Queen’s Impressive Music Catalog Sold to Sony Music for £1 Billion

Lauren Novak June 20, 10:00 am

8th September 1976: British rock group Queen at Les Ambassadeurs, where they were presented with silver, gold and platinum discs for sales in excess of one million of their hit single 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. The band are, from left to right, John Deacon, Freddie Mercury (Frederick Bulsara, 1946 - 1991), Roger Taylor and Brian May. — Keystone/Getty Images

Queen remains one of the most popular bands in the history of rock and roll music, with the late frontman Freddie Mercury being a legend in the industry. Queen continues to tour with original members, Brian May and Roger Taylor and new frontman Adam Lambert. Their top hits including “We Will Rock You” and “We Are The Champions” are still played regularly all over the world, especially at sporting events, so anyone who owns the music catalog will likely continue to make money on it.

Now, Queen’s extensive music catalog was recently up for sale and reportedly sold to Sony Music for £1 billion (around $1.27 billion), making it the biggest single-artist music catalog sale in history. Music Business Worldwide previously reported the potential sale and said that several companies and individuals are interested in making the huge purchase. Some rights will remain with Disney after a huge licensing deal in the 2000s.

September 1976: British rock group Queen at Les Ambassadeurs, where they were presented with silver, gold and platinum discs for sales in excess of one million of their hit single 'Bohemian Rhapsody', which was No 1 for 9 weeks. The band are, from left to right; Brian May, John Deacon (standing), Roger Taylor and Freddie Mercury (Frederick Bulsara, 1946 - 1991).

Ian Tyas/Keystone/Getty Images

A billion dollars is an insane amount of money for most people, but given how relevant the band remains, it makes sense that someone would want to purchase it. For reference, Bruce Springsteen‘s catalog was recently sold to Sony Music Group for over $500 million, which is currently the most expensive sale in history including hits like “Born to Run.”

In addition to a tour, a biopic about Queen and more specifically Mercury called Bohemian Rhapsody did quite well in 2018 and has sparked several other biopics of popular artists including Elvis Presley. The band was formed back in 1970 by Mercury and included May, Taylor, and John Deacon (Deacon retired in 1997, several years after Mercury died in 1991). The film follows the formation of the band to their iconic 1985 Live Aid performance.

British singer Freddie Mercury (1946 - 1991) of rock band Queen in concert at Leeds Football Club, UK, 29th May 1982

Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

During their decades-long career, the band became one of the world’s best-selling artists with estimated record sales of around 300 million. Queen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003. Tell us, what’s your favorite Queen song? As much as I love most of their songs, I think my favorite is the underrated classic “Bicycle Race” as it brings up a lot of nostalgic memories for me.

Queen’s Impressive Music Catalog Sold to Sony Music for £1 Billion

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