vocal parts and spans rock, opera, heavy metal, and pop — all in six minutes. … Recording technology was so taxed by the song that some tapes became virtually transparent from so many overdubs, but Queen had created something that embodied the absurd tragedy and humor of human existence.”
Rolling Stone’s Brian Hiatt wrote a detailed (and highly recommended) history of the song in its current digital exclusive issue. The article is titled “Bohemian Rhapsody’ at 50! Brian May and Roger Taylor on Queen’s Masterpiece.”
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“Bohemian Rhapsody” returned to No. 1 in the U.K. in 1991.
It returned to No. 1 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart on Dec. 21, 1991, less than a month after Mercury’s death on Nov. 24. It logged five weeks in the lead, on top of the nine weeks it spent on top in its first run, making it one of only six songs to log 14 or more cumulative weeks at No. 1 in the U.K. The others are Frankie Laine’s “I Believe” (18 weeks in 1953), Bryan Adams’ “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You” (16 weeks in 1991), Wet Wet Wet’s “Love Is All Around” (15 weeks in 1994), Drake feat. Wizkid and Kyla’s “One Dance” (15 weeks in 2016) and Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You” (14 weeks in 2017).
In the U.K., the Christmas Number 1 – the song that heads the Official U.K. Singles Chart during Christmas week – is a big deal. “Bohemian Rhapsody” is the only hit to earn that title twice – in 1975 and again in 1991.
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It nearly hit No. 1 in the U.S. in 1992 but got stuck at No. 2 behind a teen hip-hop duo.
Image Credit: Al Pereira/Getty Images “Bohemian Rhapsody” made it all the way to No. 2 on the Hot 100 in May 1992, but couldn’t get past Kris Kross’ “Jump,” then in its third week at No. 1. The release of Wayne’s World on Feb. 14, 1992 — and a popular accompanying music video, featuring clips of its car-stereo singalong scene from the movie — was the main trigger for the song’s resurgence in the U.S.
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The Wayne’s World video for the song won a Moonman.
The Wayne’s World video for “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which was directed by Penelope Spheeris (who also directed the film), won an MTV Video Music Award for best video from a film. It edged out (and some of these will take you back) Eric Clapton’s “Tears in Heaven (Performance)” (from Rush), The Commitments’ “Try a Little Tenderness” from The Commitments and Hammer’s “Addams Groove” from The Addams Family.
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Queen’s recording has returned to the top 40 twice.
It reached No. 2 after it was featured in Wayne’s World in 1992 and No. 33 after it was featured in the biopic Bohemian Rhapsody in 2018. Discounting songs that make seasonal resurgences every Christmas or Halloween, very few tracks have made three separate trips to the top 30. Prince’s “1999” is one. The song reached its No. 12 high in July 1983. In January 1999, it spent a week at No. 40, as people partied not just like it was 1999, but because it actually was. Most recently, the song rose to No. 27 in May 2016, following Prince’s death that April.
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Three other acts have had Hot 100 hits with “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
All three were featured in film or TV projects. The R&B group The Braids took the song to No. 42 in 1996 (from High School High). The Glee Cast took it to No. 84 in 2010 (from the Fox TV series, then at its peak). And Panic! at the Disco took it to No. 64 in 2016 (from Suicide Squad).
“Weird Al” Yankovic’s 1993 album Alapalooza included a version of the song entitled “Bohemian Polka”, which is a rearrangement of the song as a polka. The album reached No. 46 on the Billboard 200 and went gold.
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Bohemian Rhapsody is the top-grossing music biopic of all time.
Image Credit: Courtesy Everett Collection The film has grossed $910.8 million worldwide, making it the top-grossing biopic of a musician. The rest of the top five consists of Elvis, the Elvis Presley biopic ($288.7 million); Straight Outta Compton (N.W.A, $201.6 million); Rocketman (Elton John, $195.3 million); and Walk the Line (Johnny Cash, $186.8 million).
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Bohemian Rhapsody won four Oscars, more than any other film in 2019.
Runners-up with three Oscars each were Black Panther, Green Book and Roma.
Bohemian Rhapsody won best actor, film editing, sound editing and sound mixing. On winning best actor, Rami Malek said, in part, “Listen, we made a film about a gay man, an immigrant, who lived his life just unapologetically himself. And the fact that I’m celebrating him and this story with you tonight is proof that we’re longing for stories like this.”
