Queen at Live Aid: 21 Minutes That Made History
They got the same amount of time as everyone else. What they did with it is still, for many, the greatest live performance in rock.
On July 13, 1985, Live Aid took place: a giant concert held in two stadiums at once, Wembley in London and John F. Kennedy in Philadelphia. Bob Geldof and Midge Ure organized it to raise money to fight the famine in Ethiopia.
That day, many of the biggest names in music took the stage. At 6:41 p.m. London time, it was Queen’s turn.
In that short window they played six songs: a shortened “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Radio Ga Ga,” “Hammer to Fall,” “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions.”
Two images stuck forever. One is the entire stadium, 72,000 people, clapping in unison with their arms in the air during “Radio Ga Ga.” The other is Freddie Mercury toying with the crowd, singing a line and getting all of Wembley to sing it right back.
Twenty years later, in 2005, a poll of more than 60 music industry professionals named it the greatest live performance in rock history.
Freddie Mercury died in 1991. But if you want to know who he was onstage, those 21 minutes are all you need.
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