There was a common cause and excitement was in the air. It was all anyone was talking about. It was before social media, cell phones, and computers. Word of mouth was how things got around. The concerts were held, one at Wembley stadium in England, and one in Philadelphia in the United States, all planned meticulously by Bob Geldof.
It was booked as “The Greatest Show on Earth” , and it was. The acts were the top , the creme dela creme on everyone’s must see list. The Rolling Stones, Crosby,Stills, Nash, Bob Dylan, and the first outing of Led Zeppelin since the death of John Bonham. But it was much more than hearing the bands, it was coming together for a common cause, and that was raising money for the fight against Famine in Africa
The most soulful and remembered performance at Live Aid was that of Queen. The group certainly had gone through some hardships to get to that moment. The intelligent and charismatic Freddie Mercury likely had AIDS at the time and did not know it, however maybe did in his heart. He was officially diagnosed in 1987 and died in 1991. When Queen came out and they saw Mercury, in all white, white pants, white tank top the crowd erupted, then, he sat at the piano. He plucked a few chords, then went into Bohemian Rhapsody, the crowd on both sides of the Atlantic could not contain itself. You can see him doing his signature blowing of a kiss to his mother in the song. The whole set was only 20 minutes, but what a 20 minutes!
Because of Bob Geldof and all the musicians that day 100 million dollars were raised to help the famine in Africa. Geldof’s Charity work continues , and is patterned by many other people in the hopes that others are helped through music.
You can see Freddie and Queens performance here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbvyNnw8Qjg
Looking back, which is your favorite band from Live Aid? Let me know in the comments!
