History Daily - Live Aid Rocks Both Sides of the Atlantic

Episode Date: July 13, 2026

July 13, 1985. The benefit concert Live Aid amasses millions of dollars for famine relief, and well over a billion viewers worldwide. This episode originally aired in 2023. Support the show! Join Into History for ad-free listening and more. History Daily is a co-production of Airship and Noiser.Go to HistoryDaily.com for more history, daily.

It's 3.50 p.m. on July 13, 1985 at Wembley Stadium in London, England. 34-year-old Phil Collins rises from the seat behind a piano as the crowd explodes and cheers. He moves to the front of the stage to take in the applause alongside the performer Sting, with whom he's just finished a seven-song set. Phil and Sting don't usually play together. Phil is the drummer and lead singer for rock band Genesis, while Sting is the frontman of the police. police. But today, they've teamed up for an extraordinary concert. LiveAid, the biggest musical event in history.

As Phil exits the stage, he enters a maze of corridors underneath the stadium. Some of the most famous musicians in the world offer him high-fives as he walks briskly by. Phil grins and calls out friendly greetings, but he doesn't stop to chat. Instead, he hustles to a backstage runner who's waving to catch his attention. The runner pushes open a door to a parking lot. where there's a helicopter on the ground with its engine running. Phil ducks underneath the spinning rotor blades, climbs into the cockpit. He does a double-take, though, when he sees the pilot,

primetime English television presenter Noel Edmonds, who just a few minutes ago introduced Phil and Sting on stage. Now, Noel, also a licensed helicopter pilot, gives Phil the thumbs up and pulls back the stick to lift the chopper off the ground, taking them away from one concert and to another, an ocean away. Phil Collins' swift departure from Wembley Stadium means he misses the chance to soak up the atmosphere of the historic moment.

An estimated 1.9 billion people across the globe have tuned in to watch the music industry's fundraiser for famine relief in Africa. But Phil's contribution to live aid isn't over yet. In just a few hours, he will perform again for the same charity, but his encore will be on the other side of the Atlantic in Philadelphia. Phil will make history as the only performer to feature on both legs of Live Aid, appearing live on television from two different continents in the same day. But his transatlantic performances will be just one of the many iconic sets enjoyed by viewers around the world

when LiveAid begins on July 13, 1985. From Noisor and Airship, I'm Lindsay Graham, and this is History Daily. History is made every day. On this podcast, Every Day, we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world. Today is July 13, 1985. Live Aid rocks both sides of the Atlantic. It's 10 p.m. on October 23rd, 1984, at a house in Faversham and Kent, England,

nine months before the Live Aid concert. 33-year-old Bob Geldof lounges on his sofa with his partner at his side. Bob is the lead singer of punk rock band The Boomtown Raps, best known for their top-charting single, I don't like Mondays. Though Bob may enjoy a rock and roll lifestyle on tour, tonight he's relishing a quiet night in front of the television while his one-year-old daughter sleeps upstairs.

Bob takes a sip of his drink and switches a channel to the BBC News, where a report about Ethiopia is just beginning. Dawn, and as the sun breaks through the piercing chill of night on the plane outside Coram, it lights up a biblical famine, now in the 20th century. This place, say workers here, is the closest thing to hell on earth. The report highlights the suffering of Ethiopians who are starving in a months-long famine caused by drought and exacerbated by civil war.

