Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ has become the oldest music video to top 1 billion YouTube views. Queen’s most popular song was never supposed to be released. Their music label at the time thought it was too long and couldn’t make out the song. Queen took it upon themselves to get the song heard.

“We are honoured that ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ has just hit one billion views on YouTube,” says Brian May and Roger Taylor.

The band just released a new remastered version of the original song, which premiered on “Top of the Pops” in England in November 1975.

Elton John’s biopic Rocketman was supposed to be the next Bohemian Rhapsody, but it took a dive at the box office falling below expectations. In a ten day period – Rocketman only brought it $47.5 million whereas Bohemian Rhapsody clocked over $100 million with half the promotion. Rocketman received better reviews and Elton John was even bigger than Freddie Mercury. So what happened with Rocketman?

Rocketman and Bohemian Rhapsody are vastly different in how they portray the iconic frontman. Bohemian Rhapsody focused on Freddie Mercurys life as an artist and his talent. Rocketman explores Elton John’s sexuality and his drug issues painting him as a sex-crazed junkie. The members of Queen were deeply involved in the making of Bohemian Rhapsody and made sure that Freddie Mercury was defined by his talent and showmanship and nothing else.

As of now Rocketman has generated $72 million while Bohemian Rhapsody has pulled in $900+ million worldwide

The music industry is turning to Hollywood for a new stream of revenue. Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody which became the biggest biopic ever generated $903 million worldwide on a $50 million budget. Even though the success of Bohemian Rhapsody was once-in-lifetime, it’s still worth for music labels to invest in documentaries because of the massive exposure. Even a biopic that bombs can still impact artist streams and downloads. With the success of Bohemian Rhapsody, Hollywood is on a biopic craze hoping to make the most out of the momentum. As the Hollywood Reported stated, “singers become as bankable as superheroes at the box office?”

Here are some upcoming biopics:

Elton John – ‘Rocketman’
David Bowie – ‘Stardust’
Dusty Springfield – ‘So Much Love’
Celine Dion – ‘The Power of Love’
Aretha Franklin – ‘Respect’