Freddie Mercury tribute concert?
 

Jon, Richie and David always said that they were fans. Jon mentioned several times that he was good friends with Brian May. They used to cover Queen songs in their early sets. They jammed together with Brian May and Roger Taylor a couple of times before and after Freddie's death. So what happened? Were they not invited? Did they decline? I guess the band was still on a break when it happened. Surely though, they would have got together for that, or it could have been a Jon solo gig?

I don't think Queen was a huge influence in Bon Jovi. Jon never mentioned them.

What Queen songs did they cover in their early set?

All I remember is a 30 second We Will Rock You song sample which is more of an anthem type song than classic Queen. And now the most recent Under Pressure.

I thought they were doing a We Will Rock You/ We are the Champions medley in 1984/ 1985 at a couple of concerts? Somebody who knows sets better can maybe confirm/ infirm?

And to SexxAtraxxion - it's not like Metallica or GnR were citing Queen as major influence before the concert either. Not to mention, GnR's One in a Million in the first place which would be terribly offensive to Freddie. I guess they were the biggest band in the world at that time. Still, even the Scorpions were there at the end (not to sound like a broken record or anything like that with the Scorpions again and again, just love them!).

But to be fair, I don't want to speculate or anything, was thinking Jon/Richie were asked this in some KTF-era interview and made a statement of some sort. Is that the case at all? Have seen the We Will Rock You musical again, and Queen songs are simply spectacular. Every now and then, there's nothing better than a healthy dose of Queen, and Freddie was undoubtedly a genius.

I'm pretty sure Queen has had some sort of influence on nearly every rock band of the last 35 years.

Queen have no influence on Bon Jovi - yes Brian May has played on the stage with them but so what.

Also when the tribute gig took place Bon Jovi were on a break

Richie has, numerous times.

And Metallica have some major Queen influences?

They were on a break when they did the Oscars or when they did that Tokyo new year concert in 1991. That's not a valid reason really. I guess it's all just speculation though. Maybe they simply weren't invited at all. Would have simply thought that Brian May invited them.

Could be a number of things, the band being on a break and not really speaking much when that was happening. Richie being busy with his solo album around that time, Jon being in that "grey" period he talks about. Or simply they were just not invited, I doubt it was something personal, only room for so many acts and I bet most of them volunteered for that early on. Who knows, but it's fun to speculate....

Freddie died November 24th in 1991 but the tribute concert didn't take place until April 20th 1992.
I don't know it for sure but that must have been around the time BJ was in the studio recording KTF in Vancouver. This would make sense as the Little Mountain Studios probably were booked for a limited time and it would have taken a few days to rehearse, fly to London and back again.