Concert Date:

July 13, 1985

Locations:

Wembley Stadium, London, England and JFK Stadium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Founders:

Bob Geldof and Midge Ure

Origins:

The genesis of Live Aid reaches back to the late fall of 1984, when reports of the devastating famine in Ethiopia inspired Boomtown Rats frontman Geldof to contact friend and Ultravox leader Midge Ure to help him craft a charity song to raise money for famine relief.


The result - "Do They Know It's Christmas?" - came together quickly in terms of both composition and recording. By late November, Geldof had assembled a dream roster of British pop stars to record the track, which became a worldwide hit that Christmas. Eventually, the song's proceeds from Number One hit status in the U.K. raised more than 8 million pounds, and the idea for larger-scale fundraising efforts began to percolate. Soon after, plans were under way for an ambitious dual concert on both sides of the Atlantic to be broadcast live on international TV.

Key '80s Music Performers:

• Bryan Adams
• David Bowie
• The Cars
• Phil Collins
• Elvis Costello
• Dire Straits
• Duran Duran
• Hall & Oates
• Elton John
• Judas Priest
• Kenny Loggins
• Madonna
• The Pretenders
• Queen
• REO Speedwagon
• Spandau Ballet
• Rick Springfield
• Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
• U2

Memorable Musical Moments:

• Bono of U2 jumped off the Wembley stage at one point, apparently to dance with a female audience member. Years later, the woman claimed he was actually trying to assist her, as she was in danger of being crushed by the crowd.

• Prior to her performance in Philadelphia, Madonna quipped that despite the blistering summer heat that day, she would be keeping her clothes on. This was a reference to recent media coverage of nude photos taken of her years earlier having been recently published in Playboy and Penthouse.
• The surviving members of Led Zeppelin appeared at Wembley in what has become known ever since - by nearly all accounts - as one of the most disastrous high-profile reunion gigs of the rock era.
• Duran Duran's frontman, Simon LeBon, famously had trouble with a falsetto note in Philadelphia - a gaffe that became legendary almost immediately. This moment was held in particular contrast to Freddie Mercury's powerful, pristine vocals during Queen's set across the Pond at Wembley.

Praise, Criticism and Legacy:

Although most musical artists asked to perform for the event either accepted or gracefully declined, some questioned the true motivation for Live Aid and accused Geldof of some measure of egomaniacal exploitation. Frank Zappa rather famously dismissed the event as misguided and less than genuine in actually tackling the problems of the developing world. On the other hand, popular U.K. band Tears for Fears were particularly and harshly singled out by Geldof for declining an invitation to appear. Even so, the event reached an enormous number of people worldwide with a general plea for humanitarian action, including nearly 200,000 total live spectators at the two concert sites and an estimated live TV audience of nearly 2 billion. As for funds raised, estimates at the time came to perhaps 50 million pounds, while later judgments placed the total amount at nearly three times as much. No matter what, Live Aid created a model for musical charity events that has been imitated and modified dozens of times over the years for various humanitarian causes. It also happens to be the stuff of '80s music legend.