New miniseries to mark 30th anniversary of Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert
8 April 2022, 13:11
The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert was undoubtedly one of the greatest concerts to ever take place.
After the tragic death of Queen's iconic frontman Freddie Mercury on November 24th 1991 at the age of just 45, his bandmates wanted to commemorate his unique talent.
Not long after Freddie lost his battle with AIDS, Brian May, Roger Taylor, and John Deacon arranged something truly special.
The following March after his untimely passing, there was a gathering of music legends that we've not seen since and are unlikely to see again.
On 20th April 1992, the Mercury Phoenix Trust charity was launched to fight HIV and AIDS globally, which was kickstarted by the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium.
Now as we approach the concert's 30th anniversary, a new YouTube miniseries as been unveiled in the run up to the tribute gig being streamed in full.
Queen & George Michael - Somebody To Love (Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert)
The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert was performed to 72,000 lucky people inside Wembley Stadium, with an audience of up to a billion watching from their homes.
A glitterati of music talent came together alongside the remaining members of Queen to pay tribute to one of rock music's singular voices.
The likes of Sir Elton John, George Michael, David Bowie, Seal, Annie Lennox, Robert Plant, Guns 'n' Roses, Metallica, Roger Daltrey and Liza Minnelli came together to perform Queen songs in place of Freddie.
The 30th anniversary of the historic show arrives this month, and The Mercury Phoenix Trust are promising: “some celebratory footage, written pieces, interviews, merchandise, playlists and photos all across the MPT socials."
New footage of the concert has also been teased, "culminating in the unveiling of a brand new MPT logo and the streaming of the ‘Queen +’ section of the tribute concert on YouTube.”
The charity founded by Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon made the announcement by sharing a personal letter written by Taylor outlining plans for the tribute concert over 30 years ago.
As major proponents of raising AIDS awareness and funding research into the cure, the letter says: "This is an important message, especially for the younger people of the whole world – especially NOW."
"If the death of Freddie Mercury can add to this awareness it will be a major addition to the already wonderful achievements of his life. Long Live Freddie x.”
The new YouTube miniseries offers an essential A-Z guide to The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, episodically going through the alphabet of highlights and events leading up to the full stream.
Part One (letter A) focuses on the theatrics of Axl Rose who went AWOL backstage until his explosive performance of 'Bohemian Rhapsody', whilst other letters of the alphabet highlight the clapping crowd (letter C) and so on.
Take a look at the first episode below:
The A-Z of The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert (Part 1) | Mercury Phoenix Trust
