Connect with us

Published

on

Freddie Mercury’s handwritten drafts for Queen’s legendary hit Bohemian Rhapsody have sold at auction for more than £1.3m.

Written on paper for the now-defunct airline British Midland, the 15-page manuscript shows the different directions the singer considered for the band’s six-minute epic.

It features the song’s timeless lyric “nothing really matters” and shows how the star considered naming the song “Mongolian Rhapsody” – before crossing out “Mongolian” in favour of “Bohemian”.

The notes were one of the star items among a treasure trove of the Queen frontman’s most prized possessions, which were put up for sale with the luxury auctioneer Sotheby’s.

Mercury’s Yamaha baby grand piano – used to compose some of the group’s most iconic hits – was sold at the same auction for £1.7m.

Freddie Mercury's Yamaha Grand Piano, estimated at 2-3 million pounds, on display at Sotheby's auction rooms in London, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023. More than 1,000 of Freddie Mercury's personal items, including his flamboyant stage costumes, handwritten drafts of ...Bohemian Rhapsody... and the baby grand piano he used to compose Queen's greatest hits, are going on show in an exhibition at Sotheby's London ahead of their sale. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Image:
Freddie Mercury’s Yamaha grand piano. Pic: AP

A Victorian-style snake bangle famously worn by Mercury in the video for Bohemian Rhapsody sold for £698,500 – the highest price ever paid for a piece of jewellery owned by a rock star.

It beat the £295,000 ($368,000) paid for a leather and bead talisman worn by Beatles star John Lennon.

The items were put up for auction by Mercury’s close friend, Mary Austin.

A Victorian-style silver snake bangle Freddie Mercury wore with an ivory satin catsuit in the "Bohemian Rhapsody" video has sold for the highest price ever paid for a piece of jewelry owned by a rock star.
Pic: Sotherbys
Image:
A Victorian-style silver snake bangle worn by Freddie Mercury. Pic: Sotheby’s

Read more:
Cigar smoked by Sir Winston Churchill up for auction
Alec Baldwin given new ‘quality of life’ after suffering ‘intense chronic pain’

The singer left her his Kensington home and all the possessions inside when he died of AIDS-related pneumonia in 1991, at the age of 45.

A total of 1,400 items are being auctioned – including a green door covered in hand-painted love notes from fans which sold for £412,750 ($521,000).

A Sotheby's handler displays a 'Rainbow Coloured Satin Arrow Applique Jacket from 1982' at Sotheby's auction rooms in London, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023. More than 1,000 of Freddie Mercury's personal items, including his flamboyant stage costumes, handwritten drafts of "Bohemian Rhapsody" and the baby grand piano he used to compose Queen's greatest hits, are going on show in an exhibition at Sotheby's London ahead of their sale. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Image:
Freddie Mercury’s rainbow coloured satin arrow applique jacket from 1982. Pic: AP

Freddie Mercury's signature crown worn throughout the 'Magic' Tour, on display at Sotheby's auction rooms in London, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023. More than 1,000 of Freddie Mercury's personal items, including his flamboyant stage costumes, handwritten drafts of "Bohemian Rhapsody" and the baby grand piano he used to compose Queen's greatest hits, are going on show in an exhibition at Sotheby's London ahead of their sale. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Image:
Mercury’s signature crown worn throughout the Magic tour. Pic: AP

Other items to go under the hammer include the star’s flamboyant stage costumes and handwritten drafts of hits such as We Are The Champions.

Some of the proceeds of the auction – which is expected to bring in around £6m in total – will be donated to charity.

All the proceeds of the sale of a Cartier onyx and diamond ring given to Mercury by Elton John that sold for £273,000 ($344,000) will be donated to the Rocket Man singer’s AIDS charity.

PRODUCTION - 03 August 2023, Great Britain, London: The entrance at Sotheby's auction house in London is decorated with a giant mustache - in reference to the British rock singer Freddie Mercury. The exhibition "Freddie Mercury - A World Of His Own" in London provides insights into the private life and musical career of the Queen frontman. Pic: AP
Image:
The entrance at Sotheby’s auction house hosted “Freddie Mercury – A World Of His Own”

The items in the auction were put on display in Sotheby’s galleries ahead of the auction to create a free museum-esque exhibit – named Freddie Mercury: A World Of His Own.

