History UsefulNotes / LiveAid

Of course, not ''everyone'' who was asked to appear to the concerts were able to make it. Among others, Music/TalkingHeads had put activity on hold so Music/DavidByrne could film ''Film/TrueStories'', Music/MichaelJackson was too committed to working on ''Music/{{Bad}}'' to join, Music/RogerWaters refused to show up unless he could front Music/PinkFloyd at the concert (having been in the middle of a legal battle with his former bandmates over the rights to the band's trademark), leading neither him nor the band to show up, Music/FrankZappa accused the organizers of trying to fund a cocaine-laundering scheme, and Music/TearsForFears ran into legal troubles as a result of some of their backing musicians' contracts expiring and had to pull out at the last minute (which led to a high-profile feud with a disgruntled Geldof). Still, it picked up enough performers for two simultaneous day-long concerts in two major stadiums on two different sides of the Atlantic, which is pretty impressive in and of itself.

At the time, Live Aid met with a somewhat mixed response. While many were enamored by the sheer size and scope of the event and that it was all going to charity, others criticized it as being more of a way for the big acts of the 80's to stroke their own ego, not helped by many of the performances being marred with technical issues (most notably with the broadcast signal cutting out midway through Music/TheWho's performance), some of the performers not being up to snuff for the event (most infamously the Music/LedZeppelin reunion, widely regarded as one of the worst live performances of their entire career), and the fact that the Ethiopian government ended up embezzling the donated money to fund their military efforts. In the decades since, however, the intent and effort behind Live Aid have come to be more broadly appreciated, in part because of the sheer acclaim of Queen's performance at the event (indeed, most of the retrospective publicity behind it focuses quite heavily on them), and nowadays the event is considered to be one of the most iconic moments in popular music history.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/864376ab_cc98_4004_b034_21ac4504c65e.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:The day the music changed the world!]]

Many famous stars arrived for the concert, such as Music/StatusQuo and Music/{{U2}}, but the one everybody remembers is Music/{{Queen|Band}}, whose performance at this event is often considered to be [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome not only their finest hour, but the finest hour of live rock and roll music as a whole,]] showcasing frontman Music/FreddieMercury's ability to unify stadium-sized audiences and give compelling, charismatic live performances of songs that were just plain ''fun''. The performance also marked the band's UK comeback, following the poor fan and critical reception of ''Hot Space'' and a hectic tour for ''The Works'' that threatened to break them up; the US meanwhile would still be skeptical of the band until after Mercury's death in 1991.

At the time, Live Aid met with a somewhat mixed response. While many were enamored by the sheer size and scope of the event and that it was all going to charity, others criticized it as being more of a way for the big acts of the 80's to stroke their own ego, not helped by many of the performances being marred with technical issues (most notably with the broadcast signal cutting out midway through Music/TheWho's performance), some of the performers not being up to snuff for the event (most infamously the Music/LedZeppelin reunion, widely regarded as one of the worst live performances of all time), and the fact that the Ethiopian government ended up embezzling the donated money to fund their military efforts. In the decades since, however, the intent and effort behind Live Aid have come to be more broadly appreciated, in part because of the sheer acclaim of Queen's performance at the event (indeed, most of the retrospective publicity behind it focuses quite heavily on them), and nowadays the event is considered to be one of the most iconic moments in popular music history.

** "All I Really Want to Do"

** "Amazing Grace"
** "We Are the World" (snippet)

** "Surfin' U.S.A."

** "Who Do You Love?" (with Bo Diddley)

** "Holiday"
** "Into the Groove"
** "Love Makes the World Go Round" (with Thompson Twins and Nile Rodgers)

** "State of Shock" (with Music/TinaTurner)

* Music/{{Queen|Band}} were inspired by the concert and experience to write the song "One Vision" for the 1986 film ''Film/IronEagle'' (later including it as the opening track of ''Music/AKindOfMagic' several months later).

* Music/{{Queen|Band}} were inspired by the concert and experience to write the song "One Vision" for the 1985 film ''Film/IronEagle'' (later including it as the opening track of ''Music/AKindOfMagic'' the following year).

Many famous stars arrived for the concert, such as Music/StatusQuo and Music/{{U2}}, but the one everybody remembers is Music/{{Queen}}, whose performance at this event is often considered to be [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome not only their finest hour, but the finest hour of live rock and roll music as a whole,]] showcasing frontman Music/FreddieMercury's ability to unify stadium-sized audiences and give compelling, charismatic live performances of songs that were just plain ''fun''. The performance also marked the band's UK comeback, following the poor fan and critical reception of ''Hot Space'' and a hectic tour for ''The Works'' that threatened to break them up; the US meanwhile would still be skeptical of the band until after Mercury's death in 1991.

* 18:41: Music/{{Queen}}

* ''Film/BohemianRhapsody'' features Music/{{Queen}}'s Live Aid performance as the finale, and the [[BookEnds build-up to it as the beginning]].

* Music/{{Queen}} were inspired by the concert and experience to write the song "One Vision" for their 1986 album ''Music/AKindOfMagic''.

* 22:39: Music/BobDylan, [[Music/TheRollingStones Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood]]:

** [[Music/TheGameRapper "Crazy Little Thing Called Love"]]

** [[Music/TheGame "Crazy Little Thing Called Love"]]

->''"It's 12 noon in London, seven a.m. in Philadelphia, and around the world it's time for Live Aid."''

** "[[Music/{{Paranoid}} Iron Man]]"
** "Music/{{Paranoid}}"

** [[Music/DejaVu "Teach Your Children"]]

** [[Music/DejaVu "Helpless"]] [[note]] Originally recorded with Music/CrosbyStillsNashAndYoung. [[/note]]

** [[Music/BrothersInArms "Money for Nothing"]] (with Music/{{Sting}}, the only time he performed this live with them)

* ''Film/BohemianRhapsody'' features Music/{{Queen}}'s Live Aid performance as the finale.

** "Music/HeroesDavidBowieAlbum"

** "Rockin' All Over The World"

* 14:07: Music/ElvisCostello: "All You Need Is Love"

* 15:49: Music/HowardJones: "Hide and Seek"

** [[Music/{{Imagine}} "Jealous Guy"]][[note]]Originally by Music/JohnLennon.[[/note]]
* 16:40: Music/PaulYoung:

* 21:51: Music/PaulMcCartney (with David Bowie, Bob Geldof, Alison Moyet and Pete Townshead): "Music/LetItBe"

** [[Music/RunDMCAlbum "Jam Master Jay"]]

** "Stop Your Sobbing"

** "Helpless"

** "Bang a Gong (Get It On)"

** "[[Music/AfterTheGoldRush Only Love Can Break Your Heart]]"

--->Now the satellite's confused
--->'Cause on Saturday night
--->The airwaves were full of compassion and light

The idea for the event began all the way back in October of 1984, when Bob Geldof of The Boomtown Rats saw images of the Ethiopian famine on TV, and decided to do something about it. So he called Music/MidgeUre from {{Ultravox}} and decided to form a group called Band Aid. Their single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" hit #1 in the UK and all over the world, and became one of the best selling singles of all time.

The idea for the event began all the way back in October of 1984, when Bob Geldof of The Boomtown Rats saw images of the Ethiopian famine on TV, and decided to do something about it. So he called Midge Ure from Ultravox and decided to form a group called Band Aid. Their single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" hit #1 in the UK and all over the world, and became one of the best selling singles of all time.