They said it would never sell well because the original version was seven minutes long, and the last six mentioned Galileo, Beelzebub, and Scarecrow, but it turned out to be Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," according to Universal Music Group. the most listened to song on the internet of the 20th century.
The song was composed in 1975 and was often played on radio stations at that time, and the new film of the same name drew attention to it again. The video for the song has been viewed 1,6 billion times, UMG announced.
At the end of 1975, the song was at number one on the charts for nine weeks, making it the third longest-running hit at the time.
The recording companies EMI and Elektra then wanted to "tear off" parts of this epic song in Great Britain, Hina agency reports.
"They said it was too long and it wouldn't work. We thought, we can rip it off, but then it wouldn't make any sense. You'd miss all the different moods of the song and we said - no. Either it goes or it doesn't," explained Roger Taylor. the drummer of Queen.
And they weren't wrong.
The record company said in a statement that the song is more popular than Nirvana's hits "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child O'Mine."
Rami Malek stars in the film "Bohemian Rhapsody" by the late frontman Freddie Mercury. According to Universal, the film brought this musical masterpiece closer to younger generations.
Five weeks after its premiere in theaters, it earned $600 million.
Malek was nominated for a Golden Globe award for musical performance last week, and is expected to be nominated for an Oscar in January.
Universal stated that it has been promoting the single through its streaming platforms for the past few weeks.
According to Universal's data recorded from streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music and Deezer, "Bohemian Rhapsody" is without a doubt the most listened to song of the 20th century.
Bonus video:
