Bologna is hosting an exhibition dedicated to Queen’s final tour

Entitled “Queen – The Last Tour”, the exhibition has opened its doors at the Bologna Music Museum, promising to attract fans of the legendary rock band from all over the world to the city. The exhibition retraces one of the most thrilling moments in music history: the 1986 Magic Tour, Queen’s final tour with Freddie Mercury.

Open from 10 July to 11 October 2026, the exhibition brings to Italy for the first time the photographs by Swedish photographer Torleif Svensson, who followed Queen throughout the tour. His images do more than simply document a series of concerts; they capture Freddie Mercury’s overwhelming energy, the chemistry with Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon, and the almost visceral connection the band shared with their audience.

It is a snapshot of a generation, of a piece of history, of a musical phenomenon that would be difficult to put into words. Each image captures a fragment of Queen’s final great tour: from their performances in European stadiums right through to the historic final concert at Knebworth Park on 9 August 1986, in front of over 120,000 spectators.

No one at the time could have imagined that this would be the band’s final tour with Freddie Mercury. Curated by Pascal Casadei van Raamsdonk and organised in collaboration with A Piece of His Own, the Museo della Musica – located just a stone’s throw from Galleria Cavour – presents photographs that have remained in the photographer’s personal archive for decades.

The exhibition, however, goes beyond the images and also includes a selection of original items that belonged to Freddie Mercury and Queen, some of which are on public display for the very first time. It offers fans of the band the chance to connect with an even more intimate side of the group, as the exhibition successfully combines the historical significance of the images with the emotional power of the music.

Once again, Bologna has proved itself to be a city capable of offering its increasingly international audience a wide-ranging programme of exhibitions. “Queen – The Last Tour” is, in fact, a journey through rock’s collective memory, a tribute to Freddie Mercury’s artistic legacy and an opportunity to relive a unique era that has left its mark on contemporary culture.

Ph: Jdk at it.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons, particolare.