Queen’s legendary Live Aid performance will be released for the first time ever as part of the soundtrack album to Bohemian Rhapsody, the forthcoming biopic on the band.
Recorded at Wembley Stadium on July, 13, 1985, the Live Aid set featured performances of "Bohemian Rhapsody," "Radio Ga Ga," "Hammer to Fall" and "We Are the Champions." In addition to these tracks, Bohemian Rhapsody features other rare live tracks spanning Queen’s entire career, new versions of old favorites and a selection of the band's studio recordings. The soundtrack will be released on CD and digital formats on October 19.
The five tracks from Queen’s 21-minute performance at Live Aid have never been issued in audio form before. They've only ever been featured on video as a special extra on the DVD/Blu-ray release of Queen Rock Montreal, which features the Montreal Forum shows of November 1981. The Live Aid audio is exclusive to this new soundtrack album.
Other tracks on the soundtrack have been sourced from different decades and even different continents. "Fat Bottomed Girls" comes from the 1979 Paris shows, part of the Jazz world tour, and has never been released before. "Now I'm Here" was recorded at the band's 1975 Christmas Eve show at London's Hammersmith Odeon. And the history-making duet between Mercury and guitarist Brian May on "Love of My Life" comes from the Rock in Rio festival of January 1985 when 300,000 Brazilians sang along. Previously, this track was only available to fans on the video releases of this performance.
The three remaining songs on the soundtrack will be fresh to Queen fans, old and new. "We Will Rock You" starts out as the studio version, then seamlessly blends into a live performance with audience participation. This has been created especially for the film. "Don't Stop Me Now" features May’s newly recorded guitar parts and is much closer to how the band plays the track live today.
"Doing All Right" was originally recorded by Smile, the predecessor band to Queen that featured May and drummer Roger Taylor with vocalist Tim Staffell. When Staffell later left, Taylor and May would join forces with Mercury to form Queen. Mercury’s interpretation of the song is featured on the first Queen album. To recreate the original Smile version, May and Taylor reunited with Staffell at Abbey Road Studios to re-record "Doing All Right" for the Bohemian Rhapsody soundtrack. This session, which featured Taylor, Staffell and May all singing lead vocals, took place almost 50 years after the original Smile recording.
All 22 songs on the soundtrack were produced by Brian May and Roger Taylor, with engineering and co-production by longtime Queen studio collaborators Justin Shirley-Smith, Kris Fredriksson and Joshua J Macrae, and mastering by Adam Ayan and Bob Ludwig.
Bohemian Rhapsody full track listing:
01. 20th Century Fox Theme (0:25)
02. Somebody To Love (4:56)
03. Doing All Right... Revisited (Performed by Smile) (3:17)
04. Keep Yourself Alive (Live At The Rainbow) (3:56)
05. Killer Queen (2:59)
06. Fat Bottomed Girls (Live In Paris) (4:38)
07. Bohemian Rhapsody (5:55)
08. Now I'm Here (Live At Hammersmith Odeon) (4:26)
09. Crazy Little Thing Called Love (2:43)
10. Love Of My Life (Rock In Rio) (4:29)
11. We Will Rock You (Movie Mix) (2:09)
12. Another One Bites The Dust (3:35)
13. I Want To Break Free (3:43)
14. Under Pressure (Performed by Queen & David Bowie) (4:04)
15. Who Wants To Live Forever (5:15)
16. Bohemian Rhapsody (Live Aid) (2:28)
17. Radio Ga Ga (Live Aid) (4:06)
18. Ay-Oh (Live Aid) (0:41)
19. Hammer To Fall (Live Aid) (4:04)
20. We Are The Champions (Live Aid) (3:57)
21. Don't Stop Me Now… Revisited (3:38)
22. The Show Must Go On (4:32)
