Live Aid

The Live Aid concerts took place on July 13, 1985, at Wembley Stadium in London, England, and at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The concerts raised almost $140 million for the starving in Africa, the most money ever raised for charity by a single event. The combined concerts remain the biggest music event ever held.

Live Aid was the brainchild of rock singer Bob Geldof (1954–) of the Boomtown Rats. Moved by images of starving Ethiopian children on a television (see entry under 1940s—TV and Radio in volume 3) documentary, he decided something had to be done. Two charity records—Geldof's Do They Know It's Christmas? in Britain and We Are the World, organized by Michael Jackson (1958–) and Lionel Ritchie (1949–), in the United States—were released for the Christmas season in 1984. Live Aid was Geldof's real triumph. Comprising sixteen hours of music, it became one of the key cultural moments of the 1980s.

Watched by almost two billion people on television around the world, Live Aid brought together some of the biggest names in the history of rock and pop music, including Led Zeppelin (see entry under 1970s—Music in volume 4), Queen, U2, Mick Jagger (1943–), Tina Turner (1938–), Bob Dylan (1941–; see entry under 1960s—Music in volume 4), and Phil Collins (1951–) of Genesis. Collins' involvement was noteworthy in that he appeared at both sites, assisted by a trip on the Concorde. At the center of it all, though, was Geldof, who persuaded most of the biggest stars of the time to perform for nothing and convinced several major corporations to give their services for free.

—Chris Routledge

For More Information

Clinton, Susan. Live Aid. Chicago: Childrens Press, 1993.

Gray, Charlotte. Bob Geldof: The Pop Star Who Raised 140 Million forFamine Relief in Ethiopia. Milwaukee: Gareth Stevens, 1988.

Live Aid: The Greatest Show on Earth.http://www.herald.co.uk/local_info/live_aid.html (accessed April 1, 2002).