Musicians become famous for giving the world numbers that soothe the soul, make the feet tap and fill one with joy. No one really celebrates the instruments that are key to making this music. Luckily for music lovers, especially Freddie Mercury fans, a Yamaha C3 grand piano played by Freddie Mercury is heading to auction this fall via Propstore. The man who gave us hits like Bohemian Rhapsody and We Are the Champions worked extensively at the instrument during his Munich musical period.
The collection, called the Reinhold Mack Collection, is a treasure trove being offered by the band’s legendary producer Reinhold Mack and his son, Freddie Jr. As for the piano, it wasn’t only used by Mercury; it was Musicland’s house grand, passing beneath the hands of an extraordinary cross-section of 1970s and 1980s music royalty, including The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Donna Summer. Some of the biggest names in music crossed paths in that studio, nestled in the basement of the Arabella high-rise building.
The piano is considered one of the most important Mercury-related pieces to hit the block and is expected to fetch up to $528,000 at auction. It is coming from the personal collection of one of Mercury’s closest friends, German music producer Reinhold Mack. For Mack, Freddie was family. “Freddie was not only a colleague and close friend; in many ways, he was part of our family.” Mercury became “Uncle Freddie” to the Mack household, while Mack’s son Freddie Jr. became Mercury’s godson. The family preserved these objects for decades because of the memories attached to them rather than their financial value.
Today, those objects have become a significant trove of 82 distinct items carefully preserved by the band’s longtime producer. It is not every day that a piano played extensively by a musician Mack himself called a “brilliant piano player” hits the auction block, which helps explain the high estimate. The prized instrument, along with the rest of the exclusive lots, will be on display at a public exhibition inside the Cumberland Hotel in London starting September 23. The live bidding event officially commences on October 1 and concludes the following day.
