Someone paid $189,000 to buy Freddie Mercury's Tiffany and Co. mustache comb
Amanda Goh
- Over 30,000 items owned by Freddie Mercury were sold at auction for $50.4 million, per Bloomberg.
- Someone paid $189,000 to own a mini Tiffany and Co. comb that the Queen frontman used to brush his mustache.
Over 30,000 personal items owned by late Queen frontman Freddie Mercury were sold at auction for a combined $50.4 million, per Bloomberg.
These items were owned by his former fiancée Mary Austin, 72, to whom he bequeathed his possessions in his will, per the Independent.
The six auctions were held over a period of one week and had themes ranging from stage items to Mercury's Japanese art collection, per Sotheby's.
Here are five of the most iconic items that were sold at the auctions.
A mini Tiffany and Co. comb that Mercury used to brush his iconic mustache was sold for £152,400, or $189,000.
The silver mustache comb was only expected to fetch between £400 and £600, per Sotheby's.
Mercury's Yamaha G-2 baby grand piano — where he composed some of Queen's biggest hits, including "Bohemian Rhapsody" — was sold for £1.742 million.
Mercury bought the piano in 1975 and it cost him around £1,000, per Sotheby's.
"Freddie treated the Yamaha with absolute respect," Austin told Sotheby's. "He considered it to be more than an instrument, it was an extension of himself, his vehicle of creativity. He would never smoke at the piano or rest a glass on top of it and would ensure nobody else did either. The piano was always pristine."
His signature crown and cloak ensemble, worn throughout Queen's "The Magic Tour" in 1986, was sold for £635,000.
They were sold to Rafael Reisman, a Brazilian exhibition promoter, per The New York Times.
"We were looking to put together a collection of iconic lots to use for a special immersive exhibition," Reisman told the Times.
According to Sotheby's, the full outfit was worn at the end of every concert for the finale rendition of "God Save the Queen," except in Slane Castle, Republic of Ireland, on July 5, 1986, where only the crown was worn.
The ensemble was designed by Diana Moseley, who was given only a week's notice to pull the look together, per Sotheby's.
Mercury's handwritten manuscript containing the working lyrics to "Bohemian Rhapsody" was sold for £1.379 million.
Mercury scribbled draft lyrics to "Bohemian Rhapsody" onto British Midland Airways stationery, per Sotheby's.
Some of the pages include an early draft of the song with the title "Mongolian Rhapsody" that was altered to "Bohemian Rhapsody," as well as sentence fragments that were used later in the song.
The silver snake bangle that Mercury wore in the "Bohemian Rhapsody" video was auctioned for £698,500.
Apart from the music video, Mercury was photographed wearing the bangle at different public events, per Sotheby's.
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