LIVE AID - 4 DVD Boxset

Live Aid is the biggest concert in history.... Live Aid raised over $148 million for African famine victims.
Eventually the concert mushroomed into sixteen hours of music from around the world, featuring many of the biggest stars of the time.
Live Aid Concert was held at Wembley Stadium, London and JFK Stadium, Philadelphia

Artists who participated were:

Band Aid - Do They Know It's Christmas : Band Aid was the name of the group which recorded the original single "Do They Know It's Christmas? / Feed The World". Written by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, the song was recorded on November 25th 1984 by a group consisting of almost 40 of the UK and Ireland's best-known pop stars of the time. Originally Geldof hoped to raise £72,000 for charities from sales of the single, but that estimate was exceeded almost immediately the record went on sale; it went on to sell over three million copies in the UK, becoming the best-selling record ever, and to raise over £8 million worldwide.

Adam Ant; Ashford & Simpson / Teddy Pendergrass; Autograph; B.B. King; Beach Boys; Bernard Watson; Billy Ocean; Bob Dylan / Keith Richards / Ron Wood; Boomtown Rats; Bryan Adams; Bryan Ferry; Crosby, Stills and Nash; David Bowie; David Bowie / Mick Jagger; Dire Straits / Sting; Duran Duran; Elton John / Kiki Dee / Wham!; Elvis Costello; Eric Clapton; Freddie Mercury / Brian May; George Thorogood and the Destroyers / Bo Diddley / Albert Collins; Hall & Oates / Eddie Kendricks / David Ruffin; Howard Jones; INXS; Joan Baez; Judas Priest; Kenny Loggins; Loudness; Madonna; Mick Jagger / Tina Turner; Neil Young; Nik Kershaw; Opus; Ozzy Osbourne/Black Sabbath; Patti LaBelle; Paul McCartney / David Bowie / Pete Townshend / Alison Moyet / Bob Geldof; Paul Young / Alison Moyet; Phil Collins; Power Station; Queen; REO Speedwagon; Rick Springfield; Robert Plant / Jimmy Page / John Paul Jones; Run DMC; Sade; Santana / Pat Metheny; Simple Minds; Spandau Ballet; Status Quo; Sting; Style Council; The Cars; The Four Tops; The Hooters; The Pretenders; The Who; Thompson Twins; Tom Petty; U2; Udo Lindenberg; Ultravox; US Finale; Yu Rock Mission

Here is some background information.

In 1984 Bob Geldof sat at home watching a  BBC news television report on the Ethiopian famine. The four minute report from the feeding centres of Korem and Makele horrified Geldof.

" The picture that remains with me was that of the 23 year old nurse who had to chose from 10,000 people, 300 who could be fed. What separated those chosen to live from those condemned to die was a waist high wall. The people picked to be fed stood ashamed of their good fortune on one side of the wall, turning their backs in shame on the others. The ones left behind in effect condemned to die, stood and watched with beautiful dignity."

Million of people were starving to death in the African famine.

Geldof  felt he had to do something..he believed that in our world of plenty something had to be done, and that perhaps  some young people who made a living with their guitars and their songs could bring attention to the situation. He decided to make a record to raise money for famine relief.  Along with Midge Ure (of Ultravox) he wrote 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' and set about rounding up as many pop stars to perform the song as possible.  Within a couple of days 40 musicians had agreed to help, and a recording date November 25, 1984 was set. The record was released a week later.  The record became the UK's biggest selling single ever with more than 3 million copies in the UK alone, it topped the charts in 12 countries around the world was Top 5 in many, many more and raised well over £8 million pounds for famine release.  The record was unique..it sold in stores that never sold records, it was released in territories where there was no singles market..it sold because the public wished to save lives.

Band Aid was the catalyst..and from this Bob Geldof saw the opportunity to raise further funds and awareness.  The Live Aid concert says Geldof was the obvious step to take after the spectacular success of the record.  "We've kept millions of people alive. Now we must give them a life. That means more money for long term development projects".

On a few rare moments in history something happens which is so powerful that we share it with the whole world. A happening that makes us part of something completely outside ourselves.  Such a day was July 13 1985, the day of Live Aid when the entire globe seemed to come together with a single common purpose. The Live Aid concert featured the greatest musicians of our time and was broadcast to some 1 and a half billion people, with some 98% of TV screens on the planet receiving the broadcast. This raised over $80 million and as Geldof puts it...made compassion hip. Presidents and Prime Ministers could not disregard the indignant anxieties of these new activists.

But Bob Geldof did not end his involvement there..he went beyond charity on a journey that took him through the cold empirical world of economics and politics. He learned about Third World debt, of politics and corruption. On all this Geldof has used his celebrity to gain access to world leaders from Ronald Reagan to Margaret Thatcher and George Bush Snr to George Bush Jnr Tony Blair and The Pope. Above all he has pushed for a more radical reappraisal of the continents problems by persuading the British Prime Minister Tony Blair to set up a commission for Africa, made up of the world's richest leaders and institutions and African leaders to think afresh and hopefully, finally  to act radically.

From the release of the Band Aid single until November 2004, the Band Aid Trust and Live Aid foundation have spent over $144 million on the relief of famine in Africa by supporting projects in Burkino Faso, Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mali, Niger and Sudan.

But suffering still continues and with the 20th anniversary of both Band Aid and Live Aid, Bob Geldof  and Midge Ure wish to hand the baton to a new generation, where the popular artists of this generation bring awareness to the plight of Africa to a new generation and hence funds raised through Band Aid 20 will continue to support the work of the trust, providing aid for the hungry, poor and weak.

Warner's release this week a DVD of the Live Aid concert.. it is quite amazing.