Queen Enlist Fans Around the World for Three New Music Videos

Queen tapped 10,000 people from 120 countries to help them create three new music videos for “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Don’t Stop Me Now” and “A Kind of Magic.”

Queen, YouTube Music, Universal Music and Hollywood Records came up with the fan music video initiative as a way to celebrate the original “Bohemian Rhapsody” clip becoming the first pre-Nineties music video to reach one billion views on YouTube.

Each video called for a different kind of submission — with the “Bohemian Rhapsody” video, for instance, fans were asked to play and sing the song any way they wanted, while the “Don’t Stop Me Now” video called for dancing and “A Kind of Magic” called for visual art and animation.

Each clip is effortlessly endearing, especially the “Bohemian Rhapsody” video. While the clip features musicians playing the song on everything from drums, guitar, piano and bass to water glasses, harps, bassoons and xylophones, its myriad facets were expertly stitched together by DJ Earworm, who is best known for his end-of-the-year pop mash-ups.

Meanwhile, the “Don’t Stop Me Now” video boasts fans from around the world performing a unique dance crafted by Polly Bennett, who served as the choreographer on the Queen biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody. And the “A Kind of Magic” clip showcases the artistry of Queen fans, incorporating everything from painting and digital animation to graphic design, sand art and flowers.

In a statement, Queen guitarist Brian May said of the videos, “It’s one of the most rewarding things that can happen to an artist of any kind: to see that our work has inspired folk all around the world to create their own performances and visual art is a thrill. And the diversity of their vision is astonishing. Big thanks to everyone who participated.”