Global High Note: Remembering The Live Aid Concerts 36 Years On

It was the biggest concert event the world had ever seen: Live Aid.

An event so massive that 36 years on, people still remember where they were when they tuned in with the rest of the world to watch the biggest names in music perform to raise funds for the starving people of Africa.

Relive some memorable Live Aid moments in the video player above

Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Arrow

Organised by Bob Geldof, two concerts were held on both sides of the Atlantic, in London and Philadelphia, featuring a cavalcade of rock stars.

More than 72,000 people at London’s Wembley Stadium enjoyed a once-in-a-lifetime lineup including Paul McCartney, Elton John, David Bowie, U2, The Who, and, in a legendary comeback performance, Queen, led by flamboyant frontman Freddie Mercury, who stole the show with a set now considered one of the greatest in rock history.

In the US at Philadelphia’s JFK Stadium, the crowd of 90,000 were treated to an equally star-studded lineup featuring the likes of Madonna, Duran Duran, The Beach Boys, and incredibly, Phil Collins, who had earlier performed at Wembley before jetting over on a Concorde flight to make history by appearing at both concerts.

One of the stand-out performances at the US show was the sultry duet between Mick Jagger and Tina Turner that set tongues wagging around the globe.

The US concert wound up with all the performers gathering on stage to belt out We Are The World while in London the stars bowed out with a giant crowd singalong to Do They Know It’s Christmas.

The concerts were the biggest international satellite events ever broadcast. They went on to raise $182 million for charity and are still held as the benchmark for all celebrity fundraisers to this day.

0 min read

1 min read