25th anniversary of Bob Geldof’s ‘Live Aid’

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Princess Diana, Prince Charles and Bob Geldof on stage with a host of stars at Live Aid

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Today marks the 25th anniversary of the most famous concert in history, set up in just ten weeks by Irish campaigner and media mogul Sir Bob Geldof.

The concert watched across the globe was launched in an effort to raise money and awareness about the famine in Ethiopia. Geldof having been so upset by a TV report he saw on the situation said that he felt he had to do something. Who knew that he was about to create such history.

Never before had such a huge number of celebrities appeared on one stage including Elton John, U2, Queen, Madonna and Paul McCartney on the bill as well as members on the British royal family.

Havvey Goldsmith was the British promoter behind the massive concert which took place on July 13, 1985. He told CelebrityAccess.com how Bob Geldolf drove him nuts over one of the maddest years of his life.

He said “I'd taken George Michael and Wham! to China. I was looking after Roger Waters when he split from Pink Floyd and then Bob Geldof was banging on my door saying, 'I've got this idea, we're going to do Live Aid.'

"I said 'Give me a call when I get back from China.' I went to New York (for Roger Waters at Radio City Music Hall). From New York, I went from Hong Kong to China and then came back and literally the first morning I came in the office, Bob was there and he said he was camping outside my office until 'we sort this out'.

"After an hour, we kind of mapped it out and talked about it and it was 10 weeks before the event."

It soon emerged that Geldolf had bigger plans. He wanted to do a show in London and then one in New York and then in San Francisco. Goldsmith said “I was pulling my hair out at that point because Bob was driving me nuts.”

Midge Ure who helped Geldof in the organization said “We knew at the time that it was incredible and that, 25 years on, we would still be talking about it.

"People wanted to get involved and genuinely wanted a change and I am immensely proud of that.”

"When I go to my kids' school and they have concerts, they all sing “Do They Know It's Christmas?” They know the background to why that song happened, the social aspect, the history behind it. To have that filter through an entire generation is quite incredible.”

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