Mercury Tribute Concert

Lore & Background

Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury died from AIDS-related complications on 24 November 1991. Mercury had kept his AIDS diagnosis private until the week of his death, and he later was revealed to have donated substantial amounts to AIDS charities that year. The surviving members of Queen (John Deacon, Brian May, and Roger Taylor) resolved to continue raising money for charity to honour Mercury's legacy. May said the band decided the night of Mercury's death to stage a concert as his memorial, giving him 'an exit in the true style to which he's accustomed.' A wishlist of performers was created by the band, with Elton John and Elizabeth Taylor recruited, since they were already publicly involved with AIDS charities. The band had ruled out a single vocalist performing with them, as they felt Mercury's range could not be duplicated without a variety of singers. May and Taylor publicly announced the event at the Brit Awards on 12 February 1992.

In Their Own Story

The event lasted four and a half hours, exceeding the planned runtime by one hour, and ended at 22:30 BST. Cindy Crawford hosted the event, providing backstage interviews with the day's performers. To raise awareness for the cause, 100,000 red ribbons and 40,000 red scarves were distributed to fans entering the venue. An onstage introduction from the surviving members of Queen opened the show. The concert then commenced with opening sets from Metallica, Extreme, Def Leppard, Bob Geldof, Spinal Tap, and Guns N' Roses. Prerecorded performances from U2 and Mango Groove were also shown. Elizabeth Taylor was introduced to the stage via satellite by Ian McKellen, and she spoke to the audience about AIDS prevention. Queen's set began with a video montage of Mercury's call-and-response interactions with his audiences. Their performance featured the surviving Queen members playing with guest singers and guitarists, including Joe Elliott, Slash, Roger Daltrey, Tony Iommi, Zucchero Fornaciari, Gary Cherone, James Hetfield, Robert Plant, Paul Young, Mike Moran, Seal, Lisa Stansfield, David Bowie, Annie Lennox, Phil Collen, Ian Hunter, Mick Ronson, George Michael, Elton John, Axl Rose, John Jones, and Liza Minnelli.

Reader's Guide

The running order and songs performed: Metallica played 'Enter Sandman', 'Sad but True', and 'Nothing Else Matters'. Extreme performed a Queen medley, 'Love of My Life', and 'More Than Words'. Def Leppard played 'Animal', 'Let's Get Rocked', and 'Now I'm Here' with Brian May. Bob Geldof performed 'Too Late God'. Spinal Tap played 'The Majesty of Rock'. U2's 'Until the End of the World' was prerecorded. Guns N' Roses performed 'Paradise City', 'Only Women Bleed', and 'Knockin' on Heaven's Door'. Mango Groove's 'Special Star' was prerecorded. Queen (with Spike Edney, Josh Macrae, Maggie Ryder, Miriam Stockley, Chris Thompson) performed a long set including 'Tie Your Mother Down' (ft. Joe Elliott, Slash), 'Heaven and Hell' (ft. Tony Iommi), 'Pinball Wizard' (ft. Iommi), 'I Want It All' (ft. Roger Daltrey, Iommi), 'Las Palabras de Amor' (ft. Zucchero Fornaciari), 'Hammer to Fall' (ft. Gary Cherone, Iommi), 'Stone Cold Crazy' (ft. James Hetfield, Iommi), 'Innuendo' (ft. Robert Plant), 'Thank You' (ft. Plant), 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love' (ft. Plant), 'Too Much Love Will Kill You', 'Radio Ga Ga' (ft. Paul Young), 'Who Wants to Live Forever' (ft. Mike Moran, Seal), 'I Want to Break Free' (ft. Lisa Stansfield), 'Under Pressure' (ft. David Bowie, Annie Lennox), 'All the Young Dudes' (ft. Bowie, Phil Collen, Elliott, Ian Hunter, Mick Ronson), 'Heroes' (ft. Bowie, Ronson), 'Lord's Prayer' (ft. Bowie), ''39' (ft. George Michael), 'These Are the Days of Our Lives' (ft. Michael, Stansfield), 'Somebody to Love' (ft. London Community Gospel Choir, Michael, Moran), 'Bohemian Rhapsody' (ft. Elton John, Axl Rose), 'The Show Must Go On' (ft. Iommi, John), 'We Will Rock You' (ft. Rose), 'We Are the Champions' (ft. John Jones, London Community Gospel Choir, Liza Minnelli), and 'God Save the Queen' (prerecorded).

Did You Know?

• The concert raised £20 million for the Mercury Phoenix Trust.
• An estimated one billion people watched the concert live on television.
• 100,000 red ribbons and 40,000 red scarves were distributed to fans entering the venue.
• Robert Palmer was advertised as a performer but did not appear.
• The concert lasted four and a half hours, ending at 22:30 BST.