The trick that made the band take Queen’s place as the first Westerner to play in China

In 1985, Queen was one of the biggest bands not only in rock but also in the entire world. On the other side of the planet, China suffered at the hands of the Communist Party and they were very closed to what came from outside the country.

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It was then that a curious race began to see who would be the first Western artist to set foot on Chinese soil. On the B3+1 podcast, music producer João Marcelo Bôscoli commented on this story.

According to him, businessman Simon Napier-Bell, from George Michael’s pop duo Wham!, arranged for them to become the first to travel to China and not Queen, as could have happened.

“The iron curtain in China was opening and the idea was to bring Queen. They were the biggest band and they wanted that. But then Wham!’s manager started to plant that Queen’s people were completely drugged and crazy. There was the dispute to see who would be the first Westerner to perform there.

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The businessman said that Freddie Mercury was a lecher. He gave the image that George Michael was from soul music, wore Adidas clothes and so on, kind of sporty. He sold the guys as a healthy generation, which would be good for the communists. He didn’t give another. It was the first band to play there.”

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In a BBC report, more is explained about this curious episode. “The businessman’s proposal was successful: after 18 months of negotiations, the Chinese government gave the green light for Wham! to play in Beijing and Guangzhou (or Guangzhou), in southern China, in April 1985. Many tickets were given to Chinese government authorities. Before Wham! performed in the country, many types of music were banned in China.”

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