Only two:
1) Why if the Tribute Concert was dedicated to Freddie, most of the songs played were Brian's?
2) Why if Freddie was a HUGE fan of Paul Rodgers, he wasn't invited to the tribute just like they did with Liza Minelli?
1) That has always got me thinking as well. Surely 90% of the songs played (in the 2nd half) should've been his, with 10% of songs written by Roger, Brian & John and Queen as a whole?
2) Good question. Montserrat wasn't there, either...but apparently she was invited, but was involved in Expo 1992.
1. No one could sing Freddie's songs! Robert Plant blew Innuendo. Plus most of the acts were hard rockers with great guitarists. Now why do you think they wanted to play Brian's songs?
2. Bad Company was on tour. I believe they were supporting their "Holy Water" album.
Ah yes, you are correct about Brian Howe.
Here's what Paul Rodgers was doing in 1991-1993
Paulrodgers.com wrote
"THE LAW" Rodgers 1991 musical venture with former WHO drummer Kenny Jones produced Billboards #1 AOR Chart hit "Laying Down The Law" written by Rodgers.
Rodgers acknowledged the influence of Jimi Hendrix by collaborating with Slash, Hendrix's "BAND OF GYPSIES" (Buddy Miles and Billy Cox) and recorded the track "I Don't Live Today", on the CD "In From The Storm" a tribute to Hendrix. Then Rodgers teamed with JOURNEY guitarist Neil Schon and released "The Hendrix Set" a live CD, released in 1993 with's Paul's interpretations of Hendrix songs.A Canadian and US tour followed.
I guess he was a little busy that year to join the Tribute.
So that year, David Bowie, Elton John, George Michael, Gun's n Roses, Metallica, Robert PLant, Seal, etc weren't busy at all? were they all on vacation? I heard, not sure, that U2 was on tour, but still handle to send their respect to freddie by dedicating one of their songs live. Madonna was invited but refused for unknown reasons....
Silly questions.
For no. 2, here's a silly answer - I was under the impression that Queen were fans of Free, and not just Paul Rodgers in particular.
And also, bollocks to the idea that they picked Brian's songs because they were harder... Freddie wrote his fair share of harder songs.
Just out of interest which one of Freddies big hits did you miss at the concert?
Bo Rap no
Crazy No
Champions No
Somebody to love No
I think you'll find they played the 'hits' mainly and songs that a) were in the vocal range of the other artists, and b) songs that people remember when they think of Queen
The only noticable exception was Killer Queen and I can't see many doing that particularly well can you.
As for the songs being all Brians, eerrr, sorry are you looking at a different track list?
And as for Paul Rodgers, who knows if he was invited or not, but it IS well documented that Freddie liked Free! go read the interviews.
I think the artists chose the songs they wanted to sing. At least Seal said in the documentary that he picked WWTLF.
As to Freddie being such a fan of PR - I think that was embellishing the truth a bit to make it more acceptable for the Freddie fans that Paul Rodgers fronts the band for the current tour. I would not take such a statement too seriously, it's just publicity. In the end it does not make a difference if Freddie liked PR or not.
YourValentine wrote: As to Freddie being such a fan of PR - I think that was embellishing the truth a bit to make it more acceptable for the Freddie fans that Paul Rodgers fronts the band for the current tour. I would not take such a statement too seriously, it's just publicity. In the end it does not make a difference if Freddie liked PR or not.
I agree with this. Freddie was probably not a Paul Rodgers "fan" in the sense that we are Queen fans. They probably liked Free's music and respected Paul Rodgers as an artist when they started out in 1970, but I don't think Freddie was a "fan", at least not as much as he was a fan of Led Zep, Liza Minelli or Montserat Caballe.
In 1992, who remembered Paul Rodgers? In a star studded line-up the name Paul Rodgers would have been a dissonant, and by then Paul and Brian weren't as close yet as they would become later on. This is no dig at Paul Rodgers. I love the man's singing, and I think he was the perfect choice for their recent tour, but that just was the reality in 1992.
As for why more Brian May songs were played during the concert.... First, let's look at some statistics.
Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert (source: link
The number of Queen and Queen member solo songs (ie. Brian's TMLWKY) performed, organized by writer:
FM:xxxxx (5)
BM:xxxxxxxxx (8)
RT:x (1)
JD:x (1)
QU:xxxxxx (5)
Compare this to Live At Wembley:
FM:xxxxxx (6)
BM:xxxxxxx (7)
FM&BM:x (1)
FM&JD:x (1)
RT:xx (2)
JD:xx (2)
QU:xx (2)
Note that many of the songs written by "Queen" are often thought of as having had a lot of Freddie Mercury input (Under Pressure, Stone Cold Crazy, Innuendo). The Show Must Go On and I Want It All are primarily Brian's and These Are The Days of our lives is originally Roger's, but since they are officially credited to Queen, that's how I counted them.
While there is a difference between the two concerts as in who wrote what, I don't think it is huge. Too Much Love Will Kill You was performed by Brian as an ode to Freddie, giving the lyrics a haunting extra dimension. I don't really see it as Brian trying to promote his own single (although it undoubtly helped).
As a lot of the bands were rockbands, it seems logical that they preferred some of Brian's material as a lot of Queen's hard rock hits were penned by Brian.
Serpent_of_the_Nile wrote: So that year, David Bowie, Elton John, George Michael, Gun's n Roses, Metallica, Robert PLant, Seal, etc weren't busy at all? were they all on vacation? I heard, not sure, that U2 was on tour, but still handle to send their respect to freddie by dedicating one of their songs live. Madonna was invited but refused for unknown reasons....
I heard that Madonna wanted to do the tribute but that Queen refused, thats what I heard I dont know if its true.