![]() ![]() It seems suitable that on a day that defined the ’80s, most attendees recall cocaine was in abundance behind the scenes. A sign told the stars to check their egos at the door, and dressing rooms had to be shared – as did just three press passes, which were switched between dozens of journalists waiting patiently outside. With a brass fanfare from the Coldstream Guards, and the arrival of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, Geldof’s concept came together spectacularly for a global audience across 150 countries.īackstage however, was chaotic. Weeks of excitement, stress and uncertainty came to a grand climax as Live Aid kicked off at 12 noon on that sweltering hot July Saturday. “Nobody knew they would throw anybody else in the shadow.” Everybody knew Queen put on a great show and would be really good. And of course Paul McCartney was going to be on the show, so I don’t think anybody saw that the number one would be Queen. “At the time you thought, ‘Who’s going to be the hottest?’ Obviously U2, and Phil Collins was really hot. His doctor told him not to do the show, but of course he was determined to do it anyway.” Gambaccini and Mercury were friends, but even he didn’t see Queen’s magic moment coming. “Freddie wouldn’t give an interview on the day because he had vocal trouble. “I went up to Wembley to interview the artists backstage for television and radio,” he told me. Paul Gambaccini was one of the BBC’s big hitters who was assigned to cover Live Aid from Wembley Stadium. Nevertheless, they were guaranteed to deliver the kind of showmanship Geldof was determined to deliver. 15 years into their career, and they were looking like more of a heritage act than a serious contemporary force. ![]() ![]() Their 1984 effort The Works hadn’t been a huge hit, and Freddie had just released his solo debut in April 1985, Mr Bad Guy, an implication that the band was on something of a break. “Nobody knew at the time, but Queen were very much on the wane at this point”, Lesley Ann says. The band were renowned for their live performances – having just performed for 325,000 people at Rock In Rio earlier that year – but they were still on the verge of being a bit past it. When it was put to him that way, Freddie just got it, and said OK, because it couldn’t happen without him. “Eventually Bob called up Queen’s manager and said ‘Look, what’s up with the old queen? It’s the perfect stage for him. She told me Freddie had been slightly miffed at not being invited to record Do They Know It’s Christmas? the previous November, and had to be asked extra nicely by Geldof to perform at Live Aid. Lesley Ann Jones is the author of Freddie Mercury: The Definitive Biography, who went on the road with the band many times, and covered Live Aid. When it came to organising Live Aid, Queen were high on Bob Geldof’s hit list, but the band weren’t immediately won over. Thirty years later, and multiple line up concerts, cross continent events and global telethons are nothing new, but in 1985, the world had never seen anything like it.Īnd, of all the memorable moments the day created – Bono leaping into the audience, Phil Collins playing both shows with the help of Concorde, and the rousing showstopper from Tina Turner and Mick Jagger – the most iconic moment of all was undoubtedly delivered by Queen, and a masterful, career-defining performance from Freddie Mercury. The concept was far from simple: two concerts, in London and Philadelphia, with every major pop star on the planet, before the eyes of the world, to gather the donations of millions, all for the famine struck people of Ethiopia. Drag Race star Peppermint was originally eliminated from season nine before the finaleīob Geldof’s grand plan, conceived as the main course to the entree of the Band Aid single from Christmas 1984.Blondie Against the Odds: 1974 – 1982 review: ‘First six albums have never sounded better’.13 July 1985 was Live Aid – The Day The Music Changed The World, The Global Jukebox. ![]()
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