As I was watching the concert again on DVD, I am still constantly floored by the amount of Talent that came together that one night in Wembly. To have Brian May and Slash, rocking out together and Tony Iomi somewhere in the background. Roger Daltrey and others taking turns, belting out tunes that seemed like it only covered one aspect of Freddies vocal range.
While we cant speak the the future definitely , could we even assemble a range of talent like that again, or was it truly once in a lifetime.
The Bob Dylan 30th Anniversary Concert is more recent by half a year. (Damn, 1992 was a hell of a year for all-star concerts!)
Kris Kristofferson, Stevie Wonder, Lou Reed, Tracy Chapman, Eddie Vedder/Mike McCready, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Chrissie Hynde, George Harrison, Tom Petty
Pretty good lineup, I’d say. The Concert for New York City in 2001 rivals both the Dylan and the Freddie Mercury concerts (though it took a massive terrorist attack to inspire it).
Then there was the 12-12-12 Concert- which required a devestating hurricane.
The 2001 concert and the 2012 concert had way too many talky speechy parts- which resulted in less of a concert celebration kind of a feel. Still, you can’t argue that the line-up for each of them was pretty impressive. McCartney+Nirvana ferchissakes!
And the London show for Live Aid included Freddie Mercury and Queen. (And The Who, David Bowie, Elton John, Paul McCartney, U2, Dire Straits, Sting, Phil Collins, Elvis Costello, and more. Pretty read like my record collection at the time.)
Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night in 1988 preceded the Concert for Freddie. It was made sweeter by the subject of the tribute still being alive (but not for much longer, sadly) and being the front man for the other stars.
The Concert For George was a tribute concert for George Harrison. It took place in 2002, a year after his death.
Phil Collins performed in both locations, London and Philadelphia. After his London performance concluded, he boarded a Concorde to Philadelphia.
David Bowie, who was performing in London, and Mick Jagger, who was performing in Philadelphia, wanted to perform a duet of “Dancing in the Street,” which was their hit single at the time. Due to the satellite delay, however, it proved to be impossible for them to synchronize their performances. A prerecorded video of the two performers singing the song was shown on the giant screens instead.
I watched a documentary about Queen, and IIRC, it was stated that after this performance, George Michael was asked to tour with the group as its front man. He turned it down, saying that he couldn’t take Freddy’s place.