Queen legends Brian May and Roger Taylor brought rock royalty to the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday, September 13, joining forces with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Chorus, the BBC Singers, and the National Youth Choir for a breathtaking symphonic performance of Bohemian Rhapsody. The spectacle marked the 50th anniversary of Queen’s iconic anthem and headlined the grand finale of the 2025 BBC Proms, famously known as the Last Night of the Proms.
Broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 and televised across the U.K., the event fused classical grandeur with rock history. “What a perfect way to honor a Queen masterpiece in its 50th year,” May and Taylor said ahead of the show. “A 100-piece orchestra, a choir of more than 150 voices, and the Royal Albert Hall at its finest. Freddie would have loved every second.”
The new orchestral arrangement, crafted by Stuart Morley—the musical director behind We Will Rock You—gave the song a fresh, symphonic edge. Vocals soared courtesy of tenor Sam Oladeinde and soprano Louise Alder, while May electrified the hall with a searing guitar solo midway through the performance. The finale saw Taylor step forward to strike a resonant gong, punctuated by an emotional snippet of Freddie Mercury’s voice on the song’s last line—a moment that drew audible gasps from the crowd.
May later praised Morley’s arrangement as “the definitive orchestral version of Bohemian Rhapsody” and applauded the entire Proms ensemble, from the soloists to conductor Elim Chan. He teased that the performance included a few “hidden Easter eggs,” proudly noting Taylor’s dramatic gong strike as one of the night’s most powerful highlights.
“Every note was completely live and gloriously risky—exactly how Queen has always done it,” May added. “Long live live music. Long live the Proms!”
