Music, like history, on its own, is vast and full of surprising stories with unexpected turns and endings. It’s those unplanned and iconic moments that brought us some of the most important figures in music history.
Inspired by a report from the BBC in October 1984, activist and composer Bob Geldof, along with his partner, musician Midge Ure, created a charity Christmas single together named “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” featuring Phil Collins, U2, and Duran Duran along with many other artists with the objective of raising awareness of the Ethiopian famine crisis during the 1980’s which claimed the life of an estimated 1 million people.
However, this collaboration was just the beginning. It wasn’t until the morning of July 13, 1985, that one of the biggest events in the history of rock music would take place. Over two billion people around the world would turn on their TVs to see the live broadcast of Live Aid—a 16 hour musical event held in London and Philadelphia that brought together some of the greatest musicians from the 80’s and raised funds to provide food, medicine, and other vital items for the crisis becoming one of the biggest and most successful charity events in the world.