The graphic pictures do not censor the Ethiopians torment. Shockingly emaciated adults stare into the camera with haunting expressions. Starving children cry with hunger. The five-minute report concludes with the sight of a grieving mother, weeping and her dead child wrapped in a shroud. Bob flicks off the television and sits in silence for a moment. He wipes a tear from his eye before turning to his partner and announcing he's going to do something to help. He just doesn't know what yet. A few days later, Bob picks up the telephone and calls an old friend, singer-songwriter Midge Yure. Bob asks Midge whether he saw the BBC report

about the famine in Ethiopia. Midge says he didn't, but he's heard all about it. The news special shocked the nation and has dominated the public's conversation for days. Bob has spent that time thinking about how he can use his status as a celebrity to raise money. He has an idea, but for it to become a reality, he needs some assistance. So Bob invites Midge to help write a song to raise funds for famine relief in Ethiopia. Midge quickly agrees and then asks Bob whether he intends to release the song as a solo single or maybe with the band. But Bob has much bigger plans. He's going to ask dozens of musicians to donate their time and record the track under the name Band-Aid. Bob wants the whole music industry involved, because with the publicity of enough big-name artists,

he thinks they can raise 70,000 pounds for charities operating in Africa, the equivalent of more than $350,000 U.S. dollars today. So on a November morning, a month after Bob sets his plan into motion, 37 pop stars and musicians assemble at a recording studio in London's Notting Hill. With only 24 hours of free studio time to get a song on tape, Bob is relieved to see the supergroup arrive on time and ready to record he and Midge's rapidly written single entitled Do They Know It's Christmas?

But after a smooth start to the day, a problem arises. Midge and Bob still haven't written the song's bridge and no new lyrics are coming to them. Bob begins to panic as the time ticks by because if they don't get the track recorded now when all the stars are here and they have complimentary, use of the studio, it'll never be released in time for Christmas. But Midge tells Bob not to worry. He gathers the musicians in front of the microphones, and they improvise a simple but catchy

refrain, repeating the phrase, feed the world, let them know it's Christmas time. Four days after Do They Know It's Christmas is recorded, the single is released into shops amid a blaze of publicity and media interviews. The track is perfectly timed. The population of the UK has been moved by the harrowing scenes in Ethiopia, and buying a charity record as a Christmas gift is an easy way for them to do their bid for famine relief. As a result, do they know it's Christmas will become the fastest selling UK single in history, staying at the top of the singles chart for five weeks and taking the coveted Christmas number one slot. It will raise 8 million pounds, more than 40 million U.S. dollars today, far exceeding Bob's original target.

But Bob Geldof will soon realize that he and the music industry can do even more to raise fun for famine relief, and his quest to help alleviate the suffering in Ethiopia will see him organize the biggest music concert in history. It's December 22nd, 1984, at Wembley Arena in London, less than a month after the release of Do They Know It's Christmas. Bob Geldof stains in the wings as New Wave pop band Culture Club comes to the end of their concert. Bob smiles as a crowd chanced for more because he knows the surprise that's about to occur. Culture Club members Boy George and John Moss are two of the musicians who contributed to Do They Know It's Christmas. Now Boy George asks the crowd if they like a rendition of the song. The fans enthusiastically roar their answer, and with a grin, Boy George calls on stage some special guests who also featured on the single.

Bob is among them. The stars conclude the evening with a rousing performance of the charity song, leaving the crowd in high spirits as the evening comes to an end. While the arena clears out, Bob and Boy George enjoy the free bar backstage. They discussed the events of the past few weeks, and Boy George asks Bob what he has planned next. This question, though, catches Bob off guard. The charity single had been a phenomenal success, but he doesn't have any plans for a follow-up. Still, Boy George insists that Bob has caught the mood of the country, and it's his responsibility to make full use of it. He has a suggestion, too.

Since tonight's live performance was such a hit, maybe the next logical progression for Band-Aid's is a charity concert. Bob mulls over the idea throughout the holiday season. He's unsure whether he has the skills to organize such a large event, and he knows it'll take up almost all of his time. But he also recognizes that Boy George is right. Band-Aid single was a staggering success, and a concert is the obvious next step.

