NEW YORK — Forty years ago, the legendary Live Aid concerts aimed to do a lot of good — helping to raise over $100 million for famine relief in Ethiopia and inspiring worldwide awareness for a cause it might otherwise have ignored.
Simulcast from Philadelphia and London on July 13, 1985, Live Aid was the most ambitious global television event of its time: 16 hours of live music in two different continents featuring Queen, The Who, a Led Zeppelin reunion and more.
A lot has changed in the years since. ''Live Aid, '85 to now, is the same distance as the Second World War from Live Aid,'' notes Rick Springfield, laughingly. ''That's how long ago it was.''
Artists who performed at Live Aid — Springfield, organizer Bob Geldof, Hall and Oates' John Oates and Judas Priest's Rob Halford — reflected on the event and its impact in interviews with The Associated Press ahead of the 40th anniversary on Sunday.
Here's what they had to say:
Reflections on an unprecedented event
At John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, Springfield performed between Run-DMC and REO Speedwagon — just a taste of the diversity of performers featured on the transnational lineup. ''Run-DMC, I remember thinking, ‘What is this? Three guys talking over a record player. What is that? Little did I know that it was about to change the whole game,'' he says, laughing. He remembers playing an electric set — no ''Jessie's Girl,'' because ''back then, it was just my first hit. ... It hadn't gone on to become this cultural thing."
Hall and Oates' John Oates had a different experience. His band also played in Philly — their hometown — and in 1985, his band was one of the biggest on the planet. They played near the end of the night, joined by the Temptations' Eddie Kendricks and David Ruffin and remained on stage to back the Rolling Stones' dynamic frontman Mick Jagger. The British rockstar had a trick up his sleeve.