Queen‘s Iconic A Night At The Opera Album and Bohemian

Rhapsody Single To Get lavish 50th Anniversary Vinyl

Reissues

Pre-Order Bohemian Rhapsody: https://Queen.lnk.to/BoRhap50th

Pre-Order A Night at the Opera: https://Queen.lnk.to/ANightAtTheOpera

Regal rock icons Queen are celebrating the 50th anniversary of their

monumental multi-platinum 1975 album A Night At The Opera and

legendary Diamond-certified single Bohemian Rhapsody with opulent

vinyl reissues.

Originally released in November 1975 and featuring the classic line-

up of Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon, A

Night At The Opera was Queen’s grandest artistic statement and most

successful album to that point, reaching Number 1 in five countries,

including the UK.

Marking 50 years since its original release, A Night At The Opera will

be reissued on lavish crystal clear vinyl with gold labels on October

18 in the UK (as part of National Album Day) and October 17 in the

rest of the world.

Bohemian Rhapsody, which spent a record-breaking nine weeks at

Number 1 in the UK singles chart on its original release, is also being

reissued on October 31 as a transparent, blue heavyweight 7” vinyl

and transparent, blue heavyweight 12” vinyl. It will also be available

as a direct-to-consumer exclusive 12” picture disc and blue cassette

single.

Both reissues will be released on Universal worldwide excluding US,

where they will be released via Hollywood Records

“A Night At The Opera was a hugely important album for us,” says

Queen guitarist Sir Brian May. “It opened up the world for us.”

“We were at the peak of our confidence,” adds drummer Roger Taylor,

“It felt like there wasn’t anything we couldn’t do, and it shows on that

album.”

1975 was a pivotal year for Queen. A Night At The Opera and

Bohemian Rhapsody propelled them to new commercial and artistic

heights, sealing their status as one of the most visionary bands Britain

has ever produced. Artists as diverse as the Foo Fighters and The

Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson have saluted their multi-faceted brilliance,

with the latter describing Bohemian Rhapsody as “a fulfilment and an

answer to a teenage prayer of artistic music”.

The single continues to be voted the best single of all time, most

recently topping the popular chart of UK’s leading radio outlet Gold

Radio’s Top 300 Hall of Fame listeners vote.

Queen recorded A Night At The Opera with producer Roy Thomas

Baker at multiple studios, including the legendary Rockfield Studios

in South Wales. It was created against a backdrop of change, with

the band having recently extricated themselves from a financially

crippling management contract and signed up with Elton John’s

manager, John Reid.

As a result, a newfound sense of freedom courses through A Night At

The Opera. Building on the ambitious musical foundations laid down

by their first three albums (1973’s Queen I, and 1974’s Queen II and

Sheer Heart Attack), this is the sound of a band unconfined by

expectation or boundaries.

“We truly felt like we could try anything at that point,” guitarist Brian

May remembers. “As songwriters, we were challenging each other

and competing with each other in the best possible way.”

A Night At The Opera contains an entire musical universe within its

12 songs, covering virtually every style imaginable, from the vicious,

glam-tinged hard rock of opening track Death On Two Legs to Roger

Taylor’s roaring boy-racer hymn I’m In Love With My Car, from

Freddie Mercury’s soaring, heartfelt Love Of My Life to the yearning

sci-fi-inspired folk of Brian May’s ’39.

Elsewhere, they conjure up the perfect pop-rock of John Deacon’s

You’re My Best Friend, Mercury’s cheeky Noel Coward homage

Seaside Rendezvous and May’s charming, one-man-jazz band song

Good Company, plus the playful riffage of the guitarist’s Sweet Lady

and his staggering, multi-tracked eight-minute epic The Prophet’s

Song.

If any song defines the ambition that fuelled A Night At The Opera,

it’s Bohemian Rhapsody. This dazzling fusion of existential balladry,

hard rock power and operatic grandeur, conceived by Mercury and

painstakingly pieced together by the band, is more than just Queen’s

best-known song, it has become a touchstone song for every

subsequent generation that has become wrapped up in its majesty.

“I always believed in Bohemian Rhapsody from the start,” says

Taylor. “The first time Fred played us his idea for it, I remember

thinking, ‘Oh, this is something special.’ And it was.”

On its original release, A Night At The Opera gave Queen their very

first UK Number 1 album and topped the charts in five countries in

total. It reached Number 4 in the US, where it has been certified triple

platinum for sales in excess of three million copies.

Bohemian Rhapsody itself spent a record-breaking nine weeks at

Number 1 in the UK, sealing Queen’s ascent to greatness, while its

accompanying promo film is undeniably the most influential music

video in history.

After being re-released in 1991 following Freddie Mercury’s death,

Bohemian Rhapsody once again reached Number 1 in the UK. In

2004, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame and in 2022 the

single was selected for preservation in the US Library Of Congress’

National Recording Registry.

“It really was a watershed album for us,” says Sir Brian May, today.

“Thanks in a large part to Bohemian Rhapsody, people knew who we

were – not just in the UK, but in America, Australia, everywhere.”

“It’s such an eclectic album,’ adds Roger Taylor. “It’s mad and it’s

wonderful and it’s got a bit of everything in it.”

A Night At The Opera is reissued on crystal clear vinyl with gold labels

on October 17 (excluding the UK) and October 18 (UK).

Bohemian Rhapsody is released on heavyweight blue 7” and 12”

single, 12” picture disc and blue cassette single on October 31.

Pre-Order Bohemian Rhapsody: https://Queen.lnk.to/BoRhap50th

Pre-Order A Night at the Opera: https://Queen.lnk.to/ANightAtTheOpera