The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert: last years of the legend's life, farewell, highlights, interesting facts

In the 1970s. The dominant trend in European musical culture was rock. The heavy riffs, the bright rhythmic component, the dazzling outward images of the musicians... impressed most people of that era.

Trends in this current of music were set by various bands, but the most extravagant and memorable, of course, were the British Queen and their irreplaceable frontman Freddie Mercury. An idol of millions, a legend and an eternal icon, he worked non-stop to achieve real success, and he succeeded perfectly.

In spite of his tragic fate, Freddie will always remain in the hearts of his fans. This article is about the last performance of Queen without their soloist, which coincided with a large-scale tribute concert In honor of Freddie.

The departure of a legend

News about diseases Freddie appeared in 1986 or 1987, though until then he had kept it a secret even from the band members and his close friends for a very long time. That same year Queen went on their last tour called "Magic Tour" and visited large-scale European cities. Performances of famous hits and songs from the album "A Kind of Magic" were the last for the legendary singer. At that time he did not know it yet...

Despite the fact that Freddy's life was becoming more and more complicated and harderThe whole artist's entourage understood that the end was near, so it was decided to fulfill the "maximum" program and record as much as possible. The whole entourage of the artist understood that the end was near, so it was decided to fulfill the "maximum" program and record as much as possible music.

1991 marked the release of the last lifetime record "Innuendo."and in May the last song with Freddie's vocals was recorded. The work on "Mother Love" was not completely finished, because Mercury got tired quickly. As a result, some of the lines were finished for him Brian May. Technically, Freddie passed away, but he undoubtedly remained alive in the hearts of millions of people who appreciated his creativity.

A fitting farewell

The rest of the participants Queen thought it simply necessary to give Mercury a real farewell to show how enormous a Legacy singer. Brian May, John Deacon and Roger Taylor discussed the idea with the band's manager Jim Beach, who was positive about organizing a so-called tribute concert.

In addition, it is important to note that its purpose was not only to honor the memory of the frontman Queenbut also to inform people about diseasesThe concert was the first time that Freddie died of. For this reason, the organizers decided to send the proceeds from the concert to specialists engaged in research on HIV infection. Part of the proceeds from the ticket sales was also used to start a charity organization Mercury Phoenix Trust.

Announcement of the concert at the main stadium in England WembleyThe result was a striking, soldiering out, and a great deal of excitement for Queen's members at the BRIT Awards in 1992. The result was astonishing - a sold-out 72,000 tickets in just a couple of hours! And that's even though the Queens didn't even talk about who would be performing at the concert.

"There will be many friends ... and you, too, are of course, welcome! Please join us in honoring the life and career of Freddie!" was Roger Taylor's message.

 Freddy would definitely approve.

Metallica

The show was opened by those just beginning their professional careers Metallica. The rock band from the USA characteristically performed their songs from the "black album" and really got the audience going!

It is symbolic that it was Metallica that was assigned to open the concert, since they were heavily influenced by Queen influenceThe musicians themselves confess to it.

Guns N' Roses

Metallica were not the only American band to attend the concert. Then an equally famous fan of Queen appeared on stage Axl Rose.

With his band Guns N 'Roses, he performed "Paradise City" and Bob Dylan's iconic ballad "Knockin On' Heaven' Door" in a very interesting treatment!

Bowie and Lennox

David Bowiewho worked with Queen during the recording of their tenth album, Hot Space, sang with the lead singer of Eurythmics Annie Lennox "Under Pressure." Interestingly, at the end of the performance Bowie got down on one knee and recited one prayer, thus by the memory of the person for whom the concert was organized.

Brian May on this event from the Freddie tribute: "We were amazed at this gesture by David. You can see it clearly on the video! As unexpected as it was, the sincerity of the moment was mesmerizing..."

Robert Plant

Frontman Led Zeppelin performed the most difficult song, "Innuendo. In the middle of the performance, Robert Plant, along with Brian May, organized the song "Kashmir," which in part influenced the creation of "Innuendo.".

The performance of this no less famous British vocalist ended with a rendition of other songs Led Zeppelin and Queen: first Plante sang "Thank You" and then "Crazy Little Thing Called Love.

George Michael

One of the favorite singers of Freddie Mercury himself, George Michael, also did not leave the audience without a tribute to the Queen frontman.

As Mercury himself admitted, "George Michael has a great voice. He's one of those singers I really like.

Michael performed the song. "Somebody To Love". Fans of Queen's work noted that this performance was almost perfect. George was so close to the legendary the originalthat there was talk of his possible inclusion in the new lineup of the Queens.

Elton John

One of the highlights of the Freddy tribute concert was the joint appearance on stage Axl Rose, a young rebel with an explosive voice, and Sir Elton JohnI was a singer of a completely different role. Being people of different generations, they seemed to look rather absurd on stage, but when they performed "Bohemian Rhapsody."all the spectators literally melted.

In addition, Elton also performed with guitarist Tommy Iommi from Guns N' Roses "The Show Must Go On".

Curious facts

• Robert Plant was not satisfied with the performance "Innuendo." at the concert: he himself didn't hit into the rhythm of the song, and Brian May and Roger Taylor missed some important elements of their parts. The result was that his performance was excerpted from from the final video version of the concert.
• Before the concert, there were rumors that Axl Rose harshly criticizes preferences Elton John in his personal life, and in general cannot somehow relate his work to the compositions of the pop genius. Nevertheless, after performing together, Axl admitted that grew up on the work of the British singer and is often inspired by him. It became one of the main discoveries in rock music, bringing together performers of different generations.
• On television, the concert was produced by Englishman Ray Bardis. It was broadcast on 76 countries around the world, which is a very good result for a tribute show.