Things You Don't Know About 'Bohemian Rhapsody' at 40

Halloween, 1975. That was the day the world was introduced to what became one of the most well-known songs in the world. "Bohemian Rhapsody" was the first hit single for Queen in the U.S. where it reached the number nine chart position. It hit number one, not once, but twice in Britain, Canada and Australia (with the same version) thanks to a crazy little film named Wayne's World in 1992. It also landed back on the U.S. music charts climbing up to number two the second time around.

There are so many interesting things that I certainly didn't know about the song or for that matter, the group Queen. Here are just a few of those facts:

The original title of the musical masterpiece was "The Cowboy Song"
Freddy Mercury wrote the whole song in his head and then would write snippets of it down on scraps of paper
Mercury played piano the way most people played drums, according to guitarist Brian May and he thought he played it so poorly, he thought of giving it up
The recording of just operatic section took three entire weeks
Record label executives told Queen that the song was too long to get airplay and didn't want to release it
Guitarist Brian May (who taught math & science to secondary students in London while waiting for Queen to get a break) still turns the radio up when he hears it, just like the rest of us!

For a ton of quirky, fascinating and trivial info on the song and the group, click here, here, here and here.

And check the video below:

(Sources include Associated Press and Mashable.com)