WHERE WERE YOU WHEN Freddie stole the show at Live Aid - YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Sign in Welcome!Log into your account Forgot your password? Password recovery Recover your password Search Sign in Welcome! Log into your account Forgot your password? Get help Password recovery Recover your password A password will be e-mailed to you. YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Home Celebrity WHERE WERE YOU WHEN Freddie stole the show at Live Aid By You Magazine - March 3, 2019 Billions watched as Queen’s flamboyant frontman strutted his way into rock history on 13 July 1985. Trinity Mirror / Mirrorpix / Alamy Stock Photo Freddie Mercury was, without doubt, the rock star born to revel in the spotlight of nearly two billion viewers worldwide. This photograph was taken at the Live Aid concert at Wembley. There were 72,000 in the stadium, another 90,000 watching it on a big screen in Philadelphia’s JFK Stadium, and the event was beamed live to 150 countries. Queen were coming off the back of a nine-month world tour to promote their 1984 album The Works and were rehearsed and ready. They came on at 6.41pm UK time and blew everyone before and after them off the stage. Nothing like Live Aid – organised to raise funds for famine relief in Ethiopia – had happened before. It was the first global charity concert, inspiring a mass outpouring of emotion. Most recall its finest hour the same way – Freddie jogged across the stage to whip up the crowd, before sitting at the piano to perform ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. The moment he picked out its opening chords the day was won. Queen played their most anthemic numbers, ‘We Will Rock You’, ‘We Are the Champions’ and ‘Radio Ga Ga’, and Freddie encouraged the crowd to join in, even putting them through their paces with a call-and-response vocal improvisation. It was this connection, made by such a genuinely loved performer, that beamed itself into the hearts of even the most distant TV viewers. This is the performance at the centre of the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, which stars Rami Malek as Freddie and won Best Picture and Best Actor gongs at the Golden Globes, and Best Actor at the BAFTAs. However, unlike in the film, the singer did not reveal he was HIV positive before going on stage, and no matter how perfectly Rami mimics Freddie’s voice and rocks his look, star charisma is impossible to fake. Freddie had it, and the whole world could see. Also that month… Photo by Professional Sport/Popperfoto/Getty Images Playboy and Penthouse published naked pictures of Madonna. British athlete Steve Cram ran a world-record mile in 3:46.32. A spokeswoman for actor Rock Hudson confirmed he had Aids. French intelligence agents blew up the Greenpeace boat Rainbow Warrior in New Zealand to stop it interfering with French nuclear tests in the South Pacific, killing photographer Fernando Pereira. At Wimbledon Martina Navratilova beat Chris Evert to win her sixth singles title and, at 17, Boris Becker became the youngest men’s champion. Report by Chris Harvey RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR 50 of the best celebrity Halloween costumes of all time Shirley Ballas ‘ Strictly gave me back my hope’ Davina McCall discusses how men can help women going through the menopause Popular in Celebrity TV chef Gino D Acampo on Sardinia Sophia Loren and scary salads May 25, 2017 The Evergreen Goddess Exercise guru Diana Moran on looking fit and July 10, 2017 More more Julianne Moore November 13, 2017 Author Jill Mansell on designer notebooks commissioning art and the family January 16, 2018 EMOTIONAL TIES Kelly Hoppen on vodka vintage finds and being a April 4, 2018 ‘ I have no regrets’ Millie Mackintosh on divorce debt and reuniting May 20, 2018 EMOTIONAL TIES TV presenter and tennis player Annabel Croft shares her July 1, 2018 Stella Parton ‘ Dolly and I have always been close’ August 12, 2018 Anna Friel on getting jeered in the street shared parenting with September 23, 2018 Queen of primetime Charlotte Riley on juggling rising stardom with pregnancy October 21, 2018 Popular CategoriesFood2704Life2496Fashion2240Beauty1738Celebrity1261Interiors684 Sign up for YOUMail Thanks for subscribing Please check your email to confirm (If you don't see the email, check the spam box) Fashion Beauty Celebrity Life Food Privacy & Cookies T&C Copyright 2022 - YOU Magazine. All Rights Reserved