Mercury used a C. Bechstein concert grand piano, which he played in the promotional video and the UK tour. Due to the elaborate nature of the song, it was recorded in various sections. The piano was the same one Paul McCartney had used to record Hey Jude.
This was filmed on a sound stage at Elstree studios in early November 1975. Just a few months later, in the summer of 1976, Star Wars Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) was filming on the same sound stage.
"Bohemian Rhapsody" is sometimes incorrectly stated as the first music video. It wasn't. Artists such as The Beatles, Bob Dylan, David Bowie and ABBA had already made videos to their songs before this was released. However, the video was groundbreaking, as rock historian Paul Fowles stated the song is "widely credited as the first global hit single for which an accompanying video was central to the marketing strategy".
This was voted the fourth greatest music video of all time by the British public for The 100 Greatest Pop Videos (2005). Third place was a-ha's "Take On Me", second was Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer" and first was Michael Jackson's "Thriller".
Rolling Stone stated that its influence "cannot be overstated, practically inventing the music video seven years before MTV went on the air."