Fifty years after its release, “Bohemian Rhapsody” stands taller than ever. The latest episode of the YouTube series Queen The Greatest celebrates the song’s extraordinary journey across five decades of live performance, tracing how it evolved from ambitious studio creation to global stage phenomenon. The episode arrives as the single returns to No. 1 in the UK following a special blue vinyl reissue marking its half century.
With nearly three billion Spotify streams, “Bohemian Rhapsody” remains embedded in popular culture. Brian May reflects on its enduring power in the series. “The song continues to resonate,” he says. “We go on stage and play it at the Albert Hall, with a full orchestra and 150 piece choir, and it’s fresh as a daisy. It’s new and exciting, and the reaction you get from people is just amazing.”
The episode opens in December 1975 at London’s Hammersmith Odeon, where a silk suited Freddie Mercury presents an early live segment of the track during its nine week UK chart run. It then leaps to Live Aid in 1985, capturing Freddie at the piano before a global audience of 1.5 billion. “The response from the crowd was so deafening,” Brian recalls, “it took your breath away.” The performance remains one of rock’s defining moments.
From the 1992 Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, where Axl Rose joins Queen and Elton John, to the 46664 concert in Cape Town with the Soweto Gospel Choir honoring Nelson Mandela, the anthem proves endlessly adaptable. The journey lands in 2014 with Adam Lambert fronting the band at London’s New Year’s Eve celebration, Freddie appearing via archive projection as the song closes the circle. “It will always be there, I think, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’” Brian says. “It’s truly immortal and that’s a good feeling.”