As Freddie was finishing up ‘Hammer to Fall’, his right knee failed him

22 September 1984, Queen performed @ Europahalle, Hannover, Germany 🇩🇪
“The Works! Tour”

𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚 𝐧𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞-𝐢𝐧𝐣𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐞 ….

As Freddie was finishing up ‘Hammer to Fall’, his right knee failed him causing him to trip down the stairs and falling to the ground. He twisted his knee, which was already weak and unstable from previous ligament damage during a bar mishap in Munich several months earlier. The band and Freddie’s crew thought this was part of his wild stage act until Freddie, on the ground, signaled for Terry Giddings (bodyguard) and his assistant, Peter Freestone to help carry him to his piano. He convened with the band and told them they would have to cut out a few songs. He had to stay off his leg.

Being the consummate professional, Freddie was determined to finish the concert and he belted out ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’ ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘We are The Champions’ from his piano while he was in a considerable amount of pain. Freddie was a dedicated musician and never wanted to disappoint his fans.

Once Freddie finished the last song, he was immediately whisked over to the local hospital where he sought medical treatment. His leg was X-rayed, thankfully, there wasn’t a break, he was strapped up and told to rest his leg completely. Not being one to heed a doctor’s advice, Freddie was back on stage in Berlin on the 24th, albeit moving a little more slowly and with more caution than usual.

Peter Freestone recalled the incident:

“I was stationed at the door-flap of the dolls’ house talking to Freddie’s bodyguard, when we both saw him fall. At first, neither of us could be sure whether it was intentional or not but then we saw him in pain. We both ran on and, between us, picked him up and brought him back to the dolls’ house. As you can imagine, there was total confusion as the band were just over halfway through the show. Freddie decided immediately that he couldn’t let the fans down and just leave. So, with rapid discussion with the rest of the band, the band crew and Gerry Stickells, he decided there were about three more songs that he could perform while sitting at the piano.

As there were never doctors or first aid people specifically assigned to the band on duty backstage, Freddie intuited that it was a repeat of the old Munich ligament injury to his knee. There was no point in him taking painkillers and so, between the security man and myself, we carried Freddie back on stage and placed him on the piano stool. I can only guess at Freddie’s feelings at that point, but I could feel the wave of emotion from the crowd as we carried him on and he then explained what had happened and what was to happen. They roared their approval at his courage.

After the three songs, Freddie was carried straight into a car and taken directly to hospital where X-rays showed that Freddie would be able to continue the tour, very heavily bandaged, provided he didn’t put too much pressure on the joint.”

A physiotherapist, Dieter Breit, was taken on as an additional member of the crew. He would accompany Freddie during the remainder of the tour. He would continue to have troubles with his right leg for quite some time.

Freddie the consummate professional was always a champion! After all, ‘The Show Must Go On.’ What a man! A legend ⭐️💫✨