The Yamaha G2 baby grand: Freddie Mercury’s piano

The early days

Mercury’s journey with the Yamaha G2 began in 1975, when he was on the search for an upgrade to his old upright piano.

This would be the piano he’d use for writing. It was never going to have the same grandeur or recognisability as the Steinway Mercury used live – but it was going to be at the heart of some of the greatest songs ever written, used by one of the most illustrious bands to have ever lived. So, it needed to be good.

Mercury was looking for a specific sound that would suit the band’s ambitious, operatic rock, which had the resonance and clarity Mercury needed for his songwriting, and that had the right key action.

He was looking for weeks, but to no avail. No store had “it” until one day, he found the Yamaha baby grand he needed. He bought the G2 for £1,000. It took some time to be delivered, but when it was, Mary Austin, Mercury’s closest friend, was shocked at how, for a “baby” grand, it took up quite a bit of space in their living room.

The Yamaha G2 baby grand

Freddie Mercury chose the piano for a reason. It was one of the finest instruments from the Japanese brand. In fact, during this period, the production of their pianos exclusively took place in Japan under expert craftsmen and strict, meticulous quality control measures. The G2 was sleek and elegant, with a polished ebony finish, a hand-selected spruce soundboard and ribs, and faux-ivory keys.

Its durability and tuning stability were enabled by a back post design – a feature taken from Yamaha’s Conservatory pianos – while the brand’s Vacuum Shield Mold casting technology created a lighter yet stronger frame.

The piano had that clarity of sound Mercury was looking for, and it was a dream to play thanks to such a smooth and responsive action.

“Bohemian Rhapsody” was completed

Queen’s sixth single had been in the works since the late 1960s, but it wasn’t until Mercury eventually sat down at his new beloved piano that the iconic hit was finished. The song entwined musical ideas and lyrics in a six-minute operatic, rock-heavy, ballad-infused extravaganza.

This was the single that Queen would be remembered for, and it was the one to bring them out of the financial stress the band were under, despite releasing and touring the successful Sheer Heart Attack album the year before.

It was written solely by Mercury and was originally titled “Mongolian Rhapsody” before he settled on “Bohemian”. The structure significantly strays from typical rock and pop forms (there’s no chorus, for example)… and it’s a masterpiece.

From the Yamaha G2, the song was brought to the studio and worked on for three weeks before the master version was released.

The journey to Garden Lodge

Freddie Mercury and Mary Austin’s small apartment was only a temporary home for the piano. It moved with them to Strafford Terrace and then with Austin to Phillimore Gardens, where Mercury would visit. Finally, it moved to Mercury’s beautiful home, Garden Lodge, in 1986/87, where it stood proudly in the living room.

As well as songwriting, the piano was used for parties and gatherings. When Mercury was entertaining guests, it wasn’t unusual for sing-alongs to erupt around the Yamaha baby grand. He also used it for small, intimate, formal performances at these parties – just think of the music legends it’s seen!

Mercury may have been known more for his eccentric stage persona and perhaps less as a pianist, but his songwriting process stemmed from the keys, and the G2 was a channel by which to express his creativity and eccentricity.

The 2023 auction

Mary Austin owned the piano until 2023, when she offered up the piano, along with more of Mercury’s possessions, for auction. The Yamaha G2 took £1.74m, the “Bohemian Rhapsody” manuscript took £1.38m, and a garden door covered in graffiti tributes to Mercury from fans around the world sold for £400,000.

Plenty of smaller items also fetched large sums, including a Tiffany table lamp, a silver snake bangle worn in the “Bohemian Rhapsody” video, and a gold Cartier brooch.

Whatever your opinion of the 2023 auction, there’s no doubt that it caught the attention of Queen fans around the world and reminded people of the frontman’s immortal legacy. Some of the proceeds went to the Elton John AIDS Foundation – a fitting mark of respect to Mercury.

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