Live Aid

Live Aid, benefit concert held simultaneously at Wembley Stadium in London and JFK Stadium in Philadelphia on July 13, 1985. Organized 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 dollars for famine relief in Ethiopia.

From Band Aid to Live Aid

Years of drought, civil war, 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 new wave scene to contribute vocals. The single, recorded in November 1984 and marketed under the name Band Aid, sold more than three million copies and inspired similar all-star benefit projects. Most notable among these was Quincy Jones’s USA for Africa, which hinged on the recording of “We Are the World” in January 1985.

The success of Band Aid and USA for Africa inspired Geldof and Ure to stage a fundraising event that was described as a “global jukebox,” collecting dozens of acts for a marathon 16-hour live music event.

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Organizing the broadcast: “There was no plan B”

Oz for Africa, a benefit held in Sydney, was to have been part of the Live Aid simulcast, but time zone differences proved impossible to reconcile. Footage from Oz for Africa, along with recorded performances from more than a half dozen cities around the world, was ultimately woven into the main satellite broadcast. This signal was carried by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in the United Kingdom and the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) in the United States, with a separate feed for the American cable television channel MTV. To ensure continuity in the broadcast, artists were given no more than 20 minutes of stage time, and equipment needs were kept to an absolute minimum. “No one knew if it would work,” Geldof reflects in the documentary Live Aid: When Rock ‘n’ Roll Took on the World (2025). “There was no plan B.”

Lineup and notable performances

With less than a month of preparation time, Geldof secured the services of an impressive array of artists. Groups reuniting for the event included the Who, Black Sabbath, and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. 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 a pair of arena rock giants—U2 and Queen—with each excelling in its respective idiom. U2 devoted 12 minutes of its allotted time to its anthem “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 Live Aid performance was re-created, down to Mercury’s mannerisms, for the 2018 film Bohemian Rhapsody).

Other notable performances were those of David Bowie (in London) and Mick Jagger and Tina Turner (in Philadelphia). The event also featured artists whose fame was on the rise, including Madonna (Philadelphia) and George Michael (London), who accompanied Elton John on a duet of “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me.” (Michael’s Wham! bandmate, Andrew Ridgeley, sang backup vocals alongside Kiki Dee.)

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The concert at JFK stadium marked the return to the stage of R&B singer and Philadelphia native Teddy Pendergrass, who had become paralyzed from the waist down after an automobile accident in 1982. Flanked by husband-and-wife singer-songwriter duo Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson, Pendergrass performed in his wheelchair, singing “Reach Out and Touch.”

Other celebrities who appeared at Live Aid, mainly to introduce the performers, include Jack Nicholson, Bette Midler, Billy Connolly, and Chevy Chase. Perhaps the most famous attendees were Prince Charles and Princess Diana, at Wembley Stadium.

The concert closed with renditions of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” (in London) and “We Are the World” (in Philadelphia).

Live Aid fast facts

How are some facts about Live Aid.

• Ticket price: £25 (£5 for ticket plus £20 donation) in London and $35 to $50 in Philadelphia
• Attendance: Estimated 72,000 at Wembley Stadium and 89,000 at JFK Stadium
• Viewership: Estimated 1.5 billion worldwide
• Number of satellites used for global broadcast: 13
• Length of broadcast: 16 hours
• Number of performers: More than 70