Live Aid
13 July 1985
What started out as a one-off charity single organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure in response to the famine in Ethiopia, turned into the largest single event in rock history. 1.5 billion viewers across 100 countries tuned in live to watch the biggest names in rock and pop perform for free in over the course of the day. The main performances began at Wembley Stadium in London and continued in JFK Stadium in Philadelphia.
The most impressive thing about the day was the world-class line up that Bob Geldof badgered into performing on the day. Among many others, The Who, Dire Straits, David Bowie, U2, Queen, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Black Sabbath, The Beach Boys and a reformed Led Zeppelin all took part.
There was a particularly impressive contribution from Phil Collins who managed (with the help of Concorde) to perform in both London and Philadelphia on the same day. The event raised more than $280 million in aid for Ethiopia; though it didn't change the world completely, it was effective as a consciousness raiser and set a trend for huge charity gigs that continues to this day
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Pearse,ireland
U2 proved at live aid that they truly were the biggest band in the world and still are. forget queen, many of their songs have dated, but u2 still sound as good 20 odd years laterMichae Carlow,Ireland
As good as Queen Were Bowie was better!!!!Craig, Belfast
Queen owned Live Aid..a truely lifechanging moment on a historic day....no one expected Freddie to explode like he did!!!Tony, Cheltenham.
This just showed that Queen were bigger and greater than any other rock band that ever ever lived!!!!! Even with Paul Rodgers as frontman at Hyde Park again 30years later they still rocked to an audience bigger than at live 8.!!!!!!Emma, London
Totally agree....Queen Forever!! Freddie Mercury eclipses them all !!!!dave surrey
queen stole the show, best live performance ever!!!!!!!!!
Griff Rhys-Jones, Mel Smith, Billy Connolly, Jools Holland, Lenny Henry, Tracey Ullman, Paula Yates, Jack Nicholson, Chevy Chase, Bette Midler, John Hurt
All introduced acts.
Prince Charles and Princess Diana
HRH Prince and Princess Of Wales
The concert began with a fanfare for them, followed by Status Quo performing Rocking All over the World.