When Freddie Mercury died in 1991, he left his Garden Lodge home and all its contents to his ex-fiancée Mary Austin.
Then, two years ago, the Queen singer’s old flame auctioned his personal possessions off, including his Yamaha baby grand piano and original Bohemian Rhapsody lyrics, making a whopping £40 million.
And now Mary has announced a special new book, Freddie Mercury: A Life in Lyrics, to be published in September 2026; coinciding with what would have been the rock legend’s 80th birthday.
The contents offer “his official creative legacy, based on his previously unseen personal archives, manuscripts and collections.”
An announcement by HarperNonFiction today reads: “When Freddie passed away in 1991, he left to his former fiancé and dearest friend Mary Austin not only his house and possessions but also a creative archive spanning almost two decades. From his earliest works before Queen was formed, right through to the end of his solo career, his notebooks and doodlings contain previously unpublished material including alternate lyrics and abandoned verses for Bohemian Rhapsody and multiple drafts of Don’t Stop Me Now, as well as entire songs that were never recorded. Accompanied by stories, memories, and anecdotes from his lifelong companion, and illustrated with photographs from Freddie’s personal collection, many of which have never been published before, A Life in Lyrics is the definitive creative record of one of the greatest songwriters of all time.”
Mary Austin shared: “In early 2023, in the midst of cataloguing the contents of Garden Lodge, this wonderful home Freddie had left to me, I began to leaf through the papers my family and I had collected together from where they had lain, undisturbed and unseen, in the house for over thirty years. Here were the working drafts for Freddie’s lyrics, set down across loose sheets of paper and in simple, plain notebooks that entirely belied the wonders within. This reemergence of Freddie’s handwritten notes, offering a window into his brilliant, creative mind, stirred up many memories from decades past, of conversations, occasions and emotions. Freddie’s songs continue to bring so much happiness, and solace, to so many. I hope that by sharing his manuscripts now, contextualised with fresh insights and a sprinkling of vignettes of our lives together, I will illuminate the remarkable creative force of my dear friend for the enjoyment of everyone he continues to delight and inspire, even after all these years.”
Freddie Mercury: A Life in Lyrics will be published in hardback, ebook and audiobook, on September 1 2026.