A Piece of My Heart

Part 9: It's Live Aid

                                                                    🔺 ⬆ "Oh, my"⬆🔺

Life Goes On: Concerts, albums, tours, sex, marriage, divorce and babies. The usual.

TIME SKIP: And now back to the story.

                                                                     Queen    1985

The boys had just returned  from a rousing world tour and were exhausted. Roger had ordered a new snare drum and was waiting for it to be delivered to the studio. He was spending more and more time in the studio because life at home was not great. Roger was the prettiest member of the band and used it to his advantage. He was the consummate womanizer. He constantly shagged every young thing in sight and Dominique was having affairs of her own. They were staying together because of the children, but it was getting harder to do so. Roger's problem was he couldn't remember who he was shagging, getting names mixed up and getting completely run down. He thought he was addicted to sex and thought about going to a therapist about it.

Brian was re-tuning his "red special" and experiencing problems at home with Chrissie. His eye was starting to wander, and he started seeing someone. He seemed to be getting in deeper and deeper and a divorce between he and Chrissie was on the horizen. Freddie was fooling around on his piano and John was still home with Ronnie and the children. Freddie  smiled to himself as he thought of the Deacons. A real family in spite of John's rock-star status. He thought it must be nice and peaceful to find love and happiness like that. Never to feel alone. Although he was loath to enter lasting relationships and felt one-nighters was best for him, his mind still wanderd back to 1983 and Cynthia. He knew what they had experienced was unique to him and special and it was all too fleeting. Still, he reasoned why he never tried to contact. He was too proud and angry, and  felt betrayed. He had shared personal thoughts and confidences with her and obviously, it didn't matter to her at all to just up and leave like that. No, he wasn't going after her, fuck her!

Miami walked into the studio excited and called for the boys attention.

"Listen up, my boys. Great news. I just got a call from Bob Geldorf asking us to play at Live Aid in July. It's a charitable gig for the starving people of Ethiopia. It'll be televised all over the world to over a billion and a half people. Every prominent group will be participating and you should too."

"Good God, Miami. We're exhausted" Roger cried. We've only just returned from touring and we need a break."

"Fuck Geldorf" Freddie yelled. "we weren't invited to perform at Band Aid because of the Sun City fiasco and that hurt. The hell with him"

"Fred, we made a mistake playing there. We didn't realize the ramifications. It's done, people WILL forget, let it lie, please." Brian pleaded.

"I can't Bri, it just sticks in my craw." Freddie sighed.

"Fred..." Brian said with his hand out in supplication.

"No, this is bullshit.  We don't need this shit...."   Miami raised his voice cut him off and told him they DID need it. Their last album wasn't up to snuff and they indeed, needed this. Miami said they couldn't be the only major band turning this down.

"Elton, Macarthy, Led Zep, Bob Dylan, U2, just to name a few, they are all participating and you have to do it" Miami yelled.

John walked in and said, "Hey guys, did you hear about Live Aid?"

"Fuck you, John" Freddie said.

"What did I say?" John asked puzzled.

"Sorry, Deacy, I'm just venting" answered Freddie.

"Okay, so how do we proceed?" Brian asked.

Everybody gets the same 20 minutes. Geldorf doesn't want this to be a platform for showcasing new work. Stick to the hits, figure out how many you can work into the time allotted." Miami said.

Freddie told them to devise a medley of their hits and decide on their order.

John suggested they start with an abbreviated Bohemian Rhapsody and then go into Radio GaGa. Brian wanted a guitar solo and was universally told " NO" by the group. Freddie wanted to do his shout-out and Brian argued that it wasn't a Queen concert and they shouldn't do it. But what Freddie wanted, Freddie got. Now they had three of the six songs. Freddie also suggested and they all agreed upon Crazy Little Thing Called Love because it was a number one single in the US and they really want to get America back. Now they had four of the six. They all agreed upon the ubiquitous "stomp, stomp, clap" and to end with We Are The Champions. Miami said he would rent out a hall so they could rehearse. No matter what anyone could say about them, the one thing that could never be taken away was that they were a highly professional band that sought perfection in everything that they did.  One of their main arguements amongst themselves was Freddie never thinking anything was good enough. They rehearsed and rehearsed until his throat bled.

Miami mentioned that there was going to be special party held at the Ritz for all performers and their families after Live Aid and for them to be on their good behavior.

"Omg!, do we have to?" Roger asked. "Come on, Bri, back me up on this one.  I'm tired, we're tired and I'm having problems at home with Dom."

"ROGER" Brian shouted, "get your house in order. Shit or  get off the pot. Do you want to stay married or not? I'm sick of this."

"BRI" Roger yelled back, "you don't understand. It's not that easy, there are children involved. I know Dominique and if I leave her, she'll keep the kids from me, and I couldn't live with that, I love them too much."

"Roger" piped in Freddie, "have you ever heard of lawyers? They wouldn't let that happen. Speak to Miami  first, remember, he's not only our manager, but a damn good lawyer as well. Get his advice and opinion."  Freddie, always the mediator, stepped in.

They all groaned and asked if they had to attend the after party.

"Yes," Miami finally answered, "you have to. And if asked to perform, you will. This will all be televised to those one and a half billion viewers out there wanting to see their favorite bands enjoying themselves. Yes, you have to and will do it." Miami announced. When Miami got this way, it was best that the band listen and agree with him. They knew he had their very best interests at his heart and wouldn't steer them in the wrong direction. Queen had made Miami a very wealthy  man and he wasn't going to deter them from doing the right thing. Miami knew that the band was on the decline both with their last album and popularity and Live Aid would be a huge boost to their status and career. They would listen to him.

"Roger," Miami called, "come to the office in a few minutes and we'll talk.

"Boys," Miami shouted, pointing at each one  of them, "Behave yourselves."

As if that's going to happen.

"Are we finished here guys because Paul and I have someplace to be." Freddie asked.

Paul Prenter, a name that the rest of the band absolutley hated. They couldn't get Freddie away from him and he was proving to be a detriment to the band in their eyes.  If they could have him quietly eliminated, they would do so. Freddie was partying too much under Paul's careful eye and it was beginning to show in his rehearsals. Always late, hammered or high and the band didn't know what to do. Freddie was becoming more and more dependent on him and it was scaring the boys.

 Miami was on the phone with Elton John and Rod Stewart discussing the after party. Elton said he had the perfect company to organize it and would set it up. It was all left up to Elton.