The display attracted more than 140,000 visitors in just over a month.

Continue Reading

Entertainment

‘Love you bro’: Zayn Malik’s tribute to Liam Payne at first show since former bandmate’s death

Published

on

By

'Love you bro': Zayn Malik's tribute to Liam Payne at first show since former bandmate's death

Zayn Malik paid tribute to former One Direction bandmate Liam Payne as he kicked off his solo tour.

Payne died last month of multiple traumas and “internal and external haemorrhage” after falling from a third-floor balcony in Buenos Aires, according to a post-mortem.

Images from Leeds’s O2 Academy on Saturday showed Malik – who delayed his Stairway To The Sky tour due to Payne’s funeral on Wednesday – shared a tribute.

A message was displayed with a heart on a large blue screen behind the singer reading: “Liam Payne 1993-2024. Love you bro.”

The 31-year-old also previously postponed the US leg of the tour after the “heartbreaking loss”.

He later rescheduled the Edinburgh shows, which had been planned for 20 and 21 November, to December due to “unforeseen circumstances”.

Following Payne’s death, Malik said he “never got to thank” him for his support during some of the “most difficult” times.

“I will cherish all the memories I have with you in my heart forever,” he said in a post on Instagram.

Read more:
Kanye West accused of sexual assault
Ed Sheeran ‘helped Ipswich sign player’

Malik rose to fame in 2010 when Simon Cowell teamed him up with Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan on talent show The X Factor.

Malik left the band in 2015 and all members went on to pursue their own solo careers.

An investigation has been launched into Payne’s death by prosecutors and three people have been charged in connection with the incident.

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Kanye West accused of sexual assault on set of music video in new lawsuit

Published

on

By

Kanye West accused of sexual assault on set of music video in new lawsuit

Rapper Ye – formerly known as Kanye West – has been accused of sexual assault in a civil lawsuit that alleges he strangled a model on the set of a music video.

Warning: This story contains details that readers may find distressing

The lawsuit alleges the musician shoved his fingers in the claimant’s mouth at the Chelsea Hotel in New York City in 2010, in what it refers to as “pornographic gagging”, Sky News’ US partner network NBC News reported.

The model who brought the case – which was filed on Friday in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York – was a background actor for another musician’s music video that Ye was guest-starring in, NBC said, citing the lawsuit.

She is seeking compensatory and punitive damages against the 47-year-old.

A representative for Ye was approached for comment by NBC News on Saturday.

The New York City Police Department said it took “sexual assault and rape cases extremely seriously, and urges anyone who has been a victim to file a police report so we can perform a comprehensive investigation, and offer support and services to survivors”.

The lawsuit alleges that a few hours into the shoot, the rapper arrived on set, took over control and ordered “female background actors/models, including the claimant, to line up in the hallway”.

The rapper is then believed to have “evaluated their appearances, pointed to two of the women, and then commanded them to follow him”.

The lawsuit adds the claimant, who was said to be wearing “revealing lingerie”, was uncomfortable but went with Ye to a suite which had a sofa and a camera.

When in the room, Ye is said to have ordered the production team to start playing the music, to which he did not know his lyrics and instead rambled, “rawr, rawr, rawr”.

The lawsuit claims: “Defendant West then pulled two chairs near the camera, positioned them across from each other, and instructed the claimant to sit in the chair in front of the camera.”

While stood over the model, the lawsuit clams Ye strangled her with both hands, according to NBC.

It claims he went on to “emulate forced oral sex” with his hands, with the rapper allegedly screaming: “This is art. This is f****** art. I am like Picasso.”

Read more from Sky News:
Cillian Murphy and his wife buy a cinema
Joy star James Norton on the ‘postcode lottery’ of IVF

Universal Music Group is also named in the lawsuit as a defendant and is accused of failing to investigate the incident.

