An overview of Live Aid.

Live Aid, a benefit concert held simultaneously at Wembley Stadium in London and JFK Stadium in Philadelphia on July 13, 1985 was organised by Boomtown Rats front man Bob Geldof and Ultravox vocalist Midge Ure, the event drew an estimated 1.5 billion television viewers and raised millions of pounds for famine relief in Ethiopia.

Years of drought and failed attempts at government control of the grain market in the early 1980s led to a catastrophic famine that threatened hundreds of thousands of lives in Ethiopia. After seeing a television news report on the subject in 1984, Geldof wrote the lyrics for “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” Ure crafted the melody of the song, and Geldof recruited some of the biggest names in the British music scene to sing on the potential number one hit. The single, recorded in November 1984 and marketed under the name Band Aid, sold over three million copies and inspired similar all-star benefit projects. Most notable among these was USA for Africa, which included the charity song “We Are the World” in January 1985 which was notably sung at the finale of the Philadelphia Live Aid concert.  The success of Band Aid and USA for Africa inspired Geldof and Ure to stage a fund-raising event that was described as a “global jukebox,” by collecting dozens of acts for a 16-hour live music event.

With less than a month of preparation time, Geldof managed to recruit the services of an impressive array of artists. Groups reuniting for the event included The Who and Black Sabbath. Moreover, the surviving members of Led Zeppelin reconvened in Philadelphia, supported by Phil Collins on drums. Collins, who had performed at Wembley earlier in the day, had crossed the Atlantic on the Concorde to become the only artist to appear on both Live Aid stages. Perhaps the most noteworthy performances of the day belonged to U2 and Queen. U2 used 12 minutes of its stage time for “Bad,” and lead singer Bono spent much of that time directly interacting with the Wembley crowd. An hour and a half later, lead singer Freddie Mercury powered through a condensed set of Queen’s greatest hits, displaying a combination of superb vocal range, multi-instrumental mastery, and remarkable stage presence. Queen's performance is now often described by many as one of if not the greatest rock performance of all time. The concert pushed many dying out acts back ino the limelight with many of their old songs returning to the charts. The concert closed with renditions of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” (in London) and “We Are the World” (in Philadelphia).

Article Title: Live Aid

Website Name: Encyclopaedia Britannica

Publisher: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

Date Published: 06 July 2021

URL: https://www.britannica.com/event/Live-Aid

Access Date: October 06, 2021