The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness – in honour of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury – was a benefit concert held on Easter Monday, April 20, 1992, at Wembley Stadium in London, England, for an audience of 72,000. Extreme was one of the first bands to perform on the day, playing a medley that has gone down in music history as one of the greatest ever tributes to Queen.
In a new Instagram post, guitarist Nuno Bettencourt looks back on the day:
“Thirty-three years ago , not only was it one of the greatest concerts of my life to be a part of, but when Brian May walked out to introduce us and said … ‘more than any other group on the planet, this next band knew what Freddie was all about and what queen were all about,’ normally I’d take the humble approach, but that statement was 1000% spot on.
On that day we wanted to make sure that not only true Queen fans in that stadium and watching around the world knew what Freddie meant to us, but that more importantly, Freddie, watching down from the heavens, one the greatest composers and rock and roll singers of all time, knew what he meant to us.
Yes, we got into a lot of trouble performing all Queen music instead of Extreme songs, as no artist were allowed to perform Queen till the all star jam later on with the surviving members, but it was fucking worth it because we needed to let everyone know how much impact Freddie had on us and celebrate the music of Queen that shaped and changed our lives.
And the only way to do that was to risk performing a Queen medley for the first time ever. Not very smart – in front of Queen, Bowie, Elton, Guns, Metallica, and the immense talent that were there sidestage – but we knew that that would be the only way to rock the house that Queen built, Wembley Stadium.
And having survived it… I can tell you that … Freddie was in that building. Cause the shivers and lightning shooting right through me during every second of that set was something till this day I’ve never felt again.
Thank you to all the Queen fans at Wembley that day for allowing to entertain you. .. it was an honor, a privilege… A gift for us that we’ll cherish forever.
Without every single one of you there that day we couldn’t have celebrated and grieved Freddie’s life without your immense passion for Queen.
‘There can be only one.'”
The medley can be viewed below in its entirety and features the following Queen songs:
“Mustapha”
“Bohemian Rhapsody”
“Keep Yourself Alive”
“I Want to Break Free”
“Fat Bottomed Girls”
“Bicycle Race”
“Another One Bites the Dust”
“We Will Rock You”
“Stone Cold Crazy”
“Radio Ga Ga”
The post EXTREME Guitarist NUNO BETTENCOURT Looks Back On 1992 FREDDIE MERCURY Tribute Medley – “We Got Into A Lot Of Trouble For Performing All QUEEN Music, But It Was F@#king Worth It” appeared first on BraveWords - Where Music Lives.
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In a new Instagram post, guitarist Nuno Bettencourt looks back on the day:
“Thirty-three years ago , not only was it one of the greatest concerts of my life to be a part of, but when Brian May walked out to introduce us and said … ‘more than any other group on the planet, this next band knew what Freddie was all about and what queen were all about,’ normally I’d take the humble approach, but that statement was 1000% spot on.
On that day we wanted to make sure that not only true Queen fans in that stadium and watching around the world knew what Freddie meant to us, but that more importantly, Freddie, watching down from the heavens, one the greatest composers and rock and roll singers of all time, knew what he meant to us.
Yes, we got into a lot of trouble performing all Queen music instead of Extreme songs, as no artist were allowed to perform Queen till the all star jam later on with the surviving members, but it was fucking worth it because we needed to let everyone know how much impact Freddie had on us and celebrate the music of Queen that shaped and changed our lives.
And the only way to do that was to risk performing a Queen medley for the first time ever. Not very smart – in front of Queen, Bowie, Elton, Guns, Metallica, and the immense talent that were there sidestage – but we knew that that would be the only way to rock the house that Queen built, Wembley Stadium.
And having survived it… I can tell you that … Freddie was in that building. Cause the shivers and lightning shooting right through me during every second of that set was something till this day I’ve never felt again.
Thank you to all the Queen fans at Wembley that day for allowing to entertain you. .. it was an honor, a privilege… A gift for us that we’ll cherish forever.
Without every single one of you there that day we couldn’t have celebrated and grieved Freddie’s life without your immense passion for Queen.
‘There can be only one.'”
The medley can be viewed below in its entirety and features the following Queen songs:
“Mustapha”
“Bohemian Rhapsody”
“Keep Yourself Alive”
“I Want to Break Free”
“Fat Bottomed Girls”
“Bicycle Race”
“Another One Bites the Dust”
“We Will Rock You”
“Stone Cold Crazy”
“Radio Ga Ga”
The post EXTREME Guitarist NUNO BETTENCOURT Looks Back On 1992 FREDDIE MERCURY Tribute Medley – “We Got Into A Lot Of Trouble For Performing All QUEEN Music, But It Was F@#king Worth It” appeared first on BraveWords - Where Music Lives.
Continue reading...