Freddie Mercury became a legendary frontman for Queen because of his powerful voice and amazing stage presence. He was incredibly talented and could entertain audiences in a way that many other music stars couldn’t. In rock history, many of Freddie Mercury’s best moments are unforgettable. Queen’s guitarist, Brian May, mentioned that one of these iconic moments was completely unplanned.
Freddie Mercury’s call-and-response during Queen’s Live Aid performance was improvised
Queen gave many great performances, but their Live Aid concert at Wembley Stadium in 1985 is one of the most famous ever. The Live Aid event that year featured a fantastic lineup, including artists like Elton John, U2, The Who, Sting, David Bowie, and George Michael.
Queen stole the show because Freddie Mercury was determined to give his best performance ever. He was full of energy and sang every song with all his strength. At one point, he led the crowd in a call-and-response, chanting “ayo” in different tones and waiting for the audience to shout back.
In an interview with The Guardian, Brian May was asked if that moment was planned. May confirmed it was spontaneous and said that Freddie Mercury decided on the spot when the time was right to do it.
“We didn’t plan it. It was always up to Freddie if he wanted to do it, and he just felt confident that it was the right moment,” May explained. “Freddie had a natural talent for connecting with people. As soon as he said ‘Ey yo,’ the crowd went wild. I remember looking at Roger and thinking, it seems to have worked!”
The crowd cheered loudly during Queen’s performance and loved Freddie Mercury’s energy. However, May mentioned that they had no idea how well they had done once their set was over.
Queen encouraged interacting with fans during shows
Queen has many songs that are easy for audiences to sing along to. However, the band wasn’t always happy with fans shouting their lyrics back at them during concerts. In an interview with Total Guitar, Brian May said the band was initially frustrated with this trend but decided to embrace it instead of resisting. This change in attitude led to one of their biggest hits: “We Will Rock You.”
“I said to Freddie, ‘Maybe instead of fighting this, we should be encouraging it,'” May explained. “‘Maybe we should harness this kind of energy that’s happening.’ I started thinking, if the audience can chant, what would they chant? And then, I could hear it in my head: ‘We will, we will rock you!’
“I was hoping this would catch on and that we’d have a song led by the audience,” he added. “That’s why there are no drums on it. The goal was to get the audience involved… and somehow it worked.”
