Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' crosses 1.6 bn views to become most streamed song of 20th century

Los Angeles: ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, the iconic single by legendary British rock band Queen, is the world’s most-streamed song from the 20th century, as well as the most-streamed Classic Rock song of all time, according to Universal Music Group. The track was first released as a single on 31 October, 1975.

On 10 December, the original song and official video for ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, taken from the group’s 1975 album ‘A Night at the Opera’, surpassed 1.6 billion streams globally across all major streaming services, reported Variety. The feature film of the same name, a biopic of the group and lead singer Freddie Mercury, which is one of the top films of 2018, is a key driver of the numbers in recent times. Brian May, Queen’s guitarist and founding member, said: “So the River of Rock Music has metamorphosed into streams! Very happy that our music is still flowing to the max!” Lucian Grainge, Chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group, said, “‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is one the greatest songs by one of the greatest bands in history. We are so proud to represent Queen and are thrilled to see the song still inspiring new fans around the world more than four decades after its release. “My congratulations to Queen and (longtime manager) Jim Beach on an incredible achievement that is a testament to the enduring brilliance of Queen.” Watch the video here.