Following the success of Band aid, Bob Geldof himself travelled to Ethiopia to oversee the distribution of the supplies from the money raised. Whilst there he realised that if the Band Aid organisation were to own their own fleet of trucks for transportation of the supplies then they would be able to act more effectively and have a more direct impact on the famine-hit areas. The idea of a concert to raise more money was born and, amazingly, in just ten weeks Live Aid was put together. This achievement is even harder to believe as this was a time when mobile phones and e-mail did not exist!
At 12:00 (GMT) on 13 July 1985 at Wembley Stadium in London, in front of a crowd of 72,000 people, the Prince Charles and Princess Diana were greeted into the royal box together with Bob Geldof himself. The fanfare from the royal guard on stage was met with a deafening cheer, as were Status quo immediately afterwards; the first act to play.
Some of the biggest names in music at the time were involved in making this the biggest rock concert of all time including Sting, Phil Collins, Bryan Adams, U2, Queen, David Bowie, Elton John, George Michael, Madonna, Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton and Mick Jagger. Not all these artists were playing at Wembley Stadium as this was a joint project with a concert being held at the JFK stadium in Philadelphia which started later at 13:10 (Eastern USA time). The event was broadcast live throughout the world with the BBC being responsible for Europe whilst ABC and MTV provided the service elsewhere. It is reported that an estimated 98 percent of all available television screens received the broadcast making Live Aid the single biggest music event of all time. What was also called “The Greatest Show on Earth” was viewed by approximately 1.5 billion people across the globe for a total of sixteen hours.
Seven hours into the concert, Bob Geldof enquired as to how much money had been raised and was told it was £1.2 million which disappointed him immensely. He went into the BBC commentary box and gave an infamous interview pleading for more donations. "People are dying NOW. Give us the money NOW. Give me the money now." he said, and then stressing the importance of his plea, "Fuck the address, just give the phone, here's the number..."
The donations increased to a rate of £300 per second after this outburst, the rate increased again later in the evening after a video of starving people was broadcast. It was estimated the day after that £40-50 million had been raised however the final figure as a direct result of the concerts is closer to £110 million and is still rising with the recent release of the Live Aid DVD.
In July 2005, twenty years after the Live Aid concerts, he organised the Live 8 Gala which was a support event for the African nations involved in the G8 summit. Five days later the G8 leaders met and the following promises were made; $50 billion more aid per year by 2010, AIDS drugs to all those who need them, and care for all AIDS orphans and debt cancellation for 18 countries. For his efforts within famine relief and charity, Bob Geldof received an honorary knighthood from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Although not entitled to become a knight due to being a citizen of Ireland, he is often referred to as Sir Bob Geldof and no one could deserve the title more.
