Queen playing for Mandela: is this not weird?
I saw this article in the guardian today about the possible hypocrisy of Queen playing for Nelson Mandela’s birthday, since they played at Sun City in South Africa in the ‘80’s. The article also linked to the video “for the Artists United Against Apartheid protest song Sun City. Released in 1985, the clip features candyfloss hair and plenty of it, but it also features people such as Keith Richards, Run DMC, Lou Reed and Bruce Springsteen telling you that they (they) they (they) they (they) they ain’t gonna play Sun City. So it’s not as if what was once fine has since become a cultural faux pas. It was wrong then, and Queen surely knew it.”
I don’t think their mistake in judgement twenty years ago should prevent them from playing tribute to Mandela today, but I do think they should acknowledge their past decisions.
I was in Sun City in December and it is gorgeous and fun and completely integrated, as far as I could tell (which isn’t to say that post-apartheid SA doesn’t still have a lot of problems, only that Sun City no longer stands as a symbol of them). This is a picture of the Palace of the Lost City, and is the best picture I have that doesn’t feature me or someone I know in the foreground. If I ever go back, I’m going to have to make sure to take better pictures.