In this article we're going to briefly review the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert which was held at Wembley's Stadium in London.
Freddie Mercury was not just the heart and soul or the rock group Queen, he was Queen. When he died from complications of AIDS on November 24, 1991, the world lost one of the truly unique and great singers.
When Queen first hit the scene in the mid 70s they had a cult following at best. Their music was quite different from anything that had come along until then. Their harmonic vocals, led by Mercury's over the top solos, made them a group that sooner or later had to get noticed. And while it took years for them to reach the peak of their popularity, once they made it they were one of the biggest groups of the era.
And then the world got word of Mercury's death and for all practical purposes, Queen was dead. In truth, until their recent team up with Paul Rogers, Queen had stopped performing and recording. But on April 20, 1992, Queen, with the help of some very talented musicians put on a concert to pay tribute to their fallen leader.
The concert, held at Wembley Stadium in London sold out its 72,000 tickets in just six hours. The concert was also broadcast live to over one billion people. The profit that they made from the concert was used to fund the Mercury Phoenix Trust which is a world wide charity organization to fight AIDS. This organization has been operating ever since.
The concert itself was actually announced and planned for at a February 1992 BRIT awards ceremony by Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor. At the time nobody knew who would play other than the remaining members of Queen which included May, Taylor and John Deacon who played his last performance as a member of Queen with this concert.
The lineup for this concert was quite impressive. Guest artists included Spinal Tap, Robert Plant, from Led Zeppelin, Roger Daltry, from The Who, David Bowie, who recorded the song "Under Pressure" with Queen, Elton John and even Elizabeth Taylor came by to give a speech.
The musical highlights could have made a greatest hits album alone. Many Queen favorites were played such as "Tie Your Mother Down", "Radio Ga-Ga", "Under Pressure", "Somebody To Love", "We Will Rock You", "We Are The Champions", and of course Queen's greatest hit of all, "Bohemian Rhapsody."
Other highlights and artists included Def Leppard, who sang "Now I'm Here" with Brian May, Gary Cherone singing "I Want It All", Seal singing "Who Wants To Live Forever", Ian Hunter and a host of others singing "All The Young Dudes", Lisa Stanfield singing "I Want To Be Free", and Elton John singing "The Show Must Go On."
The passing of Freddie Mercury has left a terrible void in the music industry. And while Paul Rogers is certainly a talented singer in his own right, he can't fill Mercury's shoes.
Nobody can.
Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Guitars
