David Bowie fronting Queen on his timeless hit “Heroes” to pay tribute to Freddie Mercury is already enough to make this performance legendary. But there’s something else that made it an especially emotional moment for fans. Longtime Bowie guitar wizard Mick Ronson, battling cancer and with less than a year to live, hit the stage for his last performance that night. And what a performance it was.
Fans declared this was the definitive version of “Heroes” and loved to see Ronson rock out one last time in front of one billion fans watching live worldwide. We have to say that Ronson’s playing is absolutely gorgeous here, and he’s totally pulling on the heartstrings with the way he plays those iconic licks. Bowie’s vocals were likewise particularly heartfelt that night, and as he notes at the end, they’re all doing it for their dear friend Freddie.
Queen uploaded the “Heroes” performance on their YouTube channel, where it drew three million views. It meant a lot to fans to see that lineup come together, and they added comments such as “Mick on his way out here with cancer and still rocking. What a superb man” and “The best version ever played.” Viewers noted that the Queen rhythm section added a whole lot of style to the performance, with many praising John Deacon’s melodic bass playing in particular.
Queen and Bowie made the most of their collaboration at the Mercury tribute. On the night, Bowie also performed “Under Pressure” with Queen, with Eurythmics’ Annie Lennox joining in to sing Mercury’s parts. What huge shoes she had to fill to take on that role, but she was really cooking that night, and she certainly did Mercury proud. The closing harmony vocals as Lennox and Bowie embrace are so beautiful.
Mick Ronson played with David Bowie as a member of the Spiders from Mars from 1970 to 1973. During this period, Ronson played on five Bowie studio albums. These included several of Bowie’s most essential records, such as Aladdin Sane and The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Ronson’s collaboration with Bowie ended when the latter disbanded the Spiders from Mars, as he was seeking to expand his music beyond the rock format that the group was known for. Ronson continued his career as a session musician at that point, as well as releasing six solo albums. Readers might be interested to hear that Ronson’s greatest solo success was his debut album Slaughter on 10th Avenue, which went to number nine in the UK. Ronson died at age 46 on April 29, 1993, from liver cancer. His passing occurred just over a year after his appearance at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, which took place on April 20, 1992.
