The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert
| The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for Aids Awareness | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Concert |
| Dates | 20 April 1992 |
| Location(s) | Wembley Stadium, London, England |
| Years active | 1992 |
| Founded by |
Brian May Roger Taylor John Deacon |
The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for Aids Awareness was a concert held on Easter Monday, 20 April 1992 at London's Wembley Stadium, for an audience of 72,000.[1] The concert was produced for television by Ray Burdis and broadcast live on television and radio to 76 countries around the world, with an audience of up to one billion.[2][3] The concert was a tribute to the life of Queen lead vocalist, Freddie Mercury, with proceeds going to AIDS research. The show marked bassist John Deacon's final full-length concert with Queen (save two short live appearances with Brian May, Roger Taylor and Elton John in 1997). The profits from the concert were used to launch The Mercury Phoenix Trust, an AIDS charity organisation.
History
Following Freddie Mercury's death on 24 November 1991 from bronchopneumonia brought on by AIDS, the remaining members of Queen (John Deacon, Brian May and Roger Taylor) came together with their manager Jim Beach to organise a concert to celebrate the life and legacy of Mercury, and to raise money for AIDS research and spread awareness about the disease.[4] In February 1992, at the annual BRIT Awards ceremony, May and Taylor announced plans for the concert. When tickets finally went on sale, all 72,000 tickets sold out in just three hours, even though no performers were announced apart from remaining members of Queen.[4]
Concert
"Good evening Wembley and the world. We are here tonight to celebrate the life, and work, and dreams, of one Freddie Mercury. We're gonna give him the biggest send off in history!"
The concert opened with a message from the three remaining members of Queen in tribute to Mercury.[5] The music then commenced with short sets from bands that were influenced by the music of Queen, including Metallica, Extreme (playing a Queen medley), Def Leppard (who brought Brian May onstage for a version of "Now I'm Here"), and Guns N' Roses. Between bands, several video clips honouring Freddie Mercury were shown while roadies changed the stage for the following act's performance.
The second half of the concert featured the three remaining Queen members – John Deacon (on bass), Brian May (on guitar) and Roger Taylor (on drums) – along with guest singers and guitarists, including Elton John, Roger Daltrey (of The Who), Tony Iommi (of Black Sabbath), David Bowie, Mick Ronson (of Spiders from Mars), James Hetfield (of Metallica), George Michael, Seal, Paul Young, Annie Lennox, Lisa Stansfield, Robert Plant (of Led Zeppelin), Joe Elliott and Phil Collen (of Def Leppard), Axl Rose and Slash (of Guns N' Roses), Liza Minnelli, and others. This was the second high-profile project with both Elton John and George Michael in as many years; the year before, they did a live reworking of John's song "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me". Via satellite from Sacramento, California, U2 dedicated a live performance of "Until the End of the World" to Mercury.[6]
Home releases
The concert was originally released in VHS form (usually in two tape releases worldwide), but due to time limitations, "Love of My Life" and "More Than Words" by Extreme, "Animal" and "Let's Get Rocked" by Def Leppard, Spinal Tap's "The Majesty of Rock", U2's "Until The End of the World", Mango Groove's "Special Star" and Robert Plant's version of "Innuendo" were removed in the original release. The US release also omitted Bob Geldof's performance of "Too Late God", and Zucchero Fornaciari's performance of "Las Palabras de Amor".
In April 2002, for the 10th anniversary of the Mercury Phoenix Trust, the concert was released on DVD and entered the UK charts at number 1.[7] "Innuendo" was not included on the DVD, at the request of Robert Plant. In addition, the original 4:3 footage had been cropped down to widescreen.
An EP of the George Michael performances with Queen were released as Five Live in April 1993. It entered the UK singles chart at No. 1. Metallica's 3-song performance was made into a UK tour edition single for "Nothing Else Matters", entitled "Live at Wembley Stadium" and released in Europe just one week after the concert, on 27 April 1992. Additionally, the Guns N' Roses performance of "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" was released in August 1992 as a double A-side with the original Guns N' Roses studio recording of the song. This single entered the UK singles chart at No. 2.
On 24 June 2013, Queen announced on their Facebook page that a new remastered version of the concert would be released in late 2013 on DVD and Blu-Ray.[8] The DVD and Blu-Ray was released on 2 September 2013. Like the earlier, VHS release, this version excludes Extreme's "Love of My Life" and "More Than Words", Def Leppard's "Animal" and "Let's Get Rocked", Spinal Tap, U2 and Mango Groove from the opening acts segment of the show, and Robert Plant's "Innuendo" from the Queen+ segment of the show.
