On July 13, 1985, 1.5 billion viewers around the world tuned in to watch a massive concert for famine relief.
Live Aid, set up to help the people of Africa, took place simultaneously in Philadelphia and London, and was attended by 160,000 fans. Apparently, 75 percent of all radio stations around the world broadcast parts of the event that day.
Organised by Bob Geldof of the band Boomtown Rats, Live Aid boasted some of the biggest names in music, from Bob Dylan and The Who, to Paul McCartney, Madonna, Sting and Queen -- all of whom performed for free. Interestingly, a large number of concert workers waived their fees too, slashing production costs drastically and making it possible for the organisers to raise a phenomenal $70 million for relief work.
Twenty years after the concert, Geldof organised Live 8 in July 2005, to raise political awareness of poverty in third world countries. For children of the Eighties though, few concerts can ever compare to the magic of Live Aid. It was a time when, with no Internet to fall back on, a billion people relied on memory alone to hold on to the magic.
In the picture: (from left) Phil Collins, Madonna and Bob Dylan during the Live Aid concert in 1985.
Photograph: Frank Micelotta/Getty Images/ImageDirect
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