Mercury's jacket sells on day he would have been 80

A jacket worn by rock legend Freddie Mercury during his last live singing performance has sold for £85,000 on what would have been his 80th birthday.

The Queen star wore the cropped black jacket during a surprise guest appearance alongside Cliff Richard at a charity gala at the Dominion Theatre in London in April 1988.

Wiltshire-based auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son said a collector paid a total of £110,000 for the jacket at auction earlier, including the winning bid of £85,000 and a buyers' premium.

"This is a fantastic piece of showbiz history," said managing director Andrew Aldridge. "He was one of the greatest showmen of the 20th Century," he added.

The jacket was sold alongside letters from charity AIDSTakeCare International and the daughter of actress Barbara Valentin, who had been given the jacket by Mercury.

It was expected to fetch up to £150,000.

"The low estimate was £100,000 the high estimate was £150,000," Aldridge said.

He added that the jacket was purchased by a collector from the USA who moves between the UK and his home country - so the piece might stay in England.

The charity performance of Time The Musical saw Mercury appear on stage in support of the Terrence Higgins Trust.

During the show, Mercury sang It's Only Rock 'N' Roll, In My Defence, Time, and duetted with Richard on It's In Every One Of Us.

He wore a jacket from the Jean Paul Gaultier 1987/88 Rock Stars collection.

Aldridge said: "This would be the very last time ever and he delivered an incredible performance and reminded the world why he remains one of the greatest legends of all time.

"Although he did appear on stage later that year with Montserrat Caballe for Barcelona, that performance was lip-synced."

Mercury died three years later aged 45 from bronchial pneumonia, a complication of Aids.

Earlier this week, a 30ft (9m) mural of Freddie Mercury was unveiled at Wembley Park to celebrate his legacy.

The artwork, called I'm Mr Mercury, was created by the street artist Frank Styles and will remain in place until December.

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