A piano and microphone used by Freddie Mercury and early drafts of his songwriting are expected to fetch hundreds of thousands of pounds at auction in October.
The items are part of the Reinhold Mack Collection, an 82-lot archive offered by the German producer, who worked frequently with Queen, and his son Freddie Jr, Mercury’s only godson.
Among the collection is the Yamaha C3 Grand Piano from Munich’s Musicland Studios, where it was played extensively by Mercury while composing solo material and some of Queen’s biggest hits, including Crazy Little Thing Called Love.
It was also used during the recording of The Game, Hot Space and The Works and was played by artists including Leonard Cohen, The Rolling Stones, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Donna Summer and Bryan Ferry.
It is considered the most significant Freddie Mercury-related artefact to come to market since the 2023 sale of his personal collection.
The piano carries a pre-sale estimate of £200,000 – £400,000.
Also featured is the AKG C414 EB microphone used to record Mercury’s lead and backing vocals at Musicland Studios.
It was favoured by Mack for capturing Mercury’s vocal range and distinctive layered harmonies and was used throughout the producer’s work with Queen.
The microphone is offered with its original Sennheiser bag and the red XLR cable used at Musicland Studios with a pre-sale estimate of £40,000 – £80,000.
The collection also includes early working lyrics handwritten by Mercury for My Love Is Dangerous and Let’s Turn It On, both from his 1985 debut solo album, Mr. Bad Guy.
Featuring alternate and unused lines that differ substantially from the finished songs, the drafts offer an insight into Mercury’s songwriting process.
The My Love Is Dangerous lyrics, headed with the earlier title Dangerous, also include handwritten chord arrangements on the reverse, while Let’s Turn It On appears under the shortened working title Turn It On.
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