Queen Live Performances

Queen Live Performances

The English rock band Queen is well known for its prowess as a live musical act. A diverse catalogue of songs, massive sound systems, huge lighting rigs, an arsenal of pyrotechnics and many extravagant costumes helped turn shows into entertaining, theatrical events. As both lead vocalist and front man, Freddie Mercury was able to immerse himself in the audience's adulation and thrived on their excitement – an ability for which many artists, such as Bob Geldof, David Bowie, George Michael, Kurt Cobain (in his possible suicide note), and Robbie Williams have expressed great admiration.

Queen wrote a number of songs, "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions", for example, with the specific goal of audience participation. Songs such as "Radio Ga Ga" came to inspire actions like synchronised hand-clapping (this particular hand-clapping routine, originating from the song's video, was actually the invention of the video's director, David Mallet). This contributed to Queen's memorable appearance at Live Aid, where the 75,000 strong crowd at Wembley Stadium sang at a loud volume and clapped their hands in unison to the song. Queen's performance at Live Aid was voted by a large selection of musicians and critics to be the greatest live show of all time.