Queen Members Admit Casting Doubts On Success Of Live Aid In July 1985

It has been almost 36 years since rock band Queen took part in that historic Live Aid at Wembley Stadium. Although it was for a good cause, the band knew they had to come up with something big and in just 20 minutes.

That was the time allotted to singers and bands who performed in London. But the big challenge is getting 72,000 people in attendance and over 1.8 billion viewers on television.

As far as Queen is concerned, guitarist Brian May says they had an unfair advantage over the rest. They are no strangers to electrifying a big crowd, having performed in football stadiums before Live Aid in Wembley.

“We did have an unfair advantage,” May said. “We had done football stadiums. Freddie, particularly, learned this magical way of involving everybody. In a huge football stadium, he could make everybody feel that they were in contact.”

But beyond that, May adds that they had their reservations on the event as a whole. Mays shared how they doubted Bob Geldorf’s ambitious Live Aid plans.

“Geldof was a few tables away, and he came over and said, ‘How about doing this thing?’ And he said, ‘We’re going to have this and this and this,’” May stated.

And of course, Queen had Freddie Mercury leading the way. It was a chance for them to become relevant once more. And as most know, everything turned out pretty well.

“I remember looking up and seeing the whole place just going completely bonkers in unison, and thinking, ‘Oh – this is going well!’” drummer Roger Taylor explained. “No, it wasn’t a career move, but of course that’s in the back of everybody’s mind.”

Of course, most were also re-educated on what happened to Queen leading up to Live Aid from the hit film, “Bohemian Rhapsody” where Mercury was portrayed by veteran actor Rami Malek.