Queen have shared the latest episode of their career-spanning series “The Greatest”. In the final episode, fans can watch ‘Queen Rock South America’ and you can watch all of the action below.
Building on their huge success in North America, Queen was invited to venture into new territories and tour South America. It turned out to be one of their biggest challenges to date – but the response from the large and enthusiastic crowds exceeded anything they could have imagined.
Freddie Mercury once joked, “They wouldn’t let us into Russia; they thought we were going to corrupt the youth or something… so we went to Latin America. We wanted to play where rock music had never been played before.
This week, Queen The Greatest dates back to 1981 and is one of the most important and groundbreaking tours in Queen’s live history: the time they rocked South America and, in so doing, forged a lasting bond between the group and a public which remains one of its most loyal.
Brian May: “South America raised its head, and we heard rumors that we were the biggest company ever in Argentina and Brazil, and they started asking us to go. And they were like, ‘You can play in football stadiums over there’ and we were like ‘Oh, you’re kidding’.
Manager Jim Beach: “At the time, under the dictatorship in Argentina, we were negotiating with the general of the army and he said to me:” how can I allow 50,000 young people to enter a stadium, then that I can’t control them ”. What if someone suddenly yells “Viva Peron” in the middle of a Queen concert and I have a riot on my arms?
“And I tried to explain to him that, much like the gladiatorial matches in Rome, it was the panacea for the people. They’ve never, never had this before, it would be an amazing experience.
Brian May: “So we got it all in place and God knows how many jumbo jets were full of gear. ”
Roger Taylor: “The travel arrangements were very scary, with, you know, driving the wrong way along an elevated highway with riders, with guys in big jeeps waving their big guns and forcing the cars to come. straight towards them to stop. ”
Freddie Mercury was rather more relaxed about the experience:
Interviewer: “Fred, how do you feel playing and singing in front of 200,000 people? ”
Freddie Mercury: “I haven’t done it yet.”
Roger Taylor: “I remember getting nervous the first night, the top level alone took 80,000, and we were in that kind of hole that I guess football teams would normally be. All the windows were smashed and I remember thinking “hmm, that’s it, it’s going to take bullets to get out there”.
John Deacon: “All of the shows done in Argentina were all in football stadiums, and they were very worried about the pitch being damaged, because that’s their kind of holy ground, football turf. And we got this idea, covering it with plastic grass, and they accepted, because that was something we really wanted, was to have a lot of people on the pitch.
“We mounted the stage from cover to cover. They were pretty happy to have people in the stands, but we insisted that we also had to have people on the pitch to give the show a good atmosphere.
“Oh, it was wonderful, it was the closest to a football game, it was that kind of reaction. They were extremely excited, I mean they were pretty ecstatic, and they sang in English too, and did ‘woh, woh, woh, woh’, all the chants and everything.
Despite the nervousness at the start and the enormous logistical work, this first South American tour was a huge success and left a lasting impression on the group and its audience.
Queen would return in 1985 for one of their most memorable performances of all time – but that’s the story of another episode of Queen The Greatest.
Watch the episode of “The Greatest” on the official Queen’s YouTube channel.
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