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5 Best Performances from the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert

Author Erica Banas // Rock Music Reporter
November 24th, 2020 6:00 AM

Freddie Mercury left this Earth on November 24, 1991. While he left a void in the rock landscape that is still felt today, his inspiration has transcended his era, and he continues to influence new generations of music fans.

He also transcended musical genres: about five months after his death, Queen, along with an all-star lineup, put on The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness. The concert was held at Wembley Stadium before a massive crowd of 72,000. Proceeds from the show went towards launching The Mercury Phoenix Trust, an organization founded by Brian May, Roger Taylor and Queen manager Jim Beach that has help fund numerous projects in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

In his memory, here’s a look back to the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert and its five best performances that day.

 

Queen + Joe Elliott and Slash – “Tie Your Mother Down”

The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert was in two parts: The first was without Queen and the second was with. The Queen-portion of the concert started things off with a bang with this energetic performance of “Tie Your Mother Down” that featured Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott and Guns N’ Roses’ Slash. Fun fact: Elliott was the first person to publically sing with Queen following Mercury’s death.

 

Queen + David Bowie and Annie Lennox – “Under Pressure”

How do you fill the shoes of Freddie Mercury when it comes to one of the most iconic duets in rock history? You find someone with an equally iconic and bold voice like Annie Lennox. David Bowie and Lennox’s performance of “Under Pressure” remains as moving decades later as it did that fateful day in Wembly Stadium. And Mercury would have undoubtedly approved of Lennox dressing up in a ball gown for the occasion.

RELATED: Freddie Mercury Mustache Face Mask Now Available

Queen + Ian Hunter, David Bowie, Mick Ronson, Joe Elliott and Phil Collen – “All The Young Dudes”

Very few non-Queen songs were performed during the Queen portion of the tribute concert, but it goes without saying the surprising inclusion of the Mott the Hoople classic “All The Young Dudes” was one of the biggest highlights of the show. Not only did you have Ian Hunter fronting the performance, but David Bowie (who wrote the song) was also on backup vocals and saxophone, as well as Mick Ronson on guitar! Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott and Phil Collen ran out on stage to provide backup vocals, too. Elliott would say in a 2019 interview, “I dragged him [Collen] up. He wasn’t going to do it. I said, ‘You’re going to regret this for the rest of your life if you don’t.’ It’s my favorite song of all time, so for me, it was a no-brainer.”

 

Queen + George Michael – “Somebody to Love”

There’s perhaps no greater chill-inducing moment in the entire concert than when George Michael throws to the crowd to sing the final lyric in “Somebody to Love” and they all sing that vocal riff in perfect unison. On top of that, his vocal performance was just outstanding. In the years since Michael’s untimely passing on Christmas 2016, this performance serves as another reminder of his tremendous talent.

 

Queen + Liza Minnelli w/the entire show’s lineup – “We Are The Champions”

Every big show deserves a grand finale, and this performance of “We Are The Champions” is just that: Grand. Led by vocals from Liza Minnelli, everyone from the show’s lineup took to the stage for one truly epic sing-a-long capped by Minnelli saying, “Thanks, Freddie! We just wanted to let you know we were thinking about you. Stay safe!” A truly beautiful end to the emotional, heart-felt Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert.

Freddie Mercury: Photos On Stage and Behind-The-Scenes

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    British singer and songwriter Freddie Mercury of rock band Queen during the group's British tour, circa 1975. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

  • Freddie Mercury: Photos On Stage and Behind-The-Scenes

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    British singer and songwriter Freddie Mercury of rock band Queen in concert, 1984. (Photo by Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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    British singer and songwriter Freddie Mercury of rock band Queen during the group's British tour, circa 1975. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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    British singer and songwriter Freddie Mercury of rock band Queen performs at Leeds Football Club, England, 29th May 1982. (Photo by Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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    Drummer Roger Taylor and singer Freddie Mercury (1946 - 1991) of British rock band Queen perform at the Playhouse in Edinburgh, Scotland, 1st September 1976. (Photo by Gary Merrin/Keystone/Getty Images)

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    Singer Freddie Mercury (1946 - 1991) of British rock band Queen attends a ballet class in Covent Garden, London, 3rd October 1979. (Photo by Colin Davey/Evening Standard/Getty Images)

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    Singer Freddie Mercury (1946 - 1991) of British rock band Queen attends a ballet class in Covent Garden, London, 3rd October 1979. (Photo by Colin Davey/Evening Standard/Getty Images)

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    Singer Freddie Mercury (1946 - 1991) of British rock band Queen attends a ballet class in Covent Garden, London, 3rd October 1979. (Photo by Colin Davey/Evening Standard/Getty Images)

