Queen's “Bohemian Rhapsody,” one of the most influential rock songs ever recorded, was released 50 years ago.
It broke records and rocketed to the top of the UK charts. It reached number one in the UK twice and also made history with the first ever rock promotional video.
But in the US it took another 17 years for the song and its appearance in the film Wayne's World to become a mega hit. Today it has nearly 3 billion streams on Spotify, the most for any song of the 20th century.
“It changed the dynamic of the music.”
The hit song was brought to life in rural Wales at Rockfield Studios, founded in the 1960s by two farmers and musicians, Charles and Kingsley Ward.
Queen members Freddie Mercury, John Deacon, Roger Taylor and Brian May lived in Rockfield for two weeks in 1975 while working on their fourth album, A Night at the Opera.
“I don't think anyone realized at the time that 'Bohemian Rhapsody' would become the iconic record that it was,” said Kingsley Ward, now 85.
In the main studio, which is still in operation, Queen divided the song into three parts – choral, hard rock and operatic. The sound was revolutionary, as was the track's length of almost six minutes.
“It's probably the greatest record ever made, a rock album, because it changed the dynamic of music and people now realize you can do anything with music,” Ward said.
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Ward remembers Queen frontman Mercury as “a very quiet, modest and just a really nice person, not flashy at all.”
He said Mercury kept the band waiting for a song they then only knew as “Freddie.”
“Brian and John were playing Frisbee. I remember talking to Brian and saying, “You’ve been here a long time, five days, you haven’t done much.” And I think Brian said, “Freddie is writing something there.”
Ward explained that Mercury was inside what is now an office and there was an old piano in the corner of the office. Kingsley said from Mercury's window he could see the farm's old weathervane.
“The weird thing is that a lot of people ask me, 'Did Freddie get the idea for that iconic phrase 'The way the wind blows' while looking at a weather vane?' We don't know because Freddie isn't here to tell us, but it's a great story, isn't it?”
