Freddie Mercury’s silk waistcoat featuring portraits of Freddie Mercury’s six cats sold for £139,700

You may have heard about Sotheby’s recent auction of Freddie Mercury’s personal possessions. Well, they sold for very close to £40 million ($49,623,000). Most items sold for well over their listed estimates. One of those items was his famous silk waistcoat which is covered in hand painted portraits of his six cats, one of which was his favorite, Delilah, the source of inspiration for his famous song Delilah. The estimated sale prices was between £5,000 and £7,000. It made £139,700! Astonishing but the whole event was like one the great man’s concerts. It was full of high drama and excitement with 140,000 fans visiting Sotheby’s.

Freddie was an immense cat lover. I think he preferred cats to humans! A lot of people are like that.

Here is the famous waistcoat:

And here is the real Delilah:

And here is another:

I have a page dedicated to Delilah who was a calico in American terminology or tortoiseshell-and-white. Please click on the link below to read it:

Note that all his cats were random-bred. Probably rescue cats or just acquired in the usual ad hoc way. He did not purchase purebred, pedigree cats.

The Delilah lyrics come to life when you know that he was signing about his beloved cat:

Delilah, Delilah

Oh my, oh my, oh my
You’re irresistible, ooh, ooh, ooh
You make me smile when I’m just about to cry
You bring me hope, you make me laugh, and I like it

You get away with murder so innocent
But when you throw a moody
You’re all claws and you bite
That’s alright

Delilah, Delilah
Oh my, oh my, oh my
You’re unpredictable, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
You make me so very happy
When you cuddle up and go to sleep beside me
And then you make me slightly mad
When you pee all over my Chippendale suite

Ooh, ooh (Delilah)
Ooh, ooh (Delilah)
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

You take over my house and home
You even try to answer my telephone
Delilah, you’re the apple of my eye

Meow, meow, meow
Delilah, I love you, Delilah, oh
Ooh, you make me so very happy
You give me kisses and I go out of my mind, ooh
You’re irresistible, I love you, Delilah
Delilah, I love you
Ha, ha
You make me very happy, ooh, oh, yeah
I love your kisses
I love your kisses
I love your kisses
I love your kisses
I love your, your, your kisses
I love your kisses