E87 Live Aid - July 13, 1985: Rockin' All Over the World

The day the world stopped to listen. July 13, 1985 stands as a pivotal moment when music transcended entertainment to become a global force for humanitarian change. Live Aid connected London's Wembley Stadium and Philadelphia's JFK Stadium through groundbreaking satellite technology, reaching nearly 2 billion viewers.

What made Live Aid revolutionary wasn't just its scale but its immediacy. Unlike Woodstock or other historic concerts we experience through curated footage, Live Aid happened in real-time before our eyes. From Status Quo kicking off with "Rockin' All Over The World" to the "We are the World" finale, we witnessed music history unfiltered—technical glitches, microphone failures, and all. This raw authenticity created an unprecedented shared global experience.

The performances ranged from career-defining triumphs to disappointing reunions. U2 transformed from cult favorites to superstars with their electrifying 11-minute rendition of "Bad," featuring Bono's spontaneous rescue of a fan from the crushing crowd. Queen delivered what many consider rock's greatest live performance, with Freddie Mercury commanding 72,000 people like a conductor before his orchestra. Phil Collins made the impossible happen—performing in London, flying on the Concorde to New York, and helicoptering to Philadelphia to play with Eric Clapton and Led Zeppelin all in the same day.

Beyond raising millions for Ethiopian famine relief, Live Aid fundamentally changed how we understand music's potential impact. It created the blueprint for benefit concerts that continues today, proving that artists could mobilize massive global action. Four decades later, in our fragmented media landscape, Live Aid's achievement seems even more remarkable—a singular moment when music united humanity across continents, cultures, and borders for a cause greater than ourselves.

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