NFT Freddie Mercury Goes Sold For AIDS Charity

JAKARTA - Four non-fungible token (NFT) artworks inspired by late Queen vocalist Freddie Mercury are being auctioned off for charity to mark his 75th birthday.

Three of them show depictions of the singer while the fourth is a dreamlike depiction of a white grand piano with a crown on its bench, surrounded by a swimming goldfish pond.

The three artists chose to feature Mercury themselves on NFT, with only the image of Blake Kathryn's asylum heading in a different direction. This image features the late vocalist's white piano and a red crown in the garden.

"Works by artists Blake Kathryn, Chad Knight, Mat Maitland and MBSJQ will be sold in a timed auction on the digital art marketplace SuperRare for 75 hours starting September 20," organizers said.

"Freddie's sanctuary is her garden cottage, which has a variety of electric décor through a love rooted in classic Victorian touches with Japanese influences," says Kathryn.

Proceeds from the auction will be donated to The Mercury Phoenix Trust, an AIDS charity founded by Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor, and the band's manager, Jim Beach, in memory of the singer.

The market for NFTs, niche crypto assets that are blockchain-based records of ownership of digital goods such as images or videos, is currently surging, although skeptics have warned of the euphoria.

"Freddie Mercury left a very simple creative brief to the world on his death. 'You can do whatever you want with my work, never bore me'," said SuperRare and the Mercury Phoenix Trust in a joint statement Thursday, September 16.

Freddie Mercury, who studies graphic arts and design, was due to turn 75 on September 5. He died of AIDS-related pneumonia in 1991.

More than US$5 million has been spent on NFTs in the last 30 days, according to data from DappRadar. The NFT from the game Axie Infinity currently topped the list as the most valuable NFT.

Beeple, the digital artist who holds the record for NFT artwork with US$69 million which he created for his 'Everydays - The First 5000 Days' at auction at Christie's, sold NFT for US$6 million with proceeds donated to the OpenEarth Foundation.