'Don’t get clever; just play the hits...' Live Aid organiser Sir Bob Geldof's strict instructions to Queen

Sir Bob Geldof told Queen to not "get clever" and to "play the hits" before they performed their now-iconic Live Aid set.

The organiser of the benefit concert - which took place at London's Wembley Stadium and Philadelphia's John F. Kennedy Stadium on July 13, 1985, and raised money for famine relief in Ethiopia - made the request so that they would please the 72,000 people inside the British venue, as well as the estimated 1.9 billion people who tuned into the live broadcast across 150 countries.

And the late singer Freddie Mercury, guitarist Sir Brian May, bassist John Deacon and drummer Roger Taylor accepted Bob's request and played six tracks - Bohemian Rhapsody, Radio Ga Ga, Ay-Oh/Hammer to Fall, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, We Will Rock You, We Are the Champions and Is This the World We Created...?.

Brian, 77, and Roger, 75, told Radio Times magazine: “[Sir Bob said] Don’t get clever; just play the hits. You have 17 minutes."

During the short set - which ended up lasting for 21 minutes - Freddie managed to get the spectators clapping in unison.

Roger said: “During Radio Ga Ga, it did seem that the whole stadium was in unison. But then I looked up during We Are the Champions, and the crowd looked like a whole field of wheat swaying.”

Despite their performance being voted as the world’s greatest rock gig in 2005, guitarist Brian, vocalist Freddie and bassist John initially thought the idea of the now legendary Live Aid would be a flop, but Roger remained enthusiastic about it.

Brian recalled: "We weren’t touring or playing, and it seemed like a crazy idea, this talk of having 50 bands on the same bill.

“We thought it was going to be a disaster. Freddie, in particular, said, ‘I haven’t got the right feeling for this.’ He wasn’t the leader of the band, but if he dug his heels in there was no dragging him, so we parked it.”

However, Brian realised Roger was right in that the band needed to turn up.

He added: "I said to Freddie, 'If we wake up on the day after this Live Aid show and we haven't been there, we're going to be pretty sad.'

"He said, 'Oh, f--- it, we'll do it.'

“It was one of the few moments in anyone’s life that you know you’re doing something for all the right reasons."