(London) Phones and bank cards overheated: Buyers around the world began bidding on Wednesday in the hope of affording manuscripts of Queen hits or works of art that belonged to Freddie Mercury, offered for sale at Sotheby’s in London.

To the rhythm of We Will Rock You, the evening opened under the hammer of auctioneer Oliver Barker.

First lot for sale, the door to Garden Lodge, Freddie Mercury’s home in West London. Saturated with fan graffiti, the property’s green door was sold – including costs – for 412,750 pounds sterling ($704,907.90), shattering the auction house’s published estimate of between 15,000 and 25,000 pound sterling).

Among the centerpieces of Wednesday’s sale, which will be followed by two other indoor auctions in addition to three online sales, is the piano of the British singer who died of AIDS in 1991 at the age of 45.

Estimated between two and three million pounds sterling (3.4 to 5.1 million), this Yamaha quarter grand was purchased in 1975 by Freddie Mercury. He composed almost all of his works there after its acquisition.

Also on sale are manuscripts of Queen’s greatest hits, including Bohemian Rhapsody. The 15 pages written in pencil and ballpoint pen reveal the different directions envisaged by the artist for this title which was initially to be called Mongolian Rhapsody.

These auctions will see a succession of paintings that adorned the interior of the legendary rocker: works by Chagall, Dali, Picasso, as well as the last painting purchased by the artist, a month before his death, an oil on canvas by James Tissot .

The set is being put up for sale by Mary Austin, a close friend to whom he was even engaged for a time and to whom Freddie Mercury had made his heir.

“Mary Austin lived with the collection” and “looked after it for more than three decades” at Garden Lodge where she lived, Gabriel Heaton, books and manuscripts specialist at Sotheby’s, told AFP last month.

“Freddie Mercury was not interested in having a museum of his life, but he loved auctions,” to the point of being a regular at Sotheby’s, he said.

Under the hammer of the London auction house, a total of 1,469 lots will be auctioned, according to Sotheby’s.

In addition to the artist, they also tell the man that was Freddie Mercury, his passion for cats, Japan – as evidenced by his collection of kimonos and prints -, his taste for receptions.

The contents of his wardrobe will also change hands, his most flamboyant stage costumes, his Hawaiian shirts, his Superman tank top.

Lots of photos are also offered, but also bottles from his cellar, such as Dom Pérignon champagne, in a 1978 bottle, or in a 1985 magnum.

There are also more intimate objects, such as this collection of poetry annotated by his hand when he was a teenager, a mustache comb; fun too, like a set of games including a travel Scrabble, of which the rocker was a formidable player.

Before being scattered, the collection was brought together in a free month-long exhibition at Sotheby’s in London, which welcomed 140,000 visitors according to the auction house.

In April, when the auction was announced, Sotheby’s estimated it would fetch at least £6 million (over £10.2 million).

Profits will be donated in part to the Mercury Phoenix Trust and Elton John Aids Foundation, two organizations involved in the fight against AIDS.

According to Sotheby’s, it is the largest collection, by volume, of a superstar or cultural icon since the Elton John sale in 1988, when 2,000 lots sold in total for £4.8 million.

Among the thousands of objects that belonged to Freddie Mercury, here are five – which are distinguished by their meaning, their price, their history or all at the same time – to follow.

It is the instrument on which Freddie Mercury composed almost everything, starting from Bohemian Rhapsody, according to Gabriel Heaton, from Sotheby’s.

Looking for a piano worthy of his ambitions, while finding its place in the living room of the small apartment where he was then living with Mary Austin, the artist bought it in 1975 for a thousand pounds sterling after weeks of research.

This quarter-grand Yamaha G2 was treated by the musician with “absolute respect”, according to Freddie Mercury heiress Mary Austin. More than an instrument, he saw it as “an extension of himself, his vehicle of creativity”. A sign of respect if needed, “he never smoked on the piano or left a drink on it” and making everyone do the same, according to Mary Austin, “the piano was always spotless.”

Sotheby’s estimates it at £2-3m (£3.4m-5.1m).

In Freddie Mercury’s home, it was accompanied by a silk-trimmed two-seater stool, dating from the 1920s and 1930s, which Freddie Mercury had purchased in 1977 from Harrods. It is also on sale.

The title could have been called Mongolian Rhapsody, according to the 15 pages of this draft on the paper bearing the image of a now defunct airline, British Midland Airways carrying the calendar for the year 1974.

This pencil and ballpoint pen manuscript – eight pages are devoted to lyrics, seven to musical harmonies – allows us to understand the artist’s creative process.

This manuscript is estimated between £800,000 and £1.2 million (£1.4 million to £2.1 million).

Freddie Mercury wore them on The Magic Tour, where Queen packed stadiums in 1986.

The coronet, with its four arches, crimson velvet cap and faux ermine, is designed to resemble that of St Edward’s used in the coronation of British monarchs.

The cape, with its fleur-de-lys, 3.27 meters long, is inspired by those of Napoleon’s coronation.

The set was worn by Freddie Mercury at the time of Brian May’s God Save The Queen which concluded each concert of this tour, which was the last of the group with its singer, until its last appearance on stage, August 9, 1986.

Sotheby’s published an estimate between £60,000 and £80,000 ($103,000 to $137,000).

Dating to 1964, when Freddie Mercury’s family fled Zanzibar because of the revolution to settle in London, this book of poems features the commentary of teenager Fred Bulsara (his real name being Farrokh Bulsara).

There are his comments and judgments – “pretty good ideas” – annotations and drawings, as well as a poem of his own composition in black ballpoint pen.

It is estimated at 800 to 1,200 pounds sterling ($1,400 to $2,000) and offered in an online sale that ends September 12.

The beautiful 1941 Wurlitzer jukebox that the singer bought for his kitchen is loaded with 24 78 rpm records like Hallelujah I Love Her So by Ray Charles, Rit It Up by Little Richard and Shake, Rattle and Roll by Bill Haley.

Estimated at £15,000-25,000 ($26,000-$43,000).