A whole new generation was exposed to Queen thanks to a memorable scene that used “Bohemian Rhapsody” in the hit 1992 film Wayne’s World, but it turns out, “Wayne,” “Garth” and their friends almost rocked out to a totally different song as they drove in their AMC Pacer in the flick. Star Mike Myers told Marc Maron on his podcast that producers wanted to use Guns N’ Roses due to that band’s popularity at the time.
Myers almost walked from the film over the song, explaining,
“Queen, at that point – not by me and not by hardcore fans – but the public had sort of forgotten about them. Freddie [Mercury] had gotten sick, the last time we had seen them was on Live Aid, and then there were a few albums after where they were sort of straying away from their arena-rock roots. But I always loved ‘Bohemian Rhapsody.’ I thought it was a masterpiece. So if fought really, really hard for it. And at one point I said, ‘Well, I’m out. I don’t want to make this movie if it’s not ‘Bohemian Rhapsody.’”
Hear the whole interview at WTFPod.com.
AND RELATED AUDIO: Guitarist Brian May told us more about when the band made “Bohemian Rhapsody”.
LISTEN HERE..
TIDBIT: In the weeks after Wayne’s World hit theaters, 16 years after “Bohemian Rhapsody” was originally in the top ten, the track returned to the charts, hitting number two in early 1992.
TALKING POINT: Could you imagine that scene from Wayne’s World with any other song?
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