Garage Classics: The Story of Queen (on 40th anniversary of Live Aid performance)

Incredibly 40 years ago this week in July 1985, Queen and Freddie Mercury astonished a global audience at the Live Aid concerts for African famine relief.  An all star cast of the world's greatest bands performed that day, yet this was the moment that Freddie Mercury and crew blew everyone away and demonstrated that they remained one of the best live bands ever.  As part of our summer programming, we are dropping some of our classic episodes and The Story of Queen is one of them. Hear the incredible story of how Queen was started by a refugee immigrant and his new English friends and went from college band to stadium juggernaut selling 300 million albums worldwide.  This versatile band moved effortlessly across  genres like heavy rock, sumptuous ballads, funk & dance sounds, and even pop sounds. In this episode: How a family desperately fleeing an African revolution brought the future lead singer to EnglandHow a astronomer, dentist and engineer each wrote multiple hit songs for the bandWhen Freddie's early voice was compared to a "bleating sheep" by a fellow band memberHow Queen was duped into a questionable management contract and the vicious hit song that resulted How one of their biggest hits resulted from a chance encounter with a famous studio visitorThe backstory of the legendary performance at the 1985 Live Aid concertThe details of why Freddie Mercury acted as an emergency roadie for David Bowie early in Bowie's career Guest Bio - Mark Blake,  journalist & authorAuthor and music journalist Mark Blake is the author of several books on Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and The Who.  He is an authority on the band Queen spending countless hours interviewing members of the band for his books Is this the Real Life: The Untold Story of Queen and Magnifico: The A to Z of Queen. About Garage to StadiumsOne of the Top 5% podcasts in the world, Garage to Stadiums is a podcast for true music fans — the ones who want more than just headlines and hype. This show is for listeners who care about the full story behind the artists:  their childhoods, musical influences, early gigs, personal battles, journey to stadium-level fame and the drama in between. Each episode features guests who know their stuff and bring real insights from their time with the performers — from respected rock journalists to documentary filmmakers.  If you want smarter music commentary and behind-the-scenes stories you won’t hear anywhere else, subscribe now and get your backstage pass to music history.Follow Garage to Stadiums (GTS) on social channels  Want more music history?  Subscribe to our bonus Garage to Stadium content across our social + web channelsBonus Content:Download the Official Garage to Stadiums The Doors playlist on Apple Music or SpotifyVisit GaragetoStadiums.com for bonus content including concert footage, transcripts and other interesting facts.