Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli has released footage of a performance of Queen‘s Who Wants To Live Forever featuring the band’s guitarist Brian May.
The film was shot in July 2024 at Teatro del Silenzio, a 10,000-capacity open-air amphitheatre partly funded by Bocelli in his hometown of Lajatico, in Tuscany, Italy.
The performance was part of Andrea Bocelli 30: The Celebration, a three-day concert series that also featured contributions from Placido Domingo, José Carreras, Shania Twain, Jon Batiste, Russell Crowe, Ed Sheeran, Kim and Khloe Kardashian, Will Smith, Sophia Vergara, Lang Lang and Johnny Depp.
“The first thing that struck me about Brian May was his serene, classic aura, which belied the rock legend his name represents worldwide,” Bocelli said. “This meeting evoked a genuine, deep esteem for this man of rare intelligence and culture – one which I hope is mutual. One of the best guitarists of our time, a songwriter who has penned numerous timeless hits, an astrophysicist, and an intellectual with a noble soul.
“Further proof of this arrived a few days ago at Hyde Park in London, when Brian did me the honour of coming to see me and watching my concert. When I asked him what guitars he owned, he responded: ‘Just like you and your voice, Andrea, which is a part of you, my guitar is my voice. I still use the one I built with my father when I was seventeen.
“Wonderful Brian, it will be a joy for me and for everyone to have you on stage at the Teatro del Silenzio.”
A concert film of the shows directed by Sam Wrench premiered in US cinemas late last year. It can now be streamed via Apple+.
