Iconic '70s Rock Band Initially Said No to Legendary Concert

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Iconic '70s Rock Band Initially Said No to Legendary Concert originally appeared on Parade.

The remaining members of a legendary 1970s rock band have spoken out about one of its most iconic performances.

Live Aid celebrates its 40th anniversary on July 13, 2025. It was a global phenomenon that featured simultaneous massive concerts held at Wembley Stadium in London and John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with Live Aid-inspired concerts also staged in dozens of other countries, all to raise money for the famine in Ethiopia.

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Queen was one of the headliners at the Wembley Stadium concert and in a new interview with the Radio Times, remaining members Brian May and Roger Taylor reminisced about the famous event, including the fact that they all thought it would be a total disaster, especially Queen frontman, the late Freddie Mercury, so they initially said no to organizer Bob Geldof.

"We weren’t touring or playing, and it seemed like a crazy idea, this talk of having 50 bands on the same bill. We thought it was going to be a disaster. Freddie, in particular, said, ‘I haven’t got the right feeling for this.’ He wasn’t the leader of the band, but if he dug his heels in, there was no dragging him, so we parked it," said May.

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But May said that Geldof kept calling, and tickets were selling out, so he finally said to Mercury that he thought they would regret not playing Live Aid.

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"I said to Freddie, ‘If we wake up on the day after this Live Aid show and we haven’t been there, we’re going to be pretty sad.’ He said, ‘Oh, f**k it, we’ll do it,'" recalled May, adding, "[O]nce he said yes, he led the charge. He jumped in like a lion.”

Drummer Taylor added that they were given "a strict 17 minutes" for their performance, but they ended up going 21 minutes because of Mercury and his electric connection to the crowd.

"[It was] obvious to open with the verse of 'Bohemian Rhapsody'; it was so immediately recognizable. Then to finish with 'We Will Rock You' and 'We Are the Champions' was a no-brainer. We were told a strict 17 minutes was allowed, although I think it ended up at 21," said Taylor. "That was Freddie and his call and response…"

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They also recall being in the Royal Box before their performance slot, just hanging out with then-Royal family members Princess Diana and Prince Charles, as he was known then. They were also surrounded by some of the greatest music acts of all time.

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"Elton [John] had his own English rose garden with an actual fence,” recalled Taylor. “David [Bowie] was there. I think he was quite jittery.”

But in the end, it became one of Queen's most iconic performances.

"At the end, I came off thinking that went OK, but also very aware of the places where it nearly fell apart. It came off the rails quite significantly at the end of 'Hammer to Fall.' If you look at it, you might think that was on purpose, but it wasn’t, because there were little tweaks and nobody quite knew where we were. Live shows aren’t perfect. But most of the things we tried to do worked out. I came off very conscious of the flaws in our performance, but I also knew Freddie had been great," said May.

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Iconic '70s Rock Band Initially Said No to Legendary Concert first appeared on Parade on Jul 1, 2025

This story was originally reported by Parade on Jul 1, 2025, where it first appeared.