Geldof approached Mercury through Spike Edney, a former member of Geldof’s own band, the Boomtown Rats, who had recently joined Queen to play keyboards during the group’s live shows. Queen was noncommittal, but not because, as the movie “Bohemian Rhapsody” suggests, they had split from Mercury for several years. The group was exhausted after a spring 1985 tour of New Zealand, Australia and Japan. And Mercury had recently cast doubt on the band’s future by releasing a solo album, “Mr. Bad Guy,” to a lukewarm reception.

Once Queen was convinced of the show's epic scale, they agreed not to close the concert, but to play at 6:41 p.m. And they took the show more seriously than many of their peers, rehearsing for three solid days.

By the time Queen hit the stage in London, the 70,000 fans at Wembley had already seen performances by Elvis Costello, Dire Straits and Phil Collins, who left immediately after his set with Sting to catch the Concorde to the United States, so he could drum with Eric Clapton and Led Zeppelin in Philadelphia. But they had been seeing Queen’s piano all day long; Mercury let the other acts use his Steinway. GAVIN EDWARDS