Western music of many kinds is widely available in the Islamic Republic of Iran. But the government has just selected its first-ever rock recording to let into the country legally. Can you guess? The lead singer has a Parsee background...
The answer is Queen’s Greatest Hits, and Freddie Mercury is the lead singer. The accompanying booklet “tells Queen fans that Bohemian Rhapsody is about a young man who has accidentally killed someone and, like Faust, sold his soul to the devil. On the night before his execution he calls God in Arabic, “Bismillah”, and so regains his soul from Satan.”
Here is the full story. It is reported that the album, shorn of a few love songs, is selling well.
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