06/09/2026
On the exact 40th anniversary of Live Aid — Brian May stood on a London red carpet with his daughter and told Reuters: "Even thinking about it now makes me emotional. There has never been a day like that in my life." He also revealed Queen's performance nearly fell apart. Forty years later. Still emotional. Still the greatest.
July 13th, 1985.
Wembley Stadium. 72,000 people. 1.9 billion watching worldwide.
Twenty-one minutes that changed rock history forever.
July 13th, 2025.
Forty years later — to the exact day.
Brian May — aged 77 — stepped onto the red carpet of the Shaftesbury Theatre in London, accompanied by his daughter Emily Ruth.
Inside — a West End musical called "Just For One Day" was recreating the story of Live Aid on stage.
Outside — reporters asked Brian May how it felt.
He looked at the camera and said — "It made me very emotional at the time. Even thinking about it now makes me emotional. There has never been a day like that in my life."
Then came the revelation nobody expected.
Brian May told Radio Times that Queen's legendary performance nearly fell apart — saying it "came off the rails quite significantly." He described the deep worry beforehand about how difficult it would be to change over between acts — and whether Queen could hold a crowd of that scale in the time they had.
The performance that the world voted the greatest live rock show in history.
Came close to falling apart.
Bob Geldof — who had reluctantly added Queen to the bill at all — stood at the same event and told Reuters that Live Aid proved the power of collaborative action. He said the night still mattered forty years later.
BBC Two broadcast a full documentary — "Live Aid at 40" — featuring extended interviews with Brian May and Roger Taylor, alongside over 6.5 hours of concert highlights broadcast for the first time since 1985.
Forty years.
And Brian May — still wearing his curly hair, still in his colourful jacket, still the man who played the Red Special on that Wembley stage —
Said he was still emotional.
Still.
Some days follow you forever.