Freddie Mercury told stunned Queen bandmates 'I can't do this anymore

By editorial board on November 25, 2021

Queen singer Freddie Mercury shocked his bandmates in 1986 when he told them after their famous Knebworth gig that he did not want to perform live any longer due to his ailing health, a new documentary reveals.

May says Mercury's admission shocked him because they had just had 'great success' with 'biggest ever' tour. Queen's Knebworth Park gig, in Hertfordshire, was performed in front of enormous 120,000-strong crowd, as mailonline reports

At the time of the gig, which was performed in front of a sell-out 200,000-strong crowd at Knebworth Park, in Hertfordshire, May and Taylor were unaware that Mercury was suffering from AIDS, which there was no treatment for at the time.

'We had done the biggest tour ever of our lives and it was a great success and we were very happy. And Freddie said, "I can't do this anymore, after this." And we went, "oh",' May says.

Taylor adds: 'He was fairly firm at that point about the fact that he didn't want to do anymore live shows, which sort of told us that there was something wrong.'

The BBC programme also hears from others who were closest to Mercury, including his sister Kashmira Bulsara, long-time friend Anita Dobson and personal assistant Peter Freestone to recount their recollections of the singer's

Queen's Knebworth Park gig was the final date of the band's successful Magic Tour.

The stars performed greatest hits including 'One Vision', 'Radio Ga Ga', 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love,' 'We Will Rock You' and 'I Want To Break Free'.

In line with Mercury's wishes, the band did not perform live with Mercury after that.

Mr Freestone, who cared for Mercury at his Garden Lodge home in his final weeks, tells in Saturday's show how the singer refused any more drugs that would keep him alive.

'The only thing that he would take would be painkillers. And for those last two weeks, he slowly let go,' he says.

Despite persistent rumours about his state of health, the writer and performer of much-loved anthems including We Are The Champions and Bohemian Rhapsody did not confirm that he had AIDS until the day before his death.

 

 

 

.

DISCLAIMER: the images used by Videomuzic are for the purpose of criticism and exercise of the right to report news, in low quality, in compliance with the provisions of the law on copyright, used exclusively for the information content.
DISCLAIMER: Videomuzic usa le immagini per finalità di critica ed esercizio del diritto di cronaca in modalità degradata conforme alle prescrizioni della legge sul diritto d'autore utilizzate ad esclusivo corredo dei contenuti informativi.
Copyright © 2022 Videomuzic | Rome. ITA | Pictures, videos remain the property of the copyright owner, Any copyright owner who wants removed should contact us..
linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram