London DJ Kenny Everett was asked not to play the song on the radio. He played it anyway, and it became the 1975 Christmas No. 1.

In the fall of 1975, Queen had a new song its record label didn’t think radio would touch. It ran 5 minutes and 55 seconds, had no chorus, and moved from a ballad to opera to hard rock and back.

A London DJ got a copy before it came out and played it anyway. Within weeks, it was the No. 1 single in the U.K., and it stayed there for nine weeks.

The song was “Bohemian Rhapsody.” The DJ was Kenny Everett.

‘A Six-Minute Single? You Must Be Joking!’

Freddie Mercury wrote “Bohemian Rhapsody” for the band’s fourth album, “A Night at the Opera.” He once described it as three songs he wanted to put out, joined into one, according to the song’s history.

EMI wasn’t convinced it could work as a single. Mercury told the British music paper Sounds in January 1976 that “EMI were shocked,” and summed up the label’s reaction as “A six-minute single? You must be joking!” according to Queen Songs.

The thinking at the label was that anything longer than about three and a half minutes would struggle to get airplay, Vintage Digital reported. EMI wanted “You’re My Best Friend,” from the same album, to be the first single, according to Mental Floss. The band and producer Roy Thomas Baker wanted “Bohemian Rhapsody” at full length.

How Kenny Everett Got a Copy

Everett hosted a morning show on Capital Radio in London. Accounts differ on how the song ended up in his hands.

Baker said the band gave Everett a reel-to-reel copy on the condition that he promise not to play it on the air. Other versions say Everett asked Baker for a copy after hearing it at a private playback, or that Mercury sent him one, according to Today I Found Out.

Either way, he didn’t keep it to himself. He started by playing short pieces of the song and telling listeners his finger must have slipped. Then he played the full track 14 times in two days, according to the Official Charts Company.

Listeners called the station asking for it, and record shops started getting requests for a single that wasn’t out yet.

Nine Weeks at No. 1

EMI released “Bohemian Rhapsody” in the U.K. on Oct. 31, 1975, uncut. It spent nine weeks at No. 1 and was the country’s Christmas No. 1 that year. In the U.S., it reached No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1976.

The song had a second run after Mercury died in November 1991. Reissued that December as a double A-side with “These Are the Days of Our Lives,” with the proceeds going to charity, it went back to No. 1 in the U.K. for five more weeks. In 1992, after it was featured in “Wayne’s World,” it climbed to No. 2 on the Hot 100.

Where It Stands Now

Rolling Stone ranked it No. 17 on its 2021 list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2004, and the Library of Congress added it to the National Recording Registry in 2022. In December 2018, it became the most-streamed song from the 20th century.

For more on Queen, read what drummer Roger Taylor said about the band’s unfinished songs and future shows, and about where things stand with John Deacon.

This story was originally published by Men’s Journal on Oct 18, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men’s Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.