Queen’s Iconic Single Bohemian Rhapsody Celebrates 50th Anniversary on Friday, 31 October 2025

A Night At The Opera Album and Bohemian Rhapsody Single to get lavish vinyl reissues

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.

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.

Bohemian Rhapsody, which spent a record-breaking nine weeks at Number 1 in the UK singles chart and reached Number 1 in Australia on its original release, is also being reissued on October 31 as a transparent, blue heavyweight 7” vinyl and transparent, blue heavyweight 12” vinyl.  

“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.”

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.”

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.”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.

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.

Bohemian Rhapsody, which spent a record-breaking nine weeks at Number 1 in the UK singles chart and reached Number 1 in Australia on its original release, is also being reissued on October 31 as a transparent, blue heavyweight 7” vinyl and transparent, blue heavyweight 12” vinyl.  

“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.”

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.”

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.”