Bohemian Rhapsody

Queen, 1975. Solo by Brian May.

Nine bars that bridge a ballad and an opera. May writes it like a vocal line, and on the Red Special through AC30s it sounds like no other guitar.

Brian May's solo is the bridge between the piano ballad and the operatic section, and it had to do that job in a handful of bars. Rather than repeating the vocal melody, he wrote a new tune to complement it, thinking of the solo as a verse sung on guitar. The tone comes from his home-made Red Special through Vox AC30s pushed hard with a treble booster, with pickups combined out of phase for a piercing, vocal quality. It was recorded quickly on a single track without overdubs, and he still plays it almost note for note live. Listen for how each phrase sounds like a line someone could sing, and how the last notes lead you straight into the opera.

Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen is ranked #8 in our consensus of 79 guitar-solo lists. The solo is played by Brian May and the song was released in 1975. It appears on 47 lists, placing as high as #1 (Guitar World).

The story of Bohemian Rhapsody

Freddie Mercury had been carrying fragments of the song for years, reportedly including a piano piece friends remembered as 'The Cowboy Song'. He arrived at sessions with notes scrawled on scraps of paper and effectively stitched three separate song ideas into one suite. An early handwritten draft, later sold at auction, shows he first called it 'Mongolian Rhapsody' before crossing out the first word and writing 'Bohemian'.

The finished piece has no chorus. It moves from an a cappella introduction to a piano ballad, then a mock-operatic middle section, a hard rock passage and a quiet coda, shifting key several times along the way. Mercury never explained the lyric, calling it a song about relationships; theories range from a condemned man's confession to a veiled account of Mercury's own personal upheaval at the time.

Recording in 1975 spread across five studios, starting at Rockfield in Wales. The backing track came together fairly quickly, but the operatic section demanded marathon vocal sessions from Mercury, Brian May and Roger Taylor, reportedly around 180 overdubs. With only 24-track tape, parts had to be bounced down repeatedly, and May recalled the tape wearing so thin you could see through it.

EMI and Elektra wanted a shorter single, but Mercury refused to edit it. DJ Kenny Everett played it repeatedly on Capital Radio before release, building huge demand, and it came out uncut on 31 October 1975. It topped the UK chart for nine weeks, and Bruce Gowers's quickly shot promotional video helped establish the music video as a marketing tool.

The solo

Brian May's solo bridges the piano ballad and the operatic section. He played his home-made Red Special guitar through Vox AC30 amplifiers pushed hard, with a treble booster in front; for its piercing, vocal tone he has described using two of the guitar's pickups in series and out of phase, which strips out much of the low end. May deliberately avoided simply repeating the vocal melody, instead writing a new tune to complement it, and he has said he thinks of the solo as singing a verse on the guitar, adding that the fingers get predictable unless the brain leads them. It was recorded quickly on a single track without overdubs, in E flat, and May still plays it almost note for note on stage.

Legacy

The song has become one of the most celebrated recordings in British pop history. A 2002 Guinness World Records poll named it Britain's favourite single, it entered the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2004, and the Library of Congress added it to the National Recording Registry in 2022. Rolling Stone ranked it No. 17 in its 2021 list. Its revival via Wayne's World in 1992 and the 2018 biopic introduced it to new generations, making it the most-streamed 20th-century song and the first pre-1990s video to pass a billion YouTube views.

Top 10 facts about Bohemian Rhapsody

Mercury's early draft, on British Midland Airways notepaper, titled the song 'Mongolian Rhapsody' before he changed it.
Wikipedia
The operatic section needed roughly 180 vocal overdubs, bounced across many tape generations.
Wikipedia
Brian May's solo was recorded on a single track without overdubbing.
Songfacts
May gets the solo's piercing tone by wiring the neck and middle pickups in series and out of phase.
Guitar World
Kenny Everett played the song 14 times in two days on Capital Radio before it was released.
Wikipedia
Elton John reportedly told Queen's manager they would never get the song on the radio.
Songfacts
The video was directed by Bruce Gowers at Elstree Studios and shot in a matter of hours.
Wikipedia
After Wayne's World, it returned to the US chart in 1992 and peaked at No. 2, held off by Kris Kross's 'Jump'.
Songfacts
Mercury's Yamaha piano used to write the song sold for £1.7 million at Sotheby's in 2023.
Wikipedia
In 2019 its video became the oldest music video to reach one billion YouTube views.
Wikipedia

Live versions

Live Aid, Wembley Stadium (1985) Mercury opened Queen's celebrated set with the ballad section.
Live at Wembley '86 (1986) Classic live staging, with the operatic section played from tape.
Queen Rock Montreal (1981) Filmed Montreal performance later used on subsequent tours.
The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert (1992) Elton John and Axl Rose shared vocals with the surviving members.
BBC Proms, Last Night (2025) May and Taylor with the BBC Symphony Orchestra for the song's 50th anniversary.

Notable covers

Panic! at the Disco (2016) Recorded for the Suicide Squad soundtrack; charted in the US and UK.
The Braids (1996) R&B version from the High School High soundtrack; UK top 30.
The Muppets (2009) Viral video version that also charted as a UK single.
"Weird Al" Yankovic (1993) Reimagined as 'Bohemian Polka' on Alapalooza.
Bad News (1986) Comedy-band spoof produced by Brian May.
The Flaming Lips (2005) Contributed a version to the Killer Queen tribute album.

In our lists

The Most-Taught Solos — #38
The Greatest Solo of Every Year — #32
The Road Trip 50 — #2
The 25 Greatest Classic Rock Guitar Solos — #6
The 1970s — #6
Solos in Hit Singles — #2
Most Agreed-Upon — #8
Critics' Picks — #13
Fans' Picks — #10

Sources

Who played the guitar solo on Bohemian Rhapsody?

Brian May played the solo on Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody (1975).

What guitar was used on the Bohemian Rhapsody solo?

A red special through a Vox AC30 amp, with treble booster, according to widely reported accounts.

Where does Bohemian Rhapsody rank among the greatest guitar solos?

#8 in the GreatestSolos consensus of 79 published lists; it appears on 47 of them.

Who wrote Bohemian Rhapsody?

Freddie Mercury wrote it alone.

What album is Bohemian Rhapsody on?

It is on Queen's 1975 album A Night at the Opera.

What guitar did Brian May use on Bohemian Rhapsody?

His home-built Red Special, played through Vox AC30 amps with a treble booster.

What is Bohemian Rhapsody about?

Mercury never explained it; interpretations range from a condemned man's confession to a reflection of Mercury's personal life.

How many overdubs are in Bohemian Rhapsody?

The operatic section is reported to contain about 180 vocal overdubs.