Freddie Mercury – Rare Queen Live Aid rehearsals footage shared by Brian May

It was 38 years ago this week that Queen performed their Live Aid set, which is widely considered one of the greatest live music moments ever.

Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon stole the show with Bohemian Rhapsody, Radio Ga Ga, Hammer to Fall, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, We Will Rock You and We Are The Champions.

And now as the anniversary arrives tomorrow, Sir Brian has posted on his Instagram something really special.

The 75-year-old legend shared rare rehearsal footage for what would be Queen’s most iconic live performance.

Fans can see Freddie and the gang below, playing the tracks from the set alongside giving interviews in the 10-minute clip.

Sir Brian captioned the post: “Fondly remembering LIVE AID at this time of year, I was pretty amazed to see this – an amazing find – thanks to @iswearshesvintage and apparently somebody called Chief Mouse on YouTube.

“Here you see us rehearsing for the Queen Live Aid appearance – and talking about how we think it’s gonna be. And the rehearsal footage, captured raw, shows us in a completely different, relaxed state of mind, from the hypervibed way we will be on that extraordinary night in 1985. All sorts of adventurous variations in how we’re playing – which now seem like a precious capture by the BBC – a whole different ‘lost’ performance.

“In particular, listen to Freddie’s beautiful high notes in Bohemian Rhapsody. Lots of other rare details to spot, too. I had no idea this footage was out there. Enjoy !”

When asked if Queen were taking part in Live Aid because they cared about the cause or because they didn’t want to be left out of such a huge rock event, Freddie answered candidly.

He said: “To answer that honestly, it’s a bit of both actually because I think it is a very good cause and initially I think we would have liked to done the Band-Aid single but were in separate parts of the globe.

“And so the second bash… was this thing and also the fact that some of the biggest and best-known groups in the world are taking part, why not us? So I think it makes me personally proud to be part of it actually.”