Edited sentence: Also, it has been noted that only a handful of the artists (e.Elton John, Robert Plant, George Michael, David Bowie, Liza Minelli, Ian Hunter, Annie Lennox) were friends or influences to Freddie.It has been suggested that it wasn't a genuine tribute to Freddie, since more of May's songs were performed.Moreover, Metallica had recently recorded a Grammy Award winning cover of 'Stone Cold Crazy', while members of Guns N' Roses, especially Rose, have spoken prominantly with huge admiration for Mercury and the band.Similar to other stadium-sized events such as Live Aid, the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert has been considered by some to be a self-promotion gimmick by the remaining band members (especially guitarist Brian May).Some sceptics believe that others (Iommi, Rose, Hetfield, Seal, Daltrey, Elliot) were brought in simply because of Brian May's musical preferences or in order to increase the audience.The great popularity and prominence of Guns N' Roses and Metallica at the time can be seen to support this argument.This is peculiar considering that Mercury was the main songwriter in the band.on the other hand, both bands (before and after the event)have publicly sighted Queen as an influence