Wembley Stadium (1923) - Music

Music

The stadium became a musical venue in August 1972 with The London Rock and Roll Show, an all-star concert. It later played host to a number of concerts and events, most notably the British leg of Live Aid, which featured such acts as David Bowie, Queen, Paul McCartney, Elton John, The Who, Dire Straits and U2, held at the stadium on 13 July 1985. Phil Collins made news by performing at Wembley, then boarding a helicopter to London Heathrow Airport, taking a British Airways Concorde to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and performing at that segment of Live Aid at JFK Stadium on the same day.

Other charity concerts which took place in the stadium were the 1988 Human Rights Now! and Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert, The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness and the NetAid charity concert.

Acts who played at Wembley Stadium include:

  • Michael Jackson (15 times, most by any artist in the history of Wembley Stadium, selling over 1.1 million tickets in the process)

During Michael Jackson's Bad World Tour in 1988, seven sell-out concerts were staged at Wembley which included five in a row, and two at a later date. Each concert had an attendance of 72,000 people. According to the Guinness Book of World Records Jackson set a new world record with 504,000 people attending the seven sold out concerts. Over 2 million people tried to buy tickets. More concerts could have been staged but the stadium's quota was full. These seven concerts were highly anticipated and created huge media attention. He was also give a special award by Wembley Stadium Officials for achieving this milestone. The concert on 16 July 1988 (One of the seven sell-out concert) was attended by Princess Diana and Prince Charles. The DVD of this concert (Michael Jackson: Live at Wembley July 16, 1988) was released on 18 September 2012 as part of the 25th Anniversary reissue of his 1987 hit album Bad and as well as a stand alone DVD. A further five sell-out concerts followed in 1992 during his Dangerous World Tour and his last three shows in 1997 during HIStory World Tour brought total tickets sale over 1.1 million. Till date this record is not broken.

  • Celine Dion (Twice, including 11 & 12 July 1999 as part of her Let's Talk About Love World Tour, performing to 80,000 people each night)
  • Tina Turner (seven times, who had five sold out concerts recorded during her Twenty Four Seven Tour for the live tour DVD in the year 2000)
  • Billy Joel (played 3 concerts in 1984 as part of the "An Innocent Man" tour)
  • Madonna (9 times, including 18, 19, 20 and 21 August 1987, 20, 21, 22 July 1990 and 25 and 26 September 1993, 22nd September 2008)
  • The Animals (twice, once 1965 performing three songs at the NME Poll Winners Concert and the other on 31 December 1983, during their reunion tour, which was released as "Rip It To Shreds!" in 1984)
  • Oasis (two times, and recorded their video and album Familiar to Millions at Wembley)
  • Guns N' Roses (In 1991 Izzy Stradlin played his last show as an official member.)
  • Fleetwood Mac (They had 10 sold out shows in 1988 on their "Shake The Cage" tour)
  • Queen (Played two shows on the 1986 "Magic Tour", with the concert on 12 July recorded for a live album and VHS release which was later remastered to DVD)
  • Genesis (Played four consecutive nights in July 1987, which were filmed for Genesis Live at Wembley Stadium)
  • Johnny Cash (Played in 1979, recorded for the BBC in 1981 and 1986)
  • The Who (18 August 1979: "The Who And Friends Roar In". Following a series of smaller warm-ups this was the band's first major concert after the death of drummer Keith Moon the previous year. An 80,000 sell-out.)
  • INXS (The Concert was recorded and released as a VHS/DVD with the name Live Baby Live)
  • Pink Floyd (2 nights in August 1988, World War II search lights were used outside the stadium for dramatic effect for approaching fans)
  • The Spice Girls (two times, one of which was recorded and released as a VHS/DVD)
  • The Electric Light Orchestra (Played in June 1978 and released an album with the name Live at Wembley '78)
  • The Bee Gees ("One Night Only" Tour in 1998 to a crowd in excess of 56,000)
  • Simple Minds (Played in August 1989)
  • Elton John (7 times, including 1977, 1984, 1992 and 1998. He headlined a summer concert in 1984, part of his European Express Tour, along with bands such as Paul Young, Kool and The Gang and Wang Chung. The show was recorded for a Showtime concert special.)
  • The Rolling Stones (12 times between 1982, 1990, 1995 and 1999)
  • U2 (9 times between 1985 and 1997, including Live Aid.)
  • The Eagles (2 nights in 1996 as part of their Hell Freezes Over Tour.)
  • Bon Jovi played three consecutive nights in June 1995, which were filmed for Live from London. They were also the last musical act to play at the old Wembley before it was closed, and they were scheduled to be the first band to play at the new Wembley Stadium, with concerts on 10 and 11 June 2006. However, due to the delays in the construction of the new stadium, the concerts were moved to the National Bowl in Milton Keynes.

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