Editing Bohemian Rhapsody (section)

==Release==
[[File:Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen US vinyl red label.png|thumb|upright|One of Side-A labels of the US single release]]
When the band wanted to release the single in 1975, various executives suggested to them that due to its length of 5&nbsp;minutes and 55&nbsp;seconds, it was too long and would never be a hit.<ref>{{cite news |title=Bohemian rhapsody celebrates 40&nbsp;years: 19&nbsp;things you didn't know about the queen anthem |date=30 October 2015 |newspaper=Express online |url=http://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/music/615750/Bohemian-Rhapsody-facts-Queen-40-years-anniversary |access-date=28 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160921172451/http://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/music/615750/Bohemian-Rhapsody-facts-Queen-40-years-anniversary |archive-date=21 September 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> Mercury commenting on the length of the song:

{{blockquote|It had a very big risk factor. The radios didn't really like it initially because it was too long and the record companies said you can't market it that way, and after me having virtually put the three songs together, they wanted me to sort of slice it up again, so I said no way. They said nobody would play it, it's too long and I just said it either goes out in its entirety or not at all. So it was a big risk, it was either going to be a big flop because nobody would play it or something would happen and luckily it became a major hit.<ref>{{cite web |title=Freddie Mercury Interviewed by Molly Meldrum from Australian TV |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xLvYQMHmwk |website=(Youtube) 4:13 | date=3 August 2014 |access-date=23 August 2024}}</ref>}}

The song was played to other musicians who commented the band had no hope of it ever being played on radio.{{sfn|BBC|2004b}} According to Baker, he and the band bypassed this corporate assessment by playing the song for Everett:
: "we had a reel-to-reel copy but we told him he could only have it if he promised not to play it. 'I won't play it,' he said, winking&nbsp;..."{{sfn|Cunningham|1995}}

The plan worked — Everett teased his listeners by playing only parts of the song. Audience demand intensified when Everett played the full song on his show 14&nbsp;times in 2&nbsp;days.{{sfn|Chiu|2005}} Hordes of fans attempted to buy the single the following Monday, only to be told by record stores that it had not yet been released.{{sfn|Cunningham|1995}} The same weekend, Paul Drew, who ran the [[RKO General]] stations in the U.S., heard the track on Everett's show in London. Drew managed to get a copy of the tape and started to play it in the U.S., which forced the hand of Queen's U.S. label, [[Elektra Records]]. In an interview with ''[[Sound on Sound]]'', Baker observed that "it was a strange situation where radio on both sides of the Atlantic was breaking a record that the record companies said would never get airplay!"{{sfn|Cunningham|1995}}

Eventually the unedited single was released, with "I'm in Love with My Car" as the [[B-side]]. Following Everett's escapade in October&nbsp;1975, [[Eric Hall]], a record plugger, gave a copy to [[David Hamilton (broadcaster)|David "Diddy" Hamilton]] to play on his weekday Radio One show. Hall stated "Monster, Monster! This could be a hit!"<ref>{{cite book |first=Lesley-Ann |last=Jones |author-link=Lesley-Ann Jones |title=Freddie Mercury: The Definitive Biography |publisher=[[Hodder & Stoughton]] |page=151 |date=2012 |isbn=978-1-44473-369-3}}</ref>

The song became the 1975 [[Christmas number-one singles in the UK|UK Christmas number one]], holding the top position for nine weeks.{{sfn|Whiteley|2006|p=253}} "Bohemian Rhapsody" was the first song ever to get to number one in the UK twice with the same version,{{Sfn|BBC|2005}} and is also the only single to have been Christmas number one twice with the same version. The second was upon its re-release (as a double A-side single with "[[These Are the Days of Our Lives]]") in 1991, following [[Death of Freddie Mercury|Mercury's death]], staying at number one for five weeks.<ref>{{cite news |title=Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody voted the Nation's Favourite Number 1 Single |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/queen-s-bohemian-rhapsody-voted-the-nation-s-favourite-number-1-single__2258/ |access-date=19 June 2021 |work=Official Charts Company}}</ref> The re-released version sold 673,000 copies in 1991 in the UK.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/official-top-40-best-selling-songs-of-1991__33179/|publisher=[[Official Charts]]|title=Official Top 40 best-selling songs of 1991|author=Rob Copsey|date=21 May 2021|accessdate=11 July 2021}}</ref>

In the US, the single was also a success, although initially to a lesser extent than in the UK. The single, released in December&nbsp;1975, reached number nine on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] and was certified gold by the [[Recording Industry Association of America]] for sales of one million copies.<ref name="RIAA"/>

In a retrospective article, [[Anthony DeCurtis]] of ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' explained why the song performed less strongly in the US charts by saying that it is "the quintessential example of the kind of thing that doesn't exactly go over well in America".{{sfn|BBC|2004b}} Its chart run of 24&nbsp;weeks, however, placed it at number&nbsp;18 on ''Billboard''{{'}}s year-end chart, higher than some number&nbsp;1s of the year.<ref name="BillboardYE1976"/> With the Canadian record-buying public, the single fared better, reaching number one in the ''RPM'' national singles chart for the week ending 1&nbsp;May 1976.<ref name="RPMTop100"/>

In the US, "Bohemian Rhapsody" was re-released as a double A-side cassette single with "[[The Show Must Go On (Queen song)|The Show Must Go On]]" in January&nbsp;1992, two months after the death of Freddie Mercury, with proceeds going to the [[Magic Johnson Foundation]] for AIDS research. The song re-entered the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] chart after 16&nbsp;years, reaching number two, and spending 17&nbsp;weeks on the chart.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hxAEAAAAMBAJ&q=queen+waynes+world&pg=PA8 |title=Billboard 25 July 1992. p.8 |date=25 July 1992}}</ref> After the release of [[Bohemian Rhapsody (film)|the Queen biopic named after the song]], it re-entered the charts for a third time at number&nbsp;33, marking&nbsp;26 years since it last charted.<ref>{{cite news |title=Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' Makes Rare Third Visit to Billboard Hot 100 |url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/8484827/queen-bohemian-rhapsody-prince-1999-hot-100 |magazine=Billboard |date=13 November 2018 |access-date=13 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181114044410/https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/8484827/queen-bohemian-rhapsody-prince-1999-hot-100 |archive-date=14 November 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In March 2021 it was [[List of best-selling singles in the United States#Diamond certification|certified Diamond]] (10× platinum) in the US for combined digital sales and streams equal to 10 million units.<ref name="Diamond">{{cite news |title=Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" becomes first song by a British band to be RIAA-certified Diamond |url=http://abcnewsradioonline.com/music-news/2021/3/25/queens-bohemian-rhapsody-becomes-first-song-by-a-british-ban.html |access-date=12 July 2021 |agency=ABC News |archive-date=12 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210712162323/http://abcnewsradioonline.com/music-news/2021/3/25/queens-bohemian-rhapsody-becomes-first-song-by-a-british-ban.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> It had sold 4.4&nbsp;million digital copies in the US {{as of|2017|09|lc=y}}.<ref name="sales_us">{{cite news|url=http://www.defjampromo.com/files/2009/10/BB-Digital-Songs-Chart-Wk.-Ending-9-14-17.pdf|title=Nielsen SoundScan charts – Digital Songs – Week Ending: 09/14/2017|publisher=[[Nielsen SoundScan]]|access-date=19 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170919211714/http://www.defjampromo.com/files/2009/10/BB-Digital-Songs-Chart-Wk.-Ending-9-14-17.pdf|archive-date=19 September 2017}}</ref>