The song "Bohemian Rhapsody", written by Freddie Mercury and originally recorded by rock band Queen for their album A Night at the Opera, has been covered by many different artists.
List
The Braids version
San Francisco Bay Area duo the Braids recorded an R&B version of "Bohemian Rhapsody" for the soundtrack to the Jon Lovitz movie High School High. It was released as their debut single in October 1996 and became a hit in Europe and New Zealand.
Release
The song was produced by Third Eye Blind's lead singer Stephan Jenkins with Eric Valentine and was released as a single in October 1996. It peaked at number 21 in United Kingdom and number 42 on the US Billboard Hot 100, staying on the latter chart for 17 weeks. In New Zealand, the song reached number two for four nonconsecutive weeks and achieved platinum status for sales of over 10,000. In Europe, the song was a top-20 hit in several regions, including Scandinavia, Italy and the Netherlands.
Critical reception
Larry Flick from Billboard described the Braid's version as a "surprisingly potent jeep-funk rendition of the Queen classic", and stated further that "if you let go of everything connected to the original recording and give yourself to this interpretation, you will discover an often poignant street commentary as told from the viewpoint of a young woman." He also added that "the problem is that many may have a difficult time digesting the new concepts tied to this well-worn rocker." Jeremy Helligar from Entertainment Weekly wrote that "stripping ”Bohemian Rhapsody” down to an insistent shuffle beat, assorted piano fills, and soulful vocals, they create a sound so moving that you might want to reach out and hug the speakers." Alan Jones from Music Week deemed it "the most obvious contender" from the High School High soundtrack. He noted that "attacking it from a wholly different angle to Rolf Harris, they give it the kind of makeover that wouldn't disgrace Fugees. Likely to attract a lot of attention." Bönz Malone for Vibe called it a "soaring" remake.
Music video
The music video for "Bohemian Rhapsody" was directed by German director Marcus Nispel.
Track listing
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Release history
The Muppets version
The song was covered by the Muppets characters in 2009. A music video was posted on YouTube on 23 November 2009, before the release of the track, and features Muppets characters singing partially modified lyrics of the original song. It garnered over seven million hits within its first week of release. Unlike other cover versions, the Muppets' single features the final master of Queen's original 1975 recording.
The video and song is an official production of The Muppets Studio. After the viral success of the video, Walt Disney Records released the cover as a single on 13 December 2009, where it peaked at #32 on the UK Singles Chart.
Video
The Muppets' version of "Bohemian Rhapsody" was directed by Kirk Thatcher, who has been involved with several other Muppets videos. According to studio manager Lylle Breier, the idea of the Muppets singing "Bohemian Rhapsody" had long been an idea that they wanted to do, but only was able to bring the project together within a short time before the video's release. Thatcher noted they had a long list of possible songs they wanted to do with a large group of Muppets, including Don McLean's "American Pie", but "Bohemian Rhapsody" was their ultimate selection. Filming was completed within a day by 20 staffers; Thatcher considered the task to be "epic in scale" considering they normally only use half a dozen Muppets for a single scene. Breier stated that this and other videos that Disney released to YouTube are part of a promotional push for the Muppets; Breier likened outlets on the Internet like YouTube to the variety shows of the 1970s, and felt that the Muppets easily fit into that culture.
The video is a montage by about 70 different Muppets characters singing their part of the lyrics against a black screen, in the same style used by Queen for portions of their promotion video of the song as well as mimicking the four-person layout used for the cover of Queen's second album. After completing the song, which ends up with mosaic of all the characters singing, it is revealed that this was one side of a computer video conference with Kermit the Frog, who laments his decision for that type of meeting to Scooter.