'Don't get clever': Geldof's advice for Mercury at Live Aid in 1985
The Guardian
|July 01, 2025
Freddie Mercury's performance with Queen at Live Aid in 1985 is regarded by many as the crowning glory of one of the greatest showmen the world has ever seen.
But he still needed some clear instructions from Bob Geldof, the festival's organiser, before going out on stage. "Don't get clever," the Boomtown Rats frontman told him, according to fellow Queen members Roger Taylor and Brian May. "Just play the hits - you have 17 minutes."
Twenty years after Live Aid, Queen's six-song performance was voted the world's greatest rock gig. During the short set, Mercury had 75,000 people clapping as one.
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