Freddie Mercury’s godson hopes singer’s piano will be ‘cherished’ after sale

Freddie Mercury’s only godson, Freddie Mack, has said he hopes the grand piano used by the singer will be “cherished” and honoured after it is sold at auction.

The piano, which went on public display on Wednesday, is part of a collection offered by Queen producer Reinhold Mack and his son, Freddie.

The Yamaha C3 Grand Piano from Munich’s Musicland Studios, was played extensively by Mercury while composing solo material and some of Queen’s biggest hits, including Crazy Little Thing Called Love.

It is expected to fetch up to £400,000 at a Propstore auction in October.

According to Mack, the grand piano was used by “every famous rock and roller you could think of” including Queen, Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones.

He told the Press Association: “Anyone who’s anyone has sat there and played with it. A lot of them have recorded, and others have just, goofed off on it.

“It’s quite the piece.

“Just to realise the impact and the importance of all the things that have happened on this piano and have been recorded.

“People every day, if they’re actively listening or just passively have the radio on, it’s more than likely that at least five to 10 to 20 times a day they’ll actually hear this piano.”

The piano was used during the recording of the Queen albums The Game (1980) Hot Space (1982) and The Works (1984) and was played by artists including Leonard Cohen, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Donna Summer and Bryan Ferry.

It is considered the most significant Mercury-related artefact to come to market since the 2023 sale of his personal collection and estimated to fetch between £200,000 – £400,000.

Mack explained that no one in his family plays the piano and hopes that by putting it up for auction “someone else could cherish it and have the opportunity to own it and display it and honour it”.

The Yamaha C3 Grand Piano is part of the Reinhold Mack Collection (Propstore/PA)

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He said: “We have our special items at home and more importantly we have the memories and someone else should have the opportunity to have their own memories.

“It’s just nice to know that someone will now actively cherish it again.”

The Propstore auction will also include a microphone used by Mercury and early drafts of his songwriting as part of the 82-lot Reinhold Mack Collection.

Before the sale, the piano, as well as several other items from the collection, will be on display at a special free-to-enter exhibition at The Cumberland Hotel in London from Wednesday until September 27.