It’s been 34 years since that iconic benefit concert took place at Wembley Stadium on a hot summer day’s (13th July 1985).
More than 72,000 people were packed in to Wembley and 89,949 in Philadelphia (where a transatlantic concert has happening at the same time). The reason for the benefit concert was to raise money for the relief in the Ethiopian famine (which killed between 200,000 and 1.2 million people). Though there has been criticism on whether the money raised was actually used to help the Ethiopian famine, there’s speculation that ” much of the relief funds intended for victims were in fact siphoned off to purchase arms from the Soviet Union”.
The show itself was received more positively. Particularly Queen’s 20 minute set. Which in 2005 was named the greatest live performance”.
Queen’s performance was also captured in the bio film Bohemian Rhapsody (2018), and ever since that iconic performance in 1985. Wembley Stadium has been a symbolic place for any artist to perform.
Fun Fact: Only a handful of artists have sold out Wembley Stadium, from the likes of Muse in 2007 to the most recent in 2019 with BTS.
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