Bob decides to get to it. He phones the original Band-Aid musicians, and they all agree to perform their own numbers in a charity concert for free. Next, Bob calls other artists who didn't contribute to Band-Aid. Among them, some of the top music stars in the world, including Elton John, Queen, Led Zeppelin, and Madonna. Bob persuades these superstars to appear at the concert with a few mistruths, assuring them that the other top acts have already agreed to perform before they have actually done so. This tactic is so effective, it sparks a new problem. So many stars sign up that Bob realizes he has more performers than he needs. Any concert with all of them would go on for too long,

even if every musician is limited to just a few songs. Bob comes up with an ambitious solution. He'll accommodate all the performers by having more than one venue and make the concert a global affair by having these venues in different countries. Eventually, Bob settles on Wembley Stadium in London and John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia as the locations of what he is calling live aid. The pioneering nature of the transatlantic concert

and its superstar ensemble attract huge interest in the media. Deals are worked out with broadcasters to show the concert on television, not just in the UK and U.S., but around the world. Most countries organize telethons to accept donations from the watching public. And less than seven months after Boy George floated the idea of a benefit concert, Live Aid will begin at 12 noon local time in Wembley Stadium. Tens of thousands of fans will fill the arena as the cold stream guards open with a rendition of the British National Anthem, before rock band's status quo will take over with the app song Rocking All Over the World.

An hour and 50 minutes in, at 8.51 a.m. local time, the Philadelphia concert will begin. The global television broadcast will switch between the two venues, as the set concludes in one location, the next will begin in the other. But ahead of the event, Bob has one last idea to emphasize the dual nature of the transatlantic concert. He wants one person to perform at both venues on the same day. It needs to be someone who's famous in both the UK and the United States and who's willing to put up with an arduous day without sleep. Eventually, Bob will settle on Genesis frontman Phil Collins. And when Phil's set with Sting concludes at Wembley,

he'll be rushed away by helicopter before boarding the world's fastest passenger air plane and completing his historic whirlwind transatlantic set. It's just after 4 p.m. on July 13, 1985 at Heathrow Airport in London, four hours after the live-aid music concert began at Wembley Stadium. Phil Collins gives pilot Noel Edmonds a wave as he exits his helicopter and is escorted across the tarmac to where the Concord is waiting. This supersonic passenger aircraft is going to whisk Phil across the Atlantic to JFK Airport in New York. On board the flight with Phil is American singer Cher,

who is unaware of the groundbreaking charity concert currently taking place. A breathless Phil tells her all about it, and by the time they touched down, Cher announces that she will change her plans opting to join Phil on the final leg of his journey to Philadelphia. There, at John F. Kennedy Stadium, Phil barely has time to compose himself

before he rushes on stage to drum for Eric Clapton. Then he takes over for two solo songs at the piano, before returning to the drums for Led Zeppelin's set. Later, he's back on stage again to sing We Are the World in the finale. This time, he spots his traveling companion, Cher, who has sneaked herself into the star-studded chorus. Phil and the fellow musicians' involvement in Lib Aid helps the concert achieve a far-reaching legacy.

In total, the event will raise more than $127 million for charity, worth more than $360 million today. But it will also attract its share of criticism. Some will argue that live aid, despite raising a significant amount of money, did not achieve substantial long-term change, claiming that its funds were mismanaged and did not effectively address the underlying systemic causes of famine and poverty. Others will highlight the lack of African artists and representation on the Live Aid stage,

taking issue with the event's portrayal of Africa and arguing that it reinforced a paternalistic approach that undermined the agency of African nations and reinforced negative stereotypes. Regardless, Bob Geldof would later be knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for increasing awareness of the world's humanitarian crises. The contribution made possible thanks to the numerous musicians and singers that came together across the world and created a new model for musical benefits in Live Aid on July 13, 1985. Next, on History Daily, July 14, 1970.

At New York's Lincoln Hospital, a group of Puerto Rican activists staged in occupation, demanding better health care. From Noisor and Ayrship, this is History Daily, hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham, audio editing by Emily Burke,

sound design by Molly Bach, music by Lindsay Graham. This episode is written and research by Scott Reeves. Executive producers are Alexandra Curry Buckner for Airship and Pascal Hughes for Noiser.