Queen Looks Back on Their Classic Video for ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’

Author Erica Banas // Rock Music Reporter

April 23rd, 2021 11:25 AM

Queen and the latest installment of their #QueenTheGreatest history series on YouTube takes a look back on one of their finest achievements as a band: The recording of “Bohemian Rhapsody” and its classic music video.

“Bohemian Rhapsody” is one of the very first music videos ever. In the video below, drummer Roger Taylor explains simply how the video came to be.

“We made a video for ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ simply because we were on tour, and we weren’t able to go on [the UK music show] ‘Top of the Pops,'” recalled Taylor.

In total, the video cost £4,500 ($6,230 USD) to produce, which in hindsight, is a rather small price to pay for making history.

Just last month, “Bohemian Rhapsody” reached “Diamond” status by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) by surpassing 10 million in sales and stream equivalents in the United States. Queen became the first British band in RIAA history to receive “Diamond” status for a song.

Freddie Mercury: Photos On Stage and Behind-The-Scenes

• Freddie Mercury: Photos On Stage and Behind-The-Scenes

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  British singer and songwriter Freddie Mercury of rock band Queen during the group's British tour, circa 1975. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

• Freddie Mercury: Photos On Stage and Behind-The-Scenes

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  British singer and songwriter Freddie Mercury of rock band Queen in concert, 1984. (Photo by Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

• Freddie Mercury: Photos On Stage and Behind-The-Scenes

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  British singer and songwriter Freddie Mercury of rock band Queen during the group's British tour, circa 1975. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
• Freddie Mercury: Photos On Stage and Behind-The-Scenes

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  British singer and songwriter Freddie Mercury of rock band Queen performs at Leeds Football Club, England, 29th May 1982. (Photo by Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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  Drummer Roger Taylor and singer Freddie Mercury (1946 - 1991) of British rock band Queen perform at the Playhouse in Edinburgh, Scotland, 1st September 1976. (Photo by Gary Merrin/Keystone/Getty Images)

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  Singer Freddie Mercury (1946 - 1991) of British rock band Queen attends a ballet class in Covent Garden, London, 3rd October 1979. (Photo by Colin Davey/Evening Standard/Getty Images)
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  Singer Freddie Mercury (1946 - 1991) of British rock band Queen attends a ballet class in Covent Garden, London, 3rd October 1979. (Photo by Colin Davey/Evening Standard/Getty Images)

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  Singer Freddie Mercury (1946 - 1991) of British rock band Queen attends a ballet class in Covent Garden, London, 3rd October 1979. (Photo by Colin Davey/Evening Standard/Getty Images)

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  Musicians Freddie Mercury (1946 - 1991) and Roger Taylor of British rock band Queen perform a free concert in London's Hyde Park, 18th September 1976. (Photo by Keystone Features/Getty Images)
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  Freddie Mercury (1946-1991), singer with Queen, standing in front of a drumkit as he sings into a microphone on stage during a live concert performance by the band at the National Bowl in Milton Keynes, England, United Kingdom, on 5 June 1982. (Photo by Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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  Queen frontman Freddie Mercury (1946 - 1991) shaving his moustache, 12th April 1984. (Photo by Steve Wood/Express/Getty Images)

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  Queen frontman Freddie Mercury (1946 - 1991) shaving his moustache, 12th April 1984. (Photo by Steve Wood/Express/Getty Images)
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  Freddie Mercury (1946 - 1991) in concert with his hard rock group Queen, June 1977. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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  May 1978: Freddie Mercury (Frederick Bulsara, 1946 - 1991), singer with popular British rock group Queen, on stage with the band at the first of three sell-out nights at London's Wembley Arena, May 1972. (Photo by Gary Merrin/Keystone/Getty Images)

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  September 1976: British rock group Queen at Les Ambassadeurs, where they were presented with silver, gold and platinum discs for sales in excess of one million of their hit single 'Bohemian Rhapsody', which was No 1 for 9 weeks. The band are, from left to right; Brian May, John Deacon (standing), Roger Taylor and Freddie Mercury (Frederick Bulsara, 1946 - 1991). (Photo by Ian Tyas/Keystone/Getty Images)
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  1982: Rock singer Freddie Mercury (Frederick Bulsara, 1946 - 1991), of the popular British group Queen, has his moustache groomed. (Photo by Steve Wood/Express/Getty Images)

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  3rd September 1984: British rock group Queen in concert with singer Freddie Mercury (Frederick Bulsara, 1946 - 1991) and guitarist Brian May. (Photo by Rogers/Express/Getty Images)

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  31st October 1977: Singer songwriter Elton John (Reginald Dwight) with star of musicals Peter Straker, and Freddie Mercury (Frederick Bulsara, 1946 - 1991), singer with the group Queen. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
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  8th September 1976: British rock group Queen at Les Ambassadeurs, where they were presented with silver, gold and platinum discs for sales in excess of one million of their hit single 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. The band are, from left to right, John Deacon, Freddie Mercury (Frederick Bulsara, 1946 - 1991), Roger Taylor and Brian May. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

• Freddie Mercury: Photos On Stage and Behind-The-Scenes

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  1984: Freddie Mercury (1946 - 1991), lead singer of 70s hard rock quartet Queen, in concert. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

• Freddie Mercury: Photos On Stage and Behind-The-Scenes

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  circa 1975: Freddie Mercury (1946 - 1991), lead singer of 70s hard rock quartet Queen, in concert during the group's British tour. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
• Freddie Mercury: Photos On Stage and Behind-The-Scenes

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  1984: Freddie Mercury (1946 - 1991), lead singer of 1970s hard rock quartet Queen, in concert. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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  29th May 1982: Freddie Mercury (1946 - 1991), lead singer of 70s hard rock quartet Queen, in concert at Leeds Football Club. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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  circa 1975: Freddie Mercury (1946 - 1991), lead singer of 70s hard rock quartet Queen, in concert during the group's British tour. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
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  5th June 1982: Freddie Mercury (1946 - 1991), lead singer of 70s hard rock quartet Queen, in concert in Milton Keynes. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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  11th June 1977: Freddie Mercury (1946 - 1991), lead singer of 70s hard rock quartet Queen, finishing the group's UK tour with two sell-out concerts at London's Earls Court. All proceeds from these shows go to the HRH The Queen's Silver Jubilee appeal. (Photo by Gary Merrin/Keystone/Getty Images)

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  5th June 1982: Lead singer of 70s hard rock quartet Queen Freddie Mercury (1946 - 1991) in concert at Milton Keynes. He revealed in November of 1991 that he was suffering from AIDS and died with 48 hours of announcing that he was ill. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
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  circa 1980: Lead singer of 70s hard rock quartet Queen Freddie Mercury (1946 - 1991) in concert during the group's British tour. He revealed in November of 1991 that he was suffering from AIDS and died with 48 hours of announcing that he was ill. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

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  British rock group Queen in concert, from left to right; Freddie Mercury (Frederick Bulsara, 1946 - 1991), John Deacon, and Brian May. Original Publication: People Disc - HU0463 (Photo by Express Newspapers/Getty Images)

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  British stadium rock group Queen on stage, with lead singer Freddie Mercury (Frederick Bulsara, 1946 - 1991) in the foreground. Original Publication: People Disc - HU0462 (Photo by Express Newspapers/Getty Images)

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Author Erica Banas // Rock Music Reporter

Category:

• Music

Tags:

Queen