It may be 40 years since Queen blew up the music scene, but thanks to Bohemian Rhapsody, it's clear the British rock band haven't bit the dust. With the recent success of the Queen biopic, the band is rising through the ranks of the music charts. The film's soundtrack currently has the band at No. 3, a spot the band hasn't held in 38 years.
What a Killer Queen! The Bohemian Rhapsody soundtrack features a variety of the band's most recognizable hits, including audio from Queen's legendary appearance at Live Aid in 1985. According to Ultimate Classic Rock, the album sold 59,000 units during the film's debut week. Queen's Platinum Collection has also risen to No. 9, setting a record for the band who has never seen two of its albums in the top 10.
With Bohemian Rhapsody still making big money at the box office as it soon hits its third week in theaters, Queen is sharing this triumph with a chart influence they haven't had since releasing their 1980 album The Game. The album introduced songs such as "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and "Save Me." Following an unexpected opening weekend win of $50 million, Bohemian Rhapsody has continued on to rack up a combined $294 million worldwide. If there was any question of Queen's impact on the masses, this is the proof.
Bohemian Rhapsody had a far from a smooth production process, mainly due to the director switch-up midway through from Bryan Singer to Dexter Fletcher. Reports also surfaced that the film's Freddie Mercury actor Rami Malek had some disagreements on set about Singer's directorial choices. When the film was screened to critics ahead of its release, various people found it to be a disappointing and by-the-numbers biopic, despite the band's interesting story. None of this seemed to sway fans of the band, with audience ratings soaring much higher than that of critics. Bohemian Rhapsody is a smash hit that is currently the third highest music biopic of all time, still with room to dethrone Walk the Line and Straight Outta Compton.
Whether or not fans come away with believing Bohemian Rhapsody did justice to the band's story, it certainly does its job of drumming up excitement for one of the greatest rock bands who saw prominence in the '70s and '80s. Buying a ticket means seeing the band portrayed young again and at their height when songs like "We Will Rock You" and "Don't Stop Me Now" regularly filled concert venues and stadiums. Rami Malek is receiving showers of praise for his spot-on portrayal of the beloved frontrunner Freddie Mercury.
So turn up your favorite Queen track, because the innovative rock band is seeing a massive surge of success and utter coolness like it had in its heyday. You can also catch Bohemian Rhapsody still playing in theaters everywhere.
