Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ Hits 50-Year Milestone with BBC Orchestra Performance

Brian May and Roger Taylor joined forces with the BBC Symphony Orchestra on the Last Night of the Proms finale. The event marked five decades since "Bohemian Rhapsody" came to life at a small studio in Wales called Rockfield.

Rockfield Studios founder Kingsley Ward shared tales from the song's original recording in 1975. "They hadn't been very financially well off in [1974], but when they came back in 1975, they were very famous and very well off," he told BBC Wales.

Back then, the track went by a simple name: "Freddie's Thing." Ward watched Mercury craft his masterpiece day after day. "I had no idea... but it was Bohemian Rhapsody," he said.

The studio work was split into three distinct phases. "It was done in three sections, and when it left here I only ever heard the sections. They were never actually put together as a unit," he said.

His first full listen came while cruising down M4. "I was amazed when I heard it. I thought it was fantastic," he recalled.