Brian May Explains Why Queen Was More Advantageous Than Other Bands In Live Aid

Queen’s most iconic performance, the Live Aid show, was iconic for a reason. Brian May recently confessed that his band had an advantage in that show because of Freddie Mercury.

Live Aid was an event organized in 1985 to raise awareness and collect donations for the tragic famine in Ethiopia. It took place in Wembley Stadium in Pennsylvania with over 100.000 people’s attendance. Famous musicians and bands like Elton John, Madonna, Run-DMC, Sting, Mick Jagger, David Bowie, U2, and Eric Clapton, performed their acts on July 13 and raised $127 million for the cause.

There were more than 70 acts during Live Aid featuring several iconic musicians, but it has been established that Queen stole the entire show. It is defined as their most iconic performance based on sound, stage use, involvement of the crowd, and the band members’ outlook. Having performed for 15 years before the Live Aid, it is no surprise that Queen would have a huge impact on the crowd.

Even though the band had a hard time deciding what songs to squeeze into 20 minutes, Brian May stated that they had an advantage that made their performance more memorable than the other acts. He said that Freddie was used to performing in stadiums and had a special way of involving the crowd in the concert.

This was Queen’s advantage, according to Brian May:

“We did have an unfair advantage, 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.

Their songs ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘We Are The Champions’ released in 1977 with the album ‘News of the World’ gave them a huge advantage in this case. They inspired numerous musicians and bands and traveled the world, making Queen one of the biggest stadium rock bands in the world.

You can hear Brian May’s words below.