The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert

An open air concert on Easter Monday, April 20 1992 at London's Wembley Stadium, televised live to over one billion people. The profit of the concert was used to launch The Mercury Phoenix Trust.

Related Topics:
April 20 - 1992 - London - Wembley Stadium - The Mercury Phoenix Trust

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In February 1992 at the annual BRIT awards ceremony, Brian May and Roger Taylor announced plans for an open air concert to celebrate Freddie Mercury's life. The tickets went on sale the next day and all 72,000 tickets sold out in just six hours, even though nobody knew who would play apart from remaining members of Queen.

Related Topics:
Brian May - Roger Taylor - Freddie Mercury - Queen

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This show marked bassist John Deacon's final concert with the band, except for one live appearance in 1997 with May, Taylor and Elton John.

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In April 2002 the concert was released on DVD and entered the UK charts at number 1. The DVD release was strongly criticised for omitting the whole first half of the concert.

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The performances included:

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• Metallica - Enter Sandman, Sad But True, Nothing Else Matters
• Extreme - Queen Medley, Love Of My Life, More Than Words
• Def Leppard - Animal, Let's Get Rocked, Now I'm Here (w/Brian May)
• Bob Geldof - Too Late God
• Spinal Tap - The Majesty of Rock
• Guns N' Roses - Paradise City, Knockin' On Heaven's Door
• Elizabeth Taylor - Speech

During the first part of the concert, several videoclips were shown, while the roadies changed the stage for the following act's performance.

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• Note: "Innuendo" was not included on the DVD, at request of Robert Plant, explaining that his voice was in very poor condition, and most agree it was off. Also, when the concert aired on MTV, U2 dedicated a live performance via satellite from California of "Until The End Of The World" to Freddie.
• Joe Elliott/Slash - Tie Your Mother Down
• Roger Daltrey - I Want It All (with Tony Iommi)
• Zucchero - "Las Palabras de Amor"
• Gary Cherone - Hammer To Fall (with Tony Iommi)
• James Hetfield - Stone Cold Crazy (with Tony Iommi)
• Robert Plant - "Innuendo", 'Thank You', Crazy Little Thing Called Love
• Brian May - Too Much Love Will Kill You
• Paul Young - Radio Ga Ga
• Seal - Who Wants To Live Forever
• Lisa Stansfield - I Want To Break Free
• David Bowie/Annie Lennox - Under Pressure
• Ian Hunter/David Bowie/Mick Ronson/Joe Elliot/Phil Collen - All The Young Dudes
• David Bowie/Mick Ronson - Heroes
• George Michael - '39
• George Michael/Lisa Stansfield - These Are The Days Of Our Lives
• George Michael - Somebody To Love
• Elton John/Axl Rose - Bohemian Rhapsody
• Elton John - The Show Must Go On (with Tony Iommi)
• Axl Rose - We Will Rock You
• Liza Minnelli/Cast - We Are The Champions
 
The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert: Criticisms and Controversies ►