British singer and songwriter Freddie Mercury's tiny hotpants worn at his 1980 Birmingham gig sold for 18000 pounds (Rs 18,37,658) in an auction in the United Kingdom. Freddie Mercury achieved worldwide fame as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen, according to The BBC.
The news outlet further stated that the singer wore the garment at several shows, and it was referenced in a 1992 biography by Queen's fan club secretary Jacky Gunn, who said they "didn't leave much to the imagination." Omega Auctions said they had been bought by an overseas bidder.
According to the auction house, the pair of tailored leather shorts was owned and worn by Freddie Mercury, most notably onstage during the encore for Queen's second sold-out night at the Birmingham Exhibition Centre on December 6, 1980. This occasion is cited in 'Queen: As It Began' by fan club secretary Jacky Gunn and Jim Jenkins.
They write, "Freddie decided to try to shock the audience with his stage outfit for the encore: the shortest, tightest pair of black leather shorts he could find. They didn't leave much to the imagination, but no one complained..."
The Newton-le-Willows-based auction house said the shorts were originally purchased by the vendor at a Queen Fan Club auction in Southport in 1993. The lot includes the original signed letter of authenticity from fan club secretary Jacky Gunn.
According to the news agency AFP, more than 1,500 items from Freddie Mercury's private collection, including costumes, unique objects, and previously unseen handwritten draught lyrics, will be auctioned later this year, Sotheby's announced on Wednesday.
The Queen frontman's collection, which has been left largely untouched at his former west London home in the three decades since his death, will be exhibited publicly in the British capital for a month from August 4.
Prior to that, in June, highlights from the ensemble will go on tour to New York, Los Angeles, and Hong Kong, as well as London.
The vast array of items, spanning clothing, paintings, and objects from Mercury's everyday life, will then go under the hammer in six London sales expected to fetch at least $7.5 million.
They are being sold by Mary Austin, one of the icon's closest friends, who has cared for them at his former home, Garden Lodge, in London's upmarket Kensington district, ever since he died in 1991.
"I have had the joy and privilege of living surrounded by all the wonderful things that Freddie sought out and so loved," she said in a statement released by Sotheby's.
"But the years have passed, and the time has come for me to take the difficult decision to close this very special chapter in my life."
Calling Mercury "an incredible and intelligent collector who showed us that there is beauty, fun, and conversation to be found in everything", Austin added the process would "celebrate his unique and beautiful spirit".
