Article content

CALGARY — On the night he wound up in a viral video that would eventually be viewed by millions, Robert Wilkinson says, he simply set out to join his friends for a drink in the pub of the local Best Western in Edson, Alta.

That November evening ended with a drunk driving charge and a passionate, near-perfect rendition of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody that has since garnered nearly seven million views on YouTube.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or My life is ‘hell’: Robert Wilkinson, Bohemian Rhapsodist Back to video

Mr. Wilkinson said in an interview Tuesday his life in his west-central Alberta hometown of fewer than 10,000 people has since become a “slow burning hell.”

“The ringing and all the messages on my iPad. I find it difficult to keep a battery charge on it,” he said. “I don’t know what I’m going to do now, end up in the gutter probably.”

[np-related]

The grainy black and white video footage, embossed with white timestamps, was shot when Mr. Wilkinson was sitting in the back of a squad car.