Performances
Without Queen
- Metallica – "Enter Sandman", "Sad but True", "Nothing Else Matters"
- Extreme – Queen Medley, "Love of My Life" (Gary Cherone & Nuno Bettencourt), "More Than Words" (Gary Cherone & Nuno Bettencourt)
- Def Leppard – "Animal", "Let's Get Rocked", "Now I'm Here" (with Brian May)
- Bob Geldof – "Too Late God"
- Spinal Tap – "The Majesty of Rock"
- U2 – "Until the End of the World" – played via satellite from Sacramento, California
- Guns N' Roses – "Paradise City", "Knockin' on Heaven's Door"
- Mango Groove – "Special Star" – played via satellite from Johannesburg, South Africa
- Elizabeth Taylor – AIDS Prevention Speech
- Freddie Mercury – compilation of various interactions with the audience
With Queen
- Queen + Joe Elliott/Slash – "Tie Your Mother Down", Brian May on lead vocals for verse 1, then Roger Taylor joining in on 1st chorus, with Joe Elliott taking over leading vocals verse 2 onwards with Queen on backing vocals for the rest of the song
- Queen + Roger Daltrey & Tony Iommi – "Heaven and Hell" (intro), "Pinball Wizard" (intro), "I Want It All"
- Queen + Zucchero – "Las Palabras de Amor"
- Queen + Gary Cherone & Tony Iommi – "Hammer to Fall"
- Queen + James Hetfield/Tony Iommi – "Stone Cold Crazy "
- Queen + Robert Plant – "Innuendo (including parts of "Kashmir"), "Thank You" (intro), "Crazy Little Thing Called Love"
- Brian May with Spike Edney – "Too Much Love Will Kill You"
- Queen + Paul Young – "Radio Ga Ga"
- Queen + Seal – "Who Wants to Live Forever"
- Queen + Lisa Stansfield – "I Want to Break Free"
- Queen + David Bowie & Annie Lennox – "Under Pressure" extra co-lead vocals provided on the chorus parts by Roger Taylor as a trio with David & Annie. The only time Queen & David Bowie performed this song together in front of a crowd!
- Queen + Ian Hunter, David Bowie, Mick Ronson, Joe Elliot & Phil Collen – "All the Young Dudes" Which was a cover of the "Mott the Hoople" song written by David Bowie
- Queen + David Bowie & Mick Ronson – "Heroes" Cover of the David Bowie song of the same name
- David Bowie – "Lord's Prayer"
- Queen + George Michael – "'39"
- Queen + George Michael & Lisa Stansfield – "These Are the Days of Our Lives"
- Queen + George Michael – "Somebody to Love"
- Queen + Elton John & Axl Rose – "Bohemian Rhapsody" Using the same light show as The Magic Tour from 1986 for the opera section and vocals played from a tape using the original 1970's studio recording featuring Freddie Mercury.
- Queen + Elton John & Tony Iommi – "The Show Must Go On"
- Queen + Axl Rose – "We Will Rock You"
- Queen + Liza Minnelli supported by everyone else who performed at the concert – "We Are the Champions"
- Queen – "God Save the Queen" (taped outro)
Queen's activity
- Freddie Mercury – pre-recorded Piano & Vocals (on "Bohemian Rhapsody")
- Brian May – electric guitar, keyboards (on "Too Much Love Will Kill You"), lead vocals (on "Tie Your Mother Down" and "Too Much Love Will Kill You"), co-lead vocals (on "I Want It All"), backing vocals
- Roger Taylor – drums, backing vocals, co-lead vocals (on "Under Pressure")
- John Deacon – bass guitar, backing vocals
Backing musicians
Queen were backed by the following musicians:
- Spike Edney – keyboards, piano, backing vocals
- Mike Moran – piano on "Who Wants to Live Forever" and "Somebody to Love"
- Josh Macrae – percussion in some Queen tracks
- Chris Thompson – backing vocals, acoustic guitar on "I Want It All", "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and "Heroes", additional percussion
- Maggie Ryder – backing vocals
- Miriam Stockley – backing vocals
- The London Community Gospel Choir – backing vocals on "Somebody to Love" and "We Are the Champions"
- John Jones – organ and backing vocals on "We are the Champions"
Reviews
References
- ↑ 1991: Giant of rock dies BBC News. Retrieved 25 May 2011
- ↑ Freddie Mercury: The Tribute Concert ABC Television (20 August 2007). Retrieved 29 August 2011
- ↑ Discography: The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert VHS
- 1 2 Freddie Mercury Tribute The Times. Retrieved 27 August 2011
- 1 2 Queen Introduction: The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert Ultimate Queen. Retrieved 27 August 2011
- ↑ 1992 The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert Ultimate Queen. Retrieved 29 August 2011
- ↑ The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert (Special 10th Anniversary Reissue) Retrieved 25 May 2011
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/Queen/posts/10151535807332362
External links
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