Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" has become the world's most-streamed song from the 20th century, four decades after the number was first recorded.
The single, which inspired the title of the recent Rami Malek-starrer Freddie Mercury biopic, is also the most-streamed classic rock song of all time, a release on the official page of the British rock band said quoting Universal Music Group.
The original song and official video for Bohemian Rhapsody , taken from the group's 1975 album A Night at the Opera, has surpassed 1.6 billion streams globally across all major streaming services.
"So the River of Rock Music has metamorphosed into streams! Very happy that our music is still flowing to the max!," Brian May, Queen's guitarist, and a founding member said.
“Bohemian Rhapsody” is considered one of the greatest songs ever recorded. In 2004, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and Freddie Mercury’s vocal performance was named by the readers of Rolling Stone magazine as the best in rock history.
The anthem's streaming success can also be contributed to the popularity of the film, which has become the highest grossing music biopic in history. Malek has been hailed universally for his empathic portrayal of Mercury, who died in 1991 of bronchial pneumonia resulting from AIDS.
Malek, in an interview with PTI ahead of the film's release in India, said he had never worked so hard on anything because he wanted to honour Mercury and Queen's musical legacy.
"I am honoured to be the person to contribute to Freddie's story and be a tiny part of Queen's legacy. The ability to bring it to a new generation is special and I am very fortunate to be a part of it.
"I have never worked this hard as on this to honour a human being. I probably asked for too many takes because I did not want to lie awake at night thinking 'I did not do everything that I could while I was on the set'. I pushed myself to the absolute limit," Malek had said.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)