Queen Budapest 180g 3LP

Queen Budapest celebrates the 40th anniversary of a pivotal moment in the band's history. Available on vinyl for the very first time, this release includes newly remixed audio from the original multitrack recordings which delivers the most immersive presentation of the performance to date.

Captured on July 27, 1986, at Budapest's Népstadion, during the band's The Magic Tour, the concert was a groundbreaking moment, as Queen became the first Western rock band to perform behind the Iron Curtain during a period of profound cultural and political change. In addition to 80,000 tickets selling out, an estimated 45,000 people listened to the group outside, and some fans had travelled from as far away as Russia and Poland to see the concert.

With the scale of the achievement, it would have been impossible to imagine that Queen would go on to play only a further five shows, ending forever their touring days with Freddie only one month later, with their final show played at Knebworth Park in England on August 9, 1986.

Queen Budapest is the last filmed live performance of the band with Freddie Mercury, showing the band at the height of their powers as a live act. This release captures the band performing iconic hits such as "We Will Rock You," "We Are the Champions," "A Kind of Magic," "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," "Under Pressure," "Who Wants to Live Forever," "Hammer to Fall" and "Bohemian Rhapsody."

"For years, fans behind the Iron Curtain had been able to listen to Queen music only on illegal cassettes. It was a forbidden thing to listen to rock bands like us, so to see them play in a live show would have been unthinkable. This concert, when they could finally come and see us live in person and interact with us, was a huge emotional moment for them and also for us. It felt like a very big deal — you could feel that incredible energy. There will never be an event quite like that again. Perhaps the most memorable highlight of all was performing that beautiful Hungarian folk song, which Freddie and I had learned for the occasion. Not a dry eye!" — Brian May

"We did love to think that the music could transcend the politics, the political barriers, and that was sort of part of our ethos, to actually bring the audience into the show and make them feel part of the show. I know Freddie tried to learn this folk song, but he had the words written phonetically on the back of his hand. When the audience just started singing, we realized, wow, music really can be a great cause." — Roger Taylor