Queen Elizabeth II appears on stage at the climax of the diamond jubilee concert at Buckingham Palace in London, England.
Fireworks light up the stage at the climax of the concert.
Former Beatles singer Paul McCartney headlines at the queen's diamond jubilee concert. McCartney kicked off his set with "Magical Mystery Tour."
Singers Will.i.am and Stevie Wonder perform on stage. Wonder altered the lyrics to some of his songs to pay tribute to the queen.
Elton John began his set with "I'm Still Standing," perhaps also in homage to the queen's long reign.
Singer Grace Jones sings her hit "Slave to the Rhythm" while spinning a hula hoop on her hips.
Singer Annie Lennox performs performs her hit "Must Be Talking to an Angel."
Gary Barlow and the Commonwealth band perform a song specially written for the event.
Australian singer Kylie Minogue performs a medley of her hits on stage during the diamond jubilee concert.
British singer-songwriter Robbie Williams performs on stage at the opening of the concert at Buckingham Palace.
A military band from the British Army's Scots Guard play as the concert honoring the queen gets underway at Buckingham Palace.





  • Three-hour concert outside London's Buckingham Palace for the diamond jubilee
  • Concert opened with Robbie Williams and Royal Scots guard performing "Let Me Entertain You"
  • Sir Paul McCartney concludes the show with star-studded version of "Ob La Di, Ob La Da"



London (CNN) -- The relationship between rock stars and royalty has not always been a cosy one. Back in 1977, The Sex Pistols stuck a grubby finger up to the silver jubilee with a raucous barge party on The Thames. In 2012, a day after a flotilla of 1,000 boats took to the same stretch of water, it seems that peace has been made. The diamond jubilee is being marked with a musical extravaganza on a stage built around the Queen Victoria Memorial outside London's Buckingham Palace.
Smoothing the marriage of music and monarchy is Take That's Gary Barlow, who has curated a star-studded line-up designed to represent the best of The Queen's 60-year reign.
Barlow's friend and sometime bandmate Robbie Williams opened the show, performing his boisterous "Let Me Entertain You" with the trumpets and drummers of the Royal Scots Guard. In the crowd, Queen guitarist Brian May nodded approval: he's qualified to do so, having opened 2002's "Party at the Palace" playing the national anthem on the roof.
The real VIPs are in the royal box, where Prime Minister David Cameron stands with Price Charles, The Duchess Of Cambridge, Princes William and Harry, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie and numerous other Windsors. The Duke of Edinburgh is absent, having been rushed to hospital with a bladder infection, and so, for the time being, is The Queen herself.

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The evening opener seems geared more to the tastes of younger royals. There's Will.I.Am performing "I Gotta Feeling" with octave-hopping pop singer Jessie J, X-Factor alumni JLS performing a medley of hits, and Barlow taking a duet with a painfully mistuned Cheryl Cole.
Then it's time for the old guard to show the whippersnappers how it's done. Enter Cliff Richard, a man with hits in every decade of Elizabeth's reign and a mega-mix to prove it. A closing "Congratulations" is as kitsch as his powder pink suit, but The Duchess Of Cambridge waves her Union Jack approvingly.
Tonight is not all about pop: Pianist Lang Lang thumps out "Rhapsody In Blue" before tenor Alfie Boe segues "O Sole Mio" into "It's Now Or Never," jiving on the spot for the latter in a matter unbecoming of most opera singers.
So far, so safe, but there's a curveball to come: the brilliant Grace Jones, who takes to the stage dressed like a sci-fi villainess and spins a hula hoop for the duration of the slinky, sensual "Slave To The Rhythm." "Happy Birthday, our Queen," she concludes, missing the entire point of the occasion. Young crooner Ed Sheeran looks positively pedestrian in comparison, though with his shaggy red hair, the people far off in the cheap seats must be wondering why Prince Harry has popped up on stage with an acoustic guitar.
At 9 p.m., the crowd stood for the Queen. Her Majesty's arrival is marked by the live debut of The Commonwealth Band's "Sing," the track written especially for the jubilee by Gary Barlow and Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber. "Hear a thousand voices shouting loud," the syrupy lyrics command, and with 200 performers onstage, we almost do.
As darkness falls, it's time to up the star wattage. There's Dame Shirley Bassey performing the aptly titled "Diamonds Are Forever," then Kylie Minogue, dressed as a Pearly Queen, and Elton John who whip the crowd into a frenzy with a storming "Crocodile Rock."
By the time Stevie Wonder appears, it's beginning to look like a Who's Who of pop music. He plays "Isn't She Lovely" with lyrics re-worked for the occasion: "Isn't she special, a young 86 years old," he sings. He plays "Happy Birthday" too, perhaps having conferred with Grace Jones.
Our attention is drawn to the roof of the palace, where Madness play "Our House" as a light projection transforms the fascia into a row of terraces. Then it's back to the stage, where the ever-capable Sir Paul McCartney concludes the show. McCartney has provided the finale for so many star-studded galas that the image of him performing "Ob La Di, Ob La Da" as Elton, Shirley Bassey and Cliff Richard clap along en masse brings on a strange feeling of déjà vu, but, as ever, his humble, unifying charm makes for a warm ending.
Before fireworks and the national anthem, Gary Barlow leads the Queen, the Duchess Of Cornwall and Prince Charles on stage. "Your Majesty, Mummy," begins Prince Charles's touching speech.
We've had three hours of big names and big tunes, but -- acerbic comedians and Grace Jones aside -- the Diamond Jubilee Concert has been a show populated by safe performers. Cynics might argue that a more accurate view of modern Britain could come from the likes of Plan B, whose "Ill Manors" single sticks the knife in Cameron's Britain, but a gig at Buckingham Palace was never going to be the place for punk sentiment.