Freddie Mercury tribute concert

The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness (The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness in English) was held in Wembley Stadium (London) on April 20, 1992, five months after the death of Freddie Mercury, and gathered more than 72,000 spectators, being broadcast on radio and television to 76 countries. The estimated audience of The broadcast of the concert was 500 million people, and the collection of 20 million pounds. The objective of the event, apart from paying tribute to the artist, was to raise awareness about the existence of AIDS and raise funds for the Mercury Phoenix Trust., the foundation that the rest of the members of Queen created after Mercury's death.

The concert brought together several artists: Metallica, Guns N' Roses, Extreme, David Bowie, Elton John, Def Leppard, Ian Hunter, Mick Ronson, Seal, George Michael, Roger Daltrey, Robert Plant, Bob Geldof, Tony Iommi, Zucchero Fornaciari, Lisa Stansfield, Liza Minnelli, Annie Lennox, Spinal Tap, Paul Young and Chris Thompson.

Freddie Mercury died of AIDS - due to a lung condition related to this ailment -, at the time a little-known illness, on November 24, 1991. Brian May, John Deacon and Roger Taylor, the living members of Queen decided to organize a concert to pay tribute to their partner and friend Freddie Mercury.

During the concert at the old Wembley stadium, at the top of the stage, a figure of a giant Phoenix was placed, which is the distinctive symbol of the Mercury Phoenix Trust, a foundation against HIV, and was presided over by Mary Austin, friend and romantic partner of Freddie Mercury. Television and radio transmission rights; and the proceeds from ticket sales were allocated to this cause.

Concert

The concert began with bands that were influenced by Queen, such as Metallica, Extreme, Def Leppard and Guns N' Roses. During the first part of the concert, videos were shown explaining the life of Freddie and his group. Meanwhile, the scene was changed a little for the following performances.

The second part of the concert consisted of the participation of the three remaining members of Queen (John Deacon, Brian May and Roger Taylor), along with various artists, such as Elton John, Roger Daltrey, Tony Iommi, David Bowie, Mick Ronson, James Hetfield, George Michael, Seal, Paul Young, Annie Lennox, Lisa Stansfield, Robert Plant, Joe Elliott, Phil Collen, Axl Rose, Slash, Liza Minnelli, among others.

Other platforms

The concert was released on VHS (on two cassettes) and Laserdisc in the United States and Japan in 1993, and in Great Britain in 1997, but due to time constraints, the last two songs performed by Extreme, the The first two by Def Leppard, and the appearance of Spinal Tap were removed from the VHS version (along with Robert Plant's performance of Innuendo, at the request of Plant himself, who considered that his performance was very poor, due to being He forgot most of the lyrics. The US version also omitted the performances of Bob Geldof ('Too Late God') and Zucchero (The Words of Love).

In April 2002, on the tenth anniversary of the 'Mercury Phoenix Trust', the concert was released on DVD and entered the UK charts at number one. The DVD version has been harshly criticized, because the entire first part of the concert was not included, in addition to the fact that the song Innuendo was not included on the DVD either, respecting Robert Plant's request. The concert, which was originally in 4:3 format, was edited to widescreen, losing some of the original quality. Proceeds from the sales of this DVD were also donated to the 'Mercury Phoenix Trust'.

On June 24, 2013, Queen announced, on its official website, the launch of the remastered version that would be released in September 2013 in DVD and Blu-Ray format. As last time, in the VHS version, this edition also excludes the "Love of My Life" by Extreme and "More Than Words", as well as the "Animal" and "Let's Get Rocked" by Def Leppard, and the songs by Spinal Tap, U2 and Mango Groove from the beginning of the show, the version of "Innuendo" by Robert Plant of the part in collaboration with Queen+.

Performances

Without Queen

1. Metallica - Enter Sandman, Sad But True, Nothing Else Matters.
2. Extreme - Queen Medley (Popurrí de canciones de Queen, que contenida las canciones Mustapha, Bohemian Rhapsody, Keep Yourself Alive, I Want to Break Free, Fat Bottomed Girls, Bicycle Race, Another One Bites the Dust, We Will Rock You, Stone Cold Crazy and Radio Ga-Ga), Love of My Life, More Than Words.
3. Def Leppard - Animal, Let's Get Rocked, Now I'm Here (with Brian May).
4. Bob Geldof Too Late God
5. Spinal Tap - The Majesty of Rock
6. U2 - Until the End of the World (satellite performance from Sacramento, California).
7. Guns N' Roses - Paradise City, Only Women Bleed (intro), Knockin' on Heaven's Door.
8. Mango Groove - Special Star (satellite action from Johanesburg, South Africa).
9. Elizabeth Taylor - Address on AIDS prevention.
10. Compilation of various interactions between Freddie Mercury and the public.

