13th July 1985; The Live Aid Concert was a series of rock concerts held to raise funds for famine relief in Ethiopia around the world in cites including London, Philadelphia, Sydney and Moscow. The concerts attracted close to 200,000 people and using satellite link-ups and television broadcasts around the world attracted an estimated 1.5 viewers in 100 countries watching the concerts performed live. The Concerts were organized by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure and raised over $250 million.

Throughout the concerts, viewers were urged to donate money to the Live Aid cause. Three hundred phone lines were manned by the BBC, so that members of the public could make donations using their credit cards. The phone number and an address that viewers could send cheques to were repeated every twenty minutes.

Nearly seven hours into the concert in London, Bob Geldof enquired how much money had been raised; he was told £1.2 million. He is said to have been sorely disappointed by the amount and marched to the BBC commentary position. Pumped up further by a performance by Queen that he later called 'absolutely amazing', Geldof gave an infamous interview in which he used the word fuck. The BBC presenter David Hepworth, conducting the interview, had attempted to provide a list of addresses to which potential donations should be sent; Geldof interrupted him in mid-flow and shouted: "Fuck the address, let's get the numbers!” He also at one point got really angry and shouted "Give us your fucking money". Private Eye made great capital out of these outbursts, emphasising Geldof's accent which meant the profanities were heard as "fock" and "focking". After the outburst, giving increased to £300 per second.

Later in the evening, following David Bowie's set, a video (Edited by Colin Dean) shot by CBC, was shown to the audiences in London and Philadelphia, as well as on televisions around the world (though notably neither USA feed, ABC or MTV chose to show the film), showing starving and diseased Ethiopian children set to the song "Drive" by The Cars. (This would also be shown at the London Live 8 concert in 2005.) The rate of giving became faster in the immediate aftermath of the moving video. Ironically, Geldof had previously refused to allow the video to be shown, due to time constraints, and had only relented when Bowie offered to drop the song Five Years from his set as a trade-off.

As Geldof mentioned during the concert, the Republic of Ireland gave the most donations per capita, despite being in the throes of a serious economic depression at the time. The single largest donation came from the ruling family of Dubai. They donated £1m in a phone conversation with Geldof. The next day, news reports stated that between £40 and £50 million had been raised. Now, it is estimated that around £150m has been raised for famine relief as a direct result of the concerts.

Below are just some of the artists who provided their time and performances for free and this concert showed like nothing before or after what can be achieved when ego's and a desire to give something back by some of the most popular figures in entertainment put their efforts in.

Adam Ant
Ashford & Simpson
B. B. King
Billy Ocean
Black Sabbath
Bob Dylan
Bob Geldof
Boomtown Rats
Brian May
Bryan Adams
Bryan Ferry
Cher
Cliff Richard
Crosby Stills Nash & Young
David Bowie
Dire Straits
Duran Duran
Elton John
Elvis Costello
Eric Clapton
Freddie Mercury
Griff Rhys Jones
Hall & Oates
Joan Baez
Judas Priest
Keith Richards
Kenny Loggins
Kiki Dee
Kool & the Gang
Led Zeppelin
Lionel Richie
Madonna
Mel Smith
Men at Work
Mick Jagger
Neil Young
Nik Kershaw
Pat Boone
Patti LaBelle
Paul McCartney
Paul Young
Phil Collins London and Philadelphia
Plant Page and Jones
Power Station
Queen
REO Speedwagon
Rick Springfield
Roger Daltrey
Ron Wood
Run-DMC
Sade
Santana
Simple Minds
Spandau Ballet
Status Quo
Sting
Style Council
The Beach Boys
The Cars.
The Four Tops
The Pretenders
The Who
Thompson Twins
Tina Turner
Tom Petty
U2
Ultravox
Wham