Martin Kemp admits 'it was the worst mistake of our lives' in Live Aid confession

Wales Online

30-04-2025

Martin Kemp admits 'it was the worst mistake of our lives' in Live Aid confession
The actor and musician says that the internationally-broadcast concert provided both a career highlight – and an embarrassingly poor choice of material
Live Aid was the biggest, most ambitious rock concert ever staged. Along with the enormous amount of good it did to alleviate the suffering in famine-hit Ethiopia, it also transformed some musicians' careers – for good and for bad.
Martin Kemp performed that day as one part of the iconic band Spandau Ballet. But he has now admitted they made "the worst mistake of their lives" on the Wembley stadium stage.
‌
Martin, also for his years as Steve Owen in EastEnders, was in the band with his older brother Gary and Tony Hadley as guitarist and main songwriter. He wryly told his son Roman, on their FFS! My Dad Is Martin Kemp podcast, how the band's place on the star-studded bill declined as more and more acts agreed to take part in the history-making gig.
‌
"Bob Geldof asked us to do it," Martin recalled, "and we were one of the first to be asked. So we thought we were closer to the end of the show. But the more people that got asked, the lower down the list Spandau got."
The band were at their happiest on that day, Martin recalls
(Image: Redferns )
In fact, the band were sixth on a bill that included most of the biggest stars of the era. They chose to play two of their recent hits, Only When You Leave and True, along with Virgin – a cut from their then-upcoming album Through The Barricades. But the latter didn't go down well.
Article continues below
"It was the worst mistake of our lives," Martin told Roman. "It was terrible, because Virgin was a track that we'd rehearsed. It was going to be on a new album coming out..."
Martin told how Spandau took to the stage with top ten hits such as True, and Only When You Leave. But then came the band's fatal error: "Then Tony goes up to the mic – with two billion people watching – and goes, 'Here's a new one.'
"And two billion people around the world go 'Oh b******s.' You know when you go to see a band and they play a new song off the latest album? You don't want to know."
‌
Spandau were, along with Adam Ant one of the only acts to perform new material that day. They made that mistake, Martin said, "because our egos were bigger than everyone else's".
Queen frontman Freddie Mercury electrified the worldwide audience
(Image: Getty Images )
He said that older brother Gary chose the song, although in another interview Gary laid the blame on band manager Steve Dagger.
‌
Despite his disappointment in his own band's performance, Martin recalled that sunny Saturday in July 1985 as one of the highlights of his musical career. Watching openers Status Quo from the side of the stage was "probably the happiest that I ever knew my band," he said.
He continued: "We were standing on the side of the stage watching them, and it was absolutely beautiful. It's my favourite memory of being in the band."
Another treasured moment from that day for Martin was a brief rest at home with his wife Shirlie, who had just returned from a lengthy tour with Wham, before heading back to Wembley for the climax of the show.
‌
Martin and future wife Shirlie took a short break at home before returning to the stadium to see Queen's performance
(Image: Getty Images )
"When I went back, I saw the best thing that I'd ever seen in my life," he recalled. "Queen were probably the best thing that I'd ever seen. That 20-minute show they were better than everyone else.
"They were cleverer. Because everyone went out there doing their singles, but Queen did a medley. So they squashed in about 10 of their best songs."
Article continues below
Queen's performance from that day has been widely hailed as one of the greatest in history, and broadcast to a worldwide audience of an estimated 1.9 billion fans.
Journalist David Hepworth, who anchored the UK TV broadcast for the BBC, said that 20-minute set "cemented Queen's position as the most-loved British group since the Beatles".
The concert raised millions for famine relief, and although it was widely criticised after the event because so much of the money raised was stolen by corrupt officials, organiser Bob Geldof was defiant, saying: "I'll shake hands with the Devil on my left and on my right to get to the people we are meant to help."