'Bohemian Rhapsody' Hits Big Milestone on YouTube

Becomes the first music video released prior to the 1990s to garner more than 1B views
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 22, 2019 10:45 AM CDT
'Bohemian Rhapsody' Hits Big Milestone on YouTube
In this July 20, 1986, file photo, Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury performs in Germany.   (AP Photo/Marco Arndt, File)

We all know "Bohemian Rhapsody" is a timeless classic, and a new milestone for the song proves just how unendingly popular it really is: Queen's 1975 hit just became the oldest music video to garner more than a billion views on YouTube, Fox News reports. It's the first music video produced in the 1970s, or any time prior to the 1990s, to do so. In honor of the big number, Brian May and Roger Taylor—the remaining original members of the group—collaborated with YouTube/Google and Universal Music Group to offer a new digitally remastered version of the video in HD.

The band is also promising to release three new user-generated videos for three of their songs: "Bohemian Rhapsody," "Don't Stop Me Now," and "A Kind of Magic." "Queen are making 3 new music videos ... using content submitted by you!" explains the website YouAreTheChampions.com. "Dancers, singers, musicians, and visual artists, come back later this week to see how you could be in Queen's next music videos!" A press release further explains that "musicians, singers, and instrumentalists" can interpret "Bohemian Rhapsody," while dancers can take on "Don't Stop Me Now" and visual artists can "design any word or phrase from the lyrics of 'A Kind of Magic.'" (Last year, the song hit another huge milestone.)

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