LONDON, UK (Top40 Charts) - A host of the biggest stars in the music world were joined on stage by the royal family at the end of one of the most star-studded concerts ever seen.
Sir
Paul McCartney led legends including Sir Cliff Richard, Rod Stewart, Tom Jones, Dame
Shirley Bassey and Tony
Bennett in choruses of Hey Jude and All You Need Is Love.
Prince Charles praised the performers, and said the concert had made him feel "extraordinarily proud of this country".
The three-hour concert was watched by 12,000 in the palace gardens plus up to one million on big screens outside and 200 million more on TV around the world.
Earlier, Sir Paul had paid his own tongue-in-cheek tribute to the Queen by singing Her Majesty, from The Beatles' Abbey Road album, which ends with the lyrics: "Her Majesty's a pretty nice girl, someday I'm going to make her mine."
Queen guitarist Brian May had kicked off the spectacular gig by playing the National Anthem on the Palace roof.
Younger stars such as Pop Idol Will Young, Atomic Kitten and S Club 7 also took part.
Sir Paul said he had joked with the Queen, asking her whether the same would happen again next year. "Not in my garden," was her reply, she said. After Her Majesty, he played While My Guitar Gently Weeps with Eric Clapton as a tribute to George Harrison. The concert's other performers then lined up on stage to join together in song before the royal family went down the line to greet them. "It really has been a wonderful celebration," Prince Charles said. "When you're talking about British talent, there's a lot of it about."
Prime Minister Tony Blair, Yoko Ono and Richard Branson were among the other guests of honour. The surviving members of Queen, Joe Cocker, The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson, The Corrs and Bryan Adams provided other highlights.
Some of the most interesting moments came when rock wild man Ozzy Osbourne and Dame Edna Everage strayed slightly from the script.
A number of collaborations saw Sir Cliff Richard joined by S Club 7, Tom Jones play with boy band Blue, The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson sing with Eric Clapton and The Corrs and Queen team up with Will Young. Young said it was a "massive honour" to play with the group.
"It was absolutely petrifying during rehearsals," he said. "But on the night it was electric, absolutely electric." Tom Jones said it was very flattering to perform with young singers. "It's a great atmosphere here because there are so many entertainers who wouldn't ordinarily be together," he said.
Latin pop hero Ricky Martin said performing at the show felt "amazing". "The audience had an amazing reaction. There was a lot of love," he said.
Guests leaving the concert described the event as unforgettable. Darren Wilson, 39, from Northampton, said: "This has been one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. "I could not believe how much everybody got into the spirit of things. It has been an amazing show."
Matthew Peters, 25, from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire said: "The whole evening has been awesome. Every band I have seen has played their hearts out. "For me it was a once in a lifetime experience to see Sir Paul McCartney and Eric Clapton play together."
The royal family howled with laughter and sometimes blushed as comedians made jokes at their expense - on risque subjects such as pubic hair.
A beaming Brian May , former guitarist with legendary British rock band Queen, started the party with a solo rendition of the national anthem, "God Save the Queen," on top of the palace roof.
The queen's 50th anniversary celebrations have brought a wave of nostalgia in Britain as people look back over the five decades she has ruled, and have also deepened affection for her. But anti-royalists did their best not to be outdone. One group organized an "Execute the Queen" party while another declared a people's republic in a Welsh social club.
