^ Ha,! It's a nice find, but maybe just bad journalism or Freddie took that reporter for a ride.
Or mayyyybeeeee they were actually so full of Coke at that point that they put a request to the Vatican. Well who knows :)
Although this appeared in 1984 I believe the origin of the story was from the summer of 1979 when they planned to play some big outdoor shows but couldn't get the venues they wanted. The centre Court at Wimbledon and St Peters Square in Rome were two. There were others though I'm not sure where they were.
It was true, Jim Beach was trying to do it, I also read in biography book Queen as it began 2nd endition1993. I do not remeber if it was also a quote of Freddie when he was asked about palying in Budapest and breaking new ground.
Dim wrote:
I do not remeber if it was also a quote of Freddie when he was asked about palying in Budapest and breaking new ground.
Except that it wasn't breaking new ground... Queen weren't the first international act to play in Hungary: ACDC had been there (thrice before Queen's visit), so had Depeche Mode, Elton John, Iron Maiden and Tina Turner. A great concert and an unforgettable one, but not by any means the first.
Not sure how well Now I'm Here would have gone down with the citizens of Vatican City. Or Another One Bites The Dust. Freddie would certainly have to not repeat his 1981 Montreal performance - "take it from me one more time, do it for me one more time", "bite it, bite it hard baby".