The corporation did not immediately respond to a request for comment by NBC.

Jesse S Weinstein, a lawyer representing the claimant, said the woman “displayed great courage to speak out against some of the most powerful men and entities within the entertainment industry”.

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Joy star James Norton on the ‘postcode lottery’ of IVF – and playing the scientist who was part of creating the first ‘test-tube baby’

Published

on

By

Joy star James Norton on the 'postcode lottery' of IVF - and playing the scientist who was part of creating the first 'test-tube baby'

Actor James Norton, who stars in a new film telling the story of the world’s first “test-tube baby”, has criticised how “prohibitively expensive” IVF can be in the UK.

In Joy, the star portrays the real-life scientist Bob Edwards, who – along with obstetrician Patrick Steptoe and embryologist Jean Purdy – spent a decade tirelessly working on medical ways to help infertility.

The film charts the 10 years leading up to the birth of Louise Joy Brown, who was dubbed the world’s first test-tube baby, in 1978.

James Norton stars in Joy. Pic: Kerry Brown/ Netflix
Image:
In the UK, statistics show the proportion of IVF cycles paid for by the NHS has dropped from 40% to 27% in the last decade

Norton, who is best known for playing Tommy Lee Royce in the BAFTA-winning series Happy Valley, told Sky News he has friends who were IVF babies and other friends who have had their own children thanks to the fertility treatment.

“But I didn’t know about these three scientists and their sacrifice, tenacity and skill,” he said. The star hopes the film will be “a catalyst for conversation” about the treatment and its availability.

“We know for a fact that Jean, Bob and Patrick would not have liked the fact that IVF is now so means based,” he said. “It’s prohibitively expensive for some… and there is a postcode lottery which means that some people are precluded from that opportunity.”

Bill Nighy, Thomasin McKenzie and James Norton star in Joy. Pic: Netflix/ Kerry Brown
Image:
Bill Nighy, Thomasin McKenzie and James Norton star in Joy. All pics: Netflix/ Kerry Brown

Now, IVF is considered a wonder of modern medicine. More than 12 million people owe their existence today to the treatment Edwards, Steptoe and Purdy worked so hard to devise.

But Joy shows how public backlash in the years leading up to Louise’s birth saw the team vilified – accused of playing God and creating “Frankenstein babies”.

Bill Nighy and Thomasin McKenzie star alongside Norton, with the script written by acclaimed screenwriter Jack Thorne and his wife Rachel Mason.

The couple went through seven rounds of IVF themselves to conceive their son.

James Norton and Thomasin McKenzie star in Joy. Pic: Kerry Brown/ Netflix
Image:
Norton portrays scientist Bob Edwards, while McKenzie plays embryologist Jean Purdy

While the film is set in the 1970s, the reality is that societal pressures haven’t changed all that much for many going through IVF today – with the costs now both emotional and financial.

“IVF is still seen as a luxury product, as something that some people get access to and others don’t,” said Thorne, speaking about their experiences in the UK.

“Louise was a working-class girl with working-class parents. Working class IVF babies are very, very rare now.”

In the run-up to the US election, Donald Trump saw IVF as a campaigning point – promising his government, or insurance companies, would pay for the treatment for all women should he be elected. He called himself the “father of IVF” at a campaign event – a remark described as “quite bizarre” by Kamala Harris.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Bill Nighy ‘proud’ of new film on IVF breakthrough

“I don’t think Trump is a blueprint for this,” Norton said. “I don’t know how that fits alongside his questions around pro-choice.”

Read more:
Boy George on the price of fame
The fan club president who joined the band

In the UK, statistics from fertility regulator HEFA show the proportion of IVF cycles paid for by the NHS has dropped from 40% to 27% in the last decade.

“It’s so expensive,” Norton said. “Those who want a child should have that choice… and some people’s lack of access to this incredibly important science actually means that people don’t have the choice.”

Joy is in UK cinemas from 15 November, and on Netflix from 22 November

Continue Reading

Trending