The 1992 Freddie Mercury tribute concert, “A Concert For Life,” will be available on DVD and Blu-ray beginning on September 3.
The Queen frontman died due to AIDS in 1991 and, less than a year later, many of music’s biggest names gathered to celebrate his legacy and raise awareness of AIDS. Funds from the tribute concert were used to establish the Mercury Phoenix Trust to support AIDS charities worldwide. All proceeds from the sale of The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert: The Definitive Edition will also go to the Trust.
Mercury’s tribute concert was broadcast to 76 countries via television and radio. The tens of thousands of tickets available for the event sold out in 3 hours, despite the fact that the only act announced was the remaining members of Queen. The whole show was a combination of musical performances and video clips and speeches honoring the late Mercury.
The DVD/Blu-ray set includes three discs, one of which features entire main set, including artists such as Elton John, Robert Plant, David Bowie, Axl Rose, and James Hetfield singing lead vocals while backed by Brian May, John Deacon and Roger Taylor – Queen’s remaining members. Consequence of Sound reports that The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert: The Definitive Edition will also include previously unreleased performances by Metallica, Guns N’ Roses and Def Leppard. The final disc of the set will have an hour-long documentary, rehearsal footage and photos.
Other artists that appeared at the event included Extreme, Bob Geldof and Spinal Tap. U2 and Mango Groove both performed via satellite for the concert. Other performances backed by Queen’s remaining members were done with Joe Elliot and Slash, Roger Daltry and Tony Iommi, Zucchero, Gary Cherone, Paul Young, Seal, Lisa Stansfield, Annie Lennox, George Michael and Liza Minelli. Elizabeth Taylor made an appearance to recite an AIDS prevention speech as well.
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