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    Musicians Freddie Mercury (1946 - 1991) and Roger Taylor of British rock band Queen perform a free concert in London's Hyde Park, 18th September 1976. (Photo by Keystone Features/Getty Images)

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    Freddie Mercury (1946-1991), singer with Queen, standing in front of a drumkit as he sings into a microphone on stage during a live concert performance by the band at the National Bowl in Milton Keynes, England, United Kingdom, on 5 June 1982. (Photo by Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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    Queen frontman Freddie Mercury (1946 - 1991) shaving his moustache, 12th April 1984. (Photo by Steve Wood/Express/Getty Images)

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    Queen frontman Freddie Mercury (1946 - 1991) shaving his moustache, 12th April 1984. (Photo by Steve Wood/Express/Getty Images)

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    Freddie Mercury (1946 - 1991) in concert with his hard rock group Queen, June 1977. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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    May 1978: Freddie Mercury (Frederick Bulsara, 1946 - 1991), singer with popular British rock group Queen, on stage with the band at the first of three sell-out nights at London's Wembley Arena, May 1972. (Photo by Gary Merrin/Keystone/Getty Images)

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    September 1976: British rock group Queen at Les Ambassadeurs, where they were presented with silver, gold and platinum discs for sales in excess of one million of their hit single 'Bohemian Rhapsody', which was No 1 for 9 weeks. The band are, from left to right; Brian May, John Deacon (standing), Roger Taylor and Freddie Mercury (Frederick Bulsara, 1946 - 1991). (Photo by Ian Tyas/Keystone/Getty Images)

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    1982: Rock singer Freddie Mercury (Frederick Bulsara, 1946 - 1991), of the popular British group Queen, has his moustache groomed. (Photo by Steve Wood/Express/Getty Images)

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    3rd September 1984: British rock group Queen in concert with singer Freddie Mercury (Frederick Bulsara, 1946 - 1991) and guitarist Brian May. (Photo by Rogers/Express/Getty Images)

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    31st October 1977: Singer songwriter Elton John (Reginald Dwight) with star of musicals Peter Straker, and Freddie Mercury (Frederick Bulsara, 1946 - 1991), singer with the group Queen. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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    8th September 1976: British rock group Queen at Les Ambassadeurs, where they were presented with silver, gold and platinum discs for sales in excess of one million of their hit single 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. The band are, from left to right, John Deacon, Freddie Mercury (Frederick Bulsara, 1946 - 1991), Roger Taylor and Brian May. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

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    1984: Freddie Mercury (1946 - 1991), lead singer of 70s hard rock quartet Queen, in concert. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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    circa 1975: Freddie Mercury (1946 - 1991), lead singer of 70s hard rock quartet Queen, in concert during the group's British tour. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

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    1984: Freddie Mercury (1946 - 1991), lead singer of 1970s hard rock quartet Queen, in concert. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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    29th May 1982: Freddie Mercury (1946 - 1991), lead singer of 70s hard rock quartet Queen, in concert at Leeds Football Club. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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    circa 1975: Freddie Mercury (1946 - 1991), lead singer of 70s hard rock quartet Queen, in concert during the group's British tour. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

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    5th June 1982: Freddie Mercury (1946 - 1991), lead singer of 70s hard rock quartet Queen, in concert in Milton Keynes. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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    11th June 1977: Freddie Mercury (1946 - 1991), lead singer of 70s hard rock quartet Queen, finishing the group's UK tour with two sell-out concerts at London's Earls Court. All proceeds from these shows go to the HRH The Queen's Silver Jubilee appeal. (Photo by Gary Merrin/Keystone/Getty Images)

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    5th June 1982: Lead singer of 70s hard rock quartet Queen Freddie Mercury (1946 - 1991) in concert at Milton Keynes. He revealed in November of 1991 that he was suffering from AIDS and died with 48 hours of announcing that he was ill. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

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    circa 1980: Lead singer of 70s hard rock quartet Queen Freddie Mercury (1946 - 1991) in concert during the group's British tour. He revealed in November of 1991 that he was suffering from AIDS and died with 48 hours of announcing that he was ill. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

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    British rock group Queen in concert, from left to right; Freddie Mercury (Frederick Bulsara, 1946 - 1991), John Deacon, and Brian May. Original Publication: People Disc - HU0463 (Photo by Express Newspapers/Getty Images)

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    British stadium rock group Queen on stage, with lead singer Freddie Mercury (Frederick Bulsara, 1946 - 1991) in the foreground. Original Publication: People Disc - HU0462 (Photo by Express Newspapers/Getty Images)

Erica Banas is a rock/classic rock news blogger who's well-versed in etiquette and extraordinarily nice. #TransRightsAreHumanRights
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Author Erica Banas // Rock Music Reporter
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