37 years ago today, the Live Aid concert took place simultaneously in London and Philadelphia. It was the biggest rock concert in history up to that time and reached almost 1.5 billion people worldwide via TV and radio. The occasion was the famine in Ethiopia, which, caused by drought and political circumstances, affected about 8 million people. The concert raised about DM 200 million in donations (which would be equivalent to about €188 million today). A large number of the top stars of the music scene at the time performed on the two stages in turn, including Phil Collins, Madonna and Queen. It was largely organized by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure.
The concert was not without its critics, who suggested early on that many of the artists were more concerned with public relations on their own behalf than with helping Africa. In addition, no artists from Ethiopia or the rest of Africa took part in the concert. There was also criticism of the distribution of donations. On the one hand, there was a lack of long-term, structurally sustainable aid that combats the causes of hunger. On the other hand, journalists criticized that a large part of the donations did not go to hunger relief, but to the program and the army of the Ethiopian dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam.
The concert was later sold as a DVD, and the proceeds from this sale were also to go to hunger relief in Africa.
(mda)