“Aaaaaay-o”. Freddie Mercury
It was the biggest musical event the world had seen, the like of which is impossible to imagine will ever be replicated in this or any other lifetime. An audience of almost 2 billion across the globe. It’s estimated that nearly 40 per cent of the worldwide population tuned in.
Of the 16 hours of playing out on over 500 million TV sets, it was Queen’s magical 21-minute set which has come to epitomise Live Aid. And when Freddie Mercury, at the climax of his famous call-and-response “Ay-oh” segment, he struck what would become known as “The Note Heard Around the World”.
Brian May recalls: “Freddie was our secret weapon. He was able to reach out to everybody in that stadium effortlessly, and I think it was really his night”.
“Sunshine and renewed hope!”, Roger Taylor reflects. “The whole day was one of those stand out wonderful days. A great credit to music, which can move mountains if it has to! It’s beyond politics and politicians!”
Now you can relive that historic performance exactly as it happened on the night…for Just One Day….
“Thank you for coming along…and making this a great occasion!” Freddie Mercury
On July 13, 1985, at 6.41pm, at Wembley Stadium in London, Queen took to the stage as part of Live Aid, the event Sir Bob Geldof and Midge Ure organised to raise funds for the Ethiopian famine disaster. The band performed a medley of some of their greatest hits including ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, ‘Radio Ga Ga’, ‘Hammer To Fall’, ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’, ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘We Are The Champions’ – their 21-minute set was witnessed by 72,000 people in the stadium and 1.9 billion across the World and is hailed as one of the greatest live performances ever in the history of rock n’ roll.
As part of the 40th anniversary of the Live Aid concert, you can re-live Queen’s historic showpiece for 24 hours on the Queen YouTube Channel, on Sunday, July 13th 2025, from 6.41pm (BST).
Less seen over the years, this Queen YouTube channel Live Aid 40th anniversary special also includes a special bonus of Freddie Mercury and Brian May’s unexpected return to the stage at 9.48pm just prior to the finale to perform the acoustic ‘The Works’ album track ‘Is This The World We Created’, the song written by Freddie and Brian after they had watched the news of poverty in Africa, which they deemed appropriate to the message of the event.
Click here for the Queen YouTube Channel >>> www.youtube.com/queen
The story of Live Aid is currently being told in the West End musical, Just For One Day >>> https://theliveaidmusical.com
***Official Limited Edition Live Aid + Queen Merchandise***
To celebrate 40 years of Live Aid and the live stream of Queen’s set, the Band Aid Trust and The Mercury Phoenix Trust have teamed up to offer limited-edition merchandise in aid of both charities. Two T-shirts and a poster have been specially designed and overseen by the trustees of both charities, including Bob Geldof, Roger Taylor and Brian May.
The range is available to pre-order now @ www.queenonlinestore.com
All profits will be split equally between The Band Aid Trust and The Mercury Phoenix Trust.
