Four Freddie Mercury-Inspired NFT Artworks Headed For Auction

Iconic Queen singer Freddie Mercury is now making his distinct mark in the world of NFTs (non-fungible tokens).

Four NFT artworks inspired by the late rock star will go on auction starting Monday September 20 at 8 a.m. PST for 75 hours, according to digital art marketplace SuperRare and the Mercury Phoenix Trust.

Thursday’s announcement coincides with the celebration of Mercury’s 75th birthday, which was on September 5. 

Known for his extraordinary singing and memorable stage presence, Mercury wrote several of the famed British rock band’s hits, including “Killer Queen,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Love of My Life,” “Somebody to Love,” “Bicycle Race,” “Don’t Stop Me Now,” “Play the Game” and “Crazy Little Thing Called Love.” His story and that of Queen’s was told in the 2018 blockbuster movie hit Bohemian Rhapsody, which netted a best actor Oscar award for Rami Malek who portrayed the irrepressible singer. 

The four digital artists and their NFT artworks celebrating and capturing Mercury’s personality and essence are:

Blake Kathryn—“Sanctuary”

Chad Knight—“Celebration of Uniquity”

Mat Maitland—“Somebody to Love”

MBSJQ—“Colorful Soul”

Proceeds from the auction via SuperRare will go to the Mercury Phoenix Trust as part of its fight against AIDS. The charitable organization was established by Queen members May and Taylor and the band’s manager Jim Beach in memory of Mercury, who died on November 24, 1991 at the age of 45 from AIDS-related complications. For nearly 30 years, the trust has donated more than $17 million and funded worldwide endeavors.

Six Agency curated the art collection, according to the announcement. “Six was honored to curate an incredible collection of artists to celebrate the life and impact of Freddie Mercury,” said the company’s co-founder Georgio Constantinou in a press statement. “After meeting with the Mercury Phoenix Trust, we knew that if Freddie were alive today, he would be excited about the creative potential of the NFT space.”

Founded in 2018, SupeRare is a marketplace for single-edition digital art (“Instagram meets Christie’s”). According to the company website: “Each artwork is authentically created by an artist in the network, and tokenized as a crypto-collectible digital item that you can own and trade.” Transactions are made through the cryptocurrency ether. 

The Mercury-inspired artworks add to a growing trend involving music and cryptocurrency. Earlier this year, the singer Grimes reportedly sold $5.8 million of her digital artworks as NFTs. Legendary artist Roger Dean, best known for designing Yes’ album covers for most of the band’s career, has recently entered the world of NFTs with three digital art pieces as part of his Allurium series. And Kings of Leon’s latest record When You See Yourself was released as an NFT  that for $50 includes a token, a vinyl album and a download.

In addition to Mercury’s 75th birthday, this year marks the 50th anniversary of the formation of the classic Queen lineup of Mercury, May, Taylor and John Deacon. Among the commemorations of that milestone include the recent reissue of Queen’s best-selling 1981 compilation album Greatest Hits; the Queen The Greatest 50-part series on YouTube that celebrate key moments of the band’s history; and a new pop-up store that will open in London on September 28 offering unique band-related merchandise.