With Queen

1. Queen Joe Elliott/Slash - Tie Your Mother Down
   With a big entrance, Brian May sings the first verse of the song and then takes over Joe Elliott and Slash to share a guitar owner.
2. Queen Roger Daltrey/Tony Iommi - Heaven and Hell (intro), Pinball Wizard (intro), I Want It All
   After an introduction by Brian to the guitarist of Black Sabbath Tony Iommi making the solo of Heaven and Hell, Roger Taylor announces the singer of The Who, Roger Daltrey, while interpreting the introduction of "Pinball Wizard", to which the audience acclaims when he enters with his unmistakable signal of turning the wire of the microphone.
3. Queen Zucchero - The Words of Love
   Roger Taylor announces as the next guest to the Italian Zucchero, to whom the group has great affection, singing a simple version of "The Words of Love".
4. Queen Gary Cherone/Tony Iommi - Hammer to Fall
   Brian May welcomes Gary Cherone back on stage where he puts the audience to jump by chanting a powerful and energetic version of "Hammer To Fall".
5. Queen James Hetfield/Tony Iommi - Stone Cold Crazy
   Roger Taylor creates a great atmosphere in the drums and the vocalist of Metallica, James Hetfield, comes out to the stage, which makes a great participation by singing the first song of thrash metalStone Cold Crazy.
6. Queen Robert Plant - Innuendo (with Kashmir fragments), Thank You (intro), Crazy Little Thing Called Love
   Due to the low vocalization of Robert Plant and little refinement, the song "Innuendo" did not come out as expected. However, after this, the singer put the audience to dance with “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”, where Brian’s guitar stands out; on the part "Ready Freddie", the singer made the audience repeat three times emphasizing who this homage was dedicated to.
7. Brian May/Spike Edney Too Much Love Will Kill You
   One of the most emotional moments was this, when Brian sings on the keyboard together with Spike Edney «Too Much Love Will Kill You», where in the end the singer's tears spring.
8. Queen Paul Young - Radio Ga Ga
   Brian announces Paul Young's next guest to sing a simple version of "Radio Ga Ga", where the audience participates in the choir, as was customary in the band's concerts.
9. Queen Seal - Who Wants to Live Forever
   Another emotional moment is when Seal sings the beautiful song "Who Wants To Live Forever".
10. Queen Lisa Stansfield - I Want to Break Free
    Lisa goes on stage with a few rules and a vacuum cleaner paying homage to the song video and then she sings showing a great vocalization.
11. Queen David Bowie/Annie Lennox - Under Pressure
    Roger Taylor introduces the audience to Annie Lennox along with David Bowie to sing the theme "Under Pressure", where the latter collaborated in the study version.
12. Queen David Bowie/Ian Hunter/Mick Ronson/Joe Elliott/Phil Collen - All the Young Dudes
    Once Annie leaves the stage, David proceeds to take the saxophone and introduce Mick Ronson and Ian Hunter, who gave the group the opportunity to serve as a telons years ago when they were in Mott the Hoople. In the choir of that song, Joe and Phil de Def Leppard come in again.
13. Queen David Bowie/Mick Ronson - Heroes/Our Father
    David together with Mick sings his classic “Heroes” and then proceeds to pray the “Our Father.”
14. Queen George Michael - '39
    With an introduction by Roger Taylor, George Michael sings one of the most popular songs in Queen's concerts.
15. Queen George Michael/Lisa Stansfield - These Are the Days of Our Lives
    George calls on stage again Lisa Stansfield to sing "These Are the Days of Our Lives".
16. Queen George Michael - Somebody to Love
    George sang Somebody To Love with a gospel choir.
    It is appreciated as one of the best vocalizations of his career, and at the end of that song George gives the opportunity to the audience where they sing "love" jumping in the notes as Freddie did; this achieves a great emotion for the remaining members of the group, especially Brian.
17. Queen Elton John/Axl Rose - Bohemian Rhapsody
    After singing the first part of the song on the piano Elton John gives way (after the Opera) to Axl Rose, who with a strong entrance puts the audience to jump. The end of the song is sung by both singers to duo.
18. Queen Elton John/Tony Iommi - The Show Must Go On
    After a few words, Elton, sings one of the most emotional songs in the group: "The Show Must Go On".
19. Queen Axl Rose - We Will Rock You
    Axl comes back on stage singing the group hymn, "We Will Rock You", with a great help from the audience.
20. Queen Liza Minnelli - We Are the Champions
    After Brian said that there was only one person in the world that Freddie would be proud to be present that night and thanking the guests, he goes on stage Liza Minnelli, who shows a great affection to Brian and then sing "We Are the Champions". In the middle of the song all the guests return to the stage to surprise the remaining members of the group and Liza (with the exception of Elton John, even though this song would be with everyone originally, it was very excited, and decided not to participate at that time) and to sing in the background with Queen and Liza. At the end of the song, the Queen version of the hymn “God Save the Queen” (as usual in their concerts) sounds and an exciting ending occurs.

• (The denomination of “Queen» refers to the performance of the three remaining members of the group.