All author royalties andpublisher profits from the sale of this book will go to The Live Aid TrustOn Saturday, 13 July 1985, a blazing, cloudless summer day, millions of peoplesettled in front of the television. It was just before noon in London, 7 am inPhiladelphia, and around the world, it was time for Live Aid. This pair of hugeconcerts had been arranged in fewer than four months by singer and activist BobGeldof of The Boomtown Rats: from a standing start to sixteen hours of music,seventy-plus artists and close to two hundred songs. These concerts mesmeriseda huge global audience and raised millions for the starving in Ethiopia. This bookrevisits every band and every song that made up the two Live Aid concerts.Some made their name at Live Aid — U2 inparticular. Some bands reunited — Status Quo, The Who, Black Sabbath — and somewere performing their last show together. Certain performances last long in thememory — Queen, of course, but also David Bowie, Elton John, Santana andothers. Indeed, some are best forgotten …And, behind it all, the drive of Bob Geldof:‘the best day of my life,’ he admitted. For a generation of music fans, 13 July1985 was a landmark day. It was The Greatest Show On Earth. How much of it doyou remember?
