A grand piano once played by Freddie Mercury is up for auction in October and could be yours if you have a spare hundred thousand or so currently burning a hole in your wallet.
The Yamaha C3 grand is one of a number of Freddie-related items once owned by Reinhold Mack which the producer (who turns 77 today) is selling. The piano was played on the Hot Space, The Game and The Works albums, as well as by a list of not-insignificant artists including Bryan Ferry, the Rolling Stones, Leonard Cohen and Led Zeppelin. Its pre-sale estimate is somewhere between £200,000 and £400,000.
If that’s a bit beyond your budget, then how about an AKG C414 EB mic that Mercury used and which can be seen in the video to One Vision? That could set you back anywhere between £40,000 and £80,000.
Both of these fell into Mack's possession after his years working at Munich’s Musicland studios. Originally set up by Giorgio Moroder, Musicland birthed a number of classic albums – Donna Summer’s I Remember Yesterday, ELO’s Out Of The Blue and Black And Blue by the Rolling Stones, to name just a few.]
Queen were particularly fond of the facility, and struck up a close relationship with the in-house engineer. Freddie was godfather to Mack’s son, named Freddie Junior. He was also namechecked on Dragon Attack, a Brian May-written track on 1980’s The Game (‘gonna use my stack/ it’s gotta be Mack’).
The auction also includes a number of personal mementoes that the late singer gave Mack. There are handwritten lyrics to the songs My Love Is Dangerous and Let’s Turn It On, from Mercury’s 1985 solo debut, Mr Bad Guy. These are expected to fetch between £1,500 and £6,000. Rather touchingly, there’s also a teddy bear that Freddie presumably gifted to his godson that is estimated to fetch between £800 and £1,600.
In a statement, Mack has said: “Freddie was not only a colleague and close friend; in many ways, he was part of our family. Away from the countless hours we spent creating music together at Musicland Studios, our home in Munich became a place where he could escape the pressures of fame, relax and simply be himself. To us, he was never a celebrity; he was ‘Uncle Freddie’ - spending time with his godson Freddie Jr, playing table tennis with Julian and celebrating family birthdays with us.
“We have carefully preserved these items for decades, not because of their value, but because of the memories they hold. We now feel the time has come for others to enjoy and appreciate them, and we hope they offer fans a connection not only to Freddie’s extraordinary artistry, but also to the warm, funny and kind-hearted man we were privileged to know.”
Propstore are hosting the auction, which takes place on 1 and 2 October. Auction registration is now open with the full catalogue available to look at on the Propstore website. Alternatively, you can see the items at a free exhibition at The Cumberland Hotel in London from 23 to 27 September.
