
Live Aid's Rick Springfield, Bob Geldof, Rob Halford and John Oates reflect on 1985 event
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 on 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,' says Rick Springfield, who performed at the concert. 'That's how long ago it was.'
Rick Springfield performs at Live Aid at JFK Stadium in the US state of Pennsylvania on July 13, 1985. Photo: AP
Below, artists who performed at Live Aid – Springfield, organiser Bob Geldof, John Oates of Hall and Oates, and Judas Priest's Rob Halford – reflect on the event and its impact in interviews to mark the 40th anniversary on July 13.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


South China Morning Post
4 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Japanese idol Kenshin Kamimura convicted for molesting interpreter in Hong Kong
Japanese pop idol Kenshin Kamimura has been convicted for molesting an interpreter working with him during a fan event in Hong Kong earlier this year. West Kowloon Court on Wednesday found that Kamimura, 26, assaulted the woman by patting and stroking her thigh at a Mong Kok restaurant on March 2. He was fined HK$15,000 (US$1,910). The presiding magistrate dismissed the defence's allegations targeting the prosecution witness' credibility and ruled the Japanese star could not have genuinely believed that the woman consented to his advances. Kamimura, who was expelled from the Japanese boy band ONE N' ONLY because of the case, originally came to the city alongside actor Junsei Motojima to attend a fan meeting at Regala Skycity Hotel on March 1. The two celebrities and their assistants celebrated the event's success at Ming Kee Restaurant in Mong Kok later that night.


South China Morning Post
8 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Taylor Swift announces 12th studio album, ‘The Life of a Showgirl'
Look what you made her do! Global superstar Taylor Swift has announced her 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, is coming, but has not given a release date. The album announcement came after a countdown timer on the artist's website expired. While the release date is to be confirmed, her site has said vinyl editions of the album would ship before October 13, hinting at an autumn drop. Fans have long theorised about Swift's 12th album. On Monday, Taylor Nation – an official branch of the musician's marketing team – posted a TikTok slide show of 12 images with the caption 'Thinking about when she said 'See you next era…''. Swift is seen wearing orange in every image. A special limited vinyl edition of the album will be released in 'Portofino orange glitter', according to a pre-order page on her site. A special cassette edition is also available for pre-order. Sensing a pattern, eagle-eyed fans noticed that 12 minutes earlier, the podcast 'New Heights' posted an orange image on social media with a mysterious silhouette that many believed to be Swift. The show is hosted by Travis Kelce – Swift's boyfriend and American professional football tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL) – and his brother Jason Kelce. The podcast later announced that Swift would appear on New Heights, posting a teaser video that showed the singer pulling the album from a briefcase. The actual album artwork, just as it is on her website, is blurred. Taylor Swift performs at Wembley Stadium as part of her Eras Tour in June 2024, in London, United Kingdom. Photo: AP The Life of a Showgirl will follow last year's The Tortured Poets Department, announced during the 2024 Grammys and released during Swift's record-breaking The Eras Tour. The tour raked in billions across two years and five continents and has become the highest-grossing tour of all time. The album is also Swift's first release since regaining control over her entire body of work. In May, the artist said she bought her catalogue of recordings – originally released through Big Machine Records – from their most recent owner, the private equity firm Shamrock Capital. She did not disclose the amount. In recent years, Swift has been re-recording and releasing her first six albums in an attempt to regain control of her music. The project was instigated by Hybe America CEO Scooter Braun's purchase and sale of her early catalogue and represents Swift's effort to control her own songs and how they are used. Previous 'Taylor's Version' releases have been more than conventional re-recordings, arriving with new 'from the vault' music, Easter eggs and visuals that deepen understanding of her work. So far, there have been four re-recorded albums, beginning with Fearless (Taylor's Version) and Red (Taylor's Version) in 2021. All four have been massive commercial and cultural successes, each one debuting at No 1 on the Billboard 200. Swift's last re-recording, 1989 (Taylor's Version), arrived in October 2023, just four months after the release of Speak Now (Taylor's Version). That same year, Swift won the record for the woman with the most No 1 albums in history.


South China Morning Post
3 days ago
- South China Morning Post
How Indonesia's AI-generated ‘Italian brainrot' memes conquered Gen Z
In a Japanese shop selling pocket-money trinkets, there is a rack of toys, stickers and keyrings based on a global crew of AI -generated characters that almost every child knows about – and very few adults. Advertisement A walking shark in oversized trainers, an orange with muscular arms and a twirling 'Ballerina Cappuccina' with a mug for a head are among the strange stars of the online phenomenon called Italian Brainrot. 'At first it's not funny at all, but it kind of grows on you,' said Yoshi Yamanaka-Nebesney, a 16-year-old from New York. 'You might use it to annoy someone and find that funny.' The name nods to the stupefying effect of scrolling through mindless social media posts, especially over-the-top images created with artificial intelligence tools. Advertisement Shouty, crude and often nonsensical Italian voice-overs feature in many of the clips made by people in various countries that began to spread this year on platforms such as TikTok , embraced by young Gen Z and Gen Alpha members.