The Greatest Live Music Performance Ever — The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert
Freddie Mercury is among the greatest front men and performers to ever hit the international stage. His death in late 1991 sent the British nation, if not the globe, into a shared state of mourning and grief over another life lost to the devastating AIDS epidemic of the 80s. It ensured that AIDS awareness was to be put centre stage of public health debates, whilst also starting a much needed social conversation about the misinformation and hatred that fuelled the epidemic. The idea that AIDS was a virus contracted only by homosexual and bisexual individuals is still unfortunately prevalent today, but was much worse in the 1980s when the disease became widespread. The Freddie Mercury tribute concert was an incredible showcase of the generations musical talent, a homage to an extraordinary man, and an event that changed the landscape of public health, causing cultural shifts that would last forever. So which acts took the stage, and why they were there? What were the best performances? This article will cover all of this as well as both personal accounts from my own parents who atteneded this historic moment, and the social and political importance of the concert. If there ever were a moment in history I would choose to go back to, it would be this one.
What better way to paint a picture of what the concert was like than through a first person interview. I’d like to thank my parents, Nicola and Andrew Sharp, for taking the time to share their experience.
My father’s account:
From Spinal Tap’s ‘Bitch School’ to David Bowie reciting the Lord’s Prayer, Metallica with ‘Enter Sandman’, and Elizabeth Taylor’s speech about condoms, Liza Minnelli singing ‘We are the Champions’, and the whole ensemble (plus a few surprises) giving it all for all the young dudes. Def Leppard, Extreme, Guns N Roses, Tony Iommi, Robert Plant and Roger Daltry through to George Michael, Paul Young, Seal, Lisa Stansfield and Zuchero, and then a Queen/Elton John and Axl Rose rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody. The talent and emotion ran high the whole day.
My mother’s account:
Who Wants to Live Forever started playing, and the man next to me gave me a tissue, because “we all miss an amazing talent”
They both recalled one moment when
The camera focused on a look-a-like in the crowd whose image filled both sides of the giant screen in front of us.
One particular thing that stuck out to me when watching it online was the heart wrenching moment when Brian turns to the keyboard as he is about to begin his solo for Bohemian Rhapsody and notices Freddie isn’t sat there. Watching his face drop never fails to render me close to tears. You can see it here if you skip to 1:44 and watch Brian closely.
The musicians that played that day were all either close friends of Freddie or the band, or those that were hugely influenced by Freddie’s music. For example, Metallica had previously covered ‘Stone Cold Crazy’, metalling up an already pretty metal Queen song. They were influenced heavily by the British Invasion and British music, and so it seemed only right for them to pay homage with this song. It was in fact Roger Taylor that invited them to the tribute. Another artist that performed at the tribute that was not necessarily close with Freddie, but close with the band (and with Brian in particular, who had done work for his solo project), would be Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath. These two acts definitely amped up the entire performance and gave it a heavy feel ensuring that there was some essence of every type of music that Queen had touched on, inspired, or taken inspiration from themselves.
As you can see, it truly was a heart warming and emotionally wrenching experience from start to finish. You can watch most of the performances from the full 3 hour concert on YouTube. I would recommend starting with the remaining members of Queen coming out and giving the crowd a short introduction and memorial service, dressed in black to begin a musical ceremony that would say a true rock and roll farewell to a great friend.
There were some musically excellent performances, plus some incredible showmanship and speeches that resonated deeply with the crowd. Performers would come out and play a set of their own if they had a catalogue to perform, and then stars were invited out towards the back end of the show to perform with Queen themselves. The final performance saw Liza Minnelli take the stage to begin ‘We are the Champions’, followed by everybody else who had performed that day.
As mentioned, the performance showcased some talents of which we may never see the likes again, but was also packed with important messages and speeches that were crucial for the contemporary public to understand. As my father pointed out, there was a speech delivered by Elizabeth Taylor which outlined the importance of talking about protective sex, how 5000 people every day were infected with HIV during the time of recording, sharing needles, condoms, and hammering down crucial knowledge that wasn’t taught effectively. The harrowing closing text appearing on TV after this speech read, “Remember AIDS Effects All”.
George Michael also delivered his performance, but what was little known to the world is that, at the time of the tribute, he too was grappling with a personal experience that made his performance all the more tragic. Not only was he singing in honour of his dear friend Freddie, but also praying for his partner at the time, Anselmo, who had unfortunately contracted the AIDS virus. Anselmo passed away shortly after the tribute concert.
Queen of course found it hard to continue without their frontman, and when they decided to hire Paul Rodgers to do vocals for ‘The Cosmos Rocks’ (a one off album which was their first since 1995), John Deacon chose not to participate. After the tour for this album, Queen went on another hiatus and focused on the project they began in 2002, the ‘We Will Rock You’ musical. In 2011, however, after Roger Taylor heard a young vocalist wow the judge on America’s Got Talent singing a rendition of ‘Whole Lotta Love’, the Queen and Adam Lambert project began, and is still touring to this day. Lots of fans have questioned whether Lambert can really take over the mantle of Freddie, but the band and Adam himself have all made it very clear that he isn’t there to replace Freddie. Adam is his own performer and brings Queen a new lease of life. The way I see it, if we want to continue to hear Queen classics be performed by a capable and immense front man, then Adam is our man. Queen lives on in the absence of the man that was its heart.
Without a doubt — if I had a time machine, I would be right at the barriers head banging to Joe Elliot, Slash and Brian May rock ‘Tie Your Mother Down’.
If you want to learn more about AIDS awareness, or even wish to donate, you can do so at the Mercury Phoenix Trust and World Aids Day.
