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The Herald Scotland
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Stop this insidious propaganda that Queen was Live Aid's best band
At the time I thought Hall and Oates were the best performers on the day (mostly because they were joined by David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks of The Temptations). Watching the concert again on BBC Two on Saturday night George Michael's performance of Elton John's Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me seemed to me head and shoulders above everything else on the day (and I'm as allergic to Elton John as I am to Queen). One wonders what might have happened if Wham! had played a full set. Freddie Mercury, lead singer with the rock group Queen, during the Live Aid concert (Image: PA) But as it is the legend goes that Queen were the standouts and I suppose there must be something to it. 'There's a reason why people still talk about the Queen performance or the U2 performance,' Midge Ure - who, along with Bob Geldof of the Boomtown Rats instigated the whole Band Aid/Live Aid thing - told Dermot O'Leary on Radio 2 on Saturday morning. 'They were standout moments. They will go down in history … If you want to play in front of a lot of people this is how you do it.' And the thing is, he added, on the day Queen's singer Freddie Mercury didn't feel that great. But, Ure suggested, he responded to the audience. 'It was like watching Clark Kent turn into Superman.' I guess Ure knows what he's talking about. His band Ultravox played Wembley that day too. But unlike Queen and U2, he said, 'we looked like rabbits in the headlights up there. It was just alien to stand in front of 80,000 people with a potential television audience of 2 billion. That's just petrifying.' Midge Ure during the Live Aid concert (Image: PA Archive/PA Images) Perhaps that's because, as he explained to Patrick Kielty over on 5 Live later in the morning, the band went onstage without a soundcheck. Because of the cutting-edge tech they used, they normally needed five hours to make sure everything was working. Ure has always come across as one of pop's good guys; someone who never let a modicum of success go to his head. And he's a practised raconteur. Talking to Kielty about the making of the Band Aid record he admitted that on the day of the recording neither he nor Bob Geldof were sure anyone would turn up. 'There's Bob and I standing outside an empty studio on a cold, wet Sunday morning surrounded by cameras and microphones and we had no idea who was going to turn up because we'd spoken directly to the artists. Not an adult. Not somebody who might write down where and when they were required. 'So, yeah, there's just Bob and I standing there and Bob leans over to me and says to me 'if it's just the Boomtown Rats and Ultravox we're …' Well, he didn't repeat the expletive, but he probably didn't need to. " You can imagine … But they all turned up.' Read more As for Live Aid itself, Ure recalled being in the green room before things kicked off. 'You could see the bands all clique together. The New Romantics were in one corner and the rock guys were in another corner and the moment Status Quo kicked off you looked around the room and all the heads were nodding.' Talking about Live Aid must have become second nature to Ure over the years. But he shows no signs of getting bored of it and, better than that, he remains amused and amusing on the chaos of the whole thing. My favourite story was probably the one he told O'Leary about meeting Freddie Mercury at the Wembley Arena, which was acting as the backstage area for the Stadium during Live Aid. It was the only time he ever met Queen's frontman. 'I'm walking down the hallway of the arena and I see Freddie sitting perched on the edge of a fountain,' Ure recalled. 'And he spies me and he calls me over. 'Darling, darling, come here.' So I'm chatting to Freddie and he says, 'You're that lovely boy from the Boomtown Rats, aren't you?'' Listen Out For: Screenshot, Radio 4, July 22, 11am Just a quick shout for Mark Kermode and Ellen E Jones's film show which this week tackles Scotland on screen. And so Frankie Boyle talks Trainspotting, Kayleigh Donaldson tackles Bill Forsyth and Brian Cox gets to speak about the greatest ever Scottish film, I Know Where I'm Going.
Montreal Gazette
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Montreal Gazette
Forty years later, a chance encounter in Montreal made Live Aid ‘worth it' for Bob Geldof
News Bob Geldof was visiting Montreal last fall when he met a man who thanked him not only for Live Aid, but credited him for saving his life. The co-founder of the 1985 benefit concerts recounted the touching interaction in a recent interview ahead of the historic event's 40th anniversary. Live Aid, which was held simultaneously in London and Philadelphia, raised millions of dollars for famine relief in Ethiopia. The 16-hour, star-studded fundraiser included sets from Queen, David Bowie and U2. 'Last November in Montreal, my wife ordered breakfast. She got a call saying 'Is it all right, I'm not your normal waiter guy, can I come and say hello to your husband?'' Geldof told CNN. View this post on Instagram A post shared by CNN Original Series (@cnnorigseries) The worker greeted him before standing up straight and saying 'I wanted to thank you very much.' He detailed how Band Aid, the charity group founded by the Irish singer-songwriter, helped him as a young boy in Ethiopia. 'He said 'I had no idea who my parents are,'' Geldof said. 'He said 'They died, but someone put me in a Band Aid hospital and Band Aid paid to make me better. And then I was brought up in a Band Aid orphanage. 'And he said 'I made my way to Paris and I studied catering' and he said 'And I came here.'' Geldof congratulated him and asked more about his life, including whether he is married and has a family. The worker said he was married to an Ethiopian woman and showed parts of his life on his phone. The man paused when he put his phone back in his pocket, Geldof said. 'And then he just ran forward and clutched me,' Geldof said. It wasn't quite a hug, but Geldof said the man buried his head in his chest, saying 'Thank you for my sons. Thank you for my life.' 'So even if it was for that guy, just that guy, if it was just for him, 40 years — worth it,' Geldof said. This story was originally published July 15, 2025 at 1:18 PM.
San Francisco Chronicle
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Live Aid turns 40: Full 1985 concert now streaming online
Four decades after the globe-spanning benefit concert reshaped humanitarian fundraising, fans can now revisit Live Aid in its entirety. The complete 1985 broadcast — featuring unforgettable performances by Queen, U2, David Bowie, Paul McCartney and Madonna — is now streaming for free on YouTube and the Internet Archive. The effort was preceded by the star-studded charity single 'Do They Know It's Christmas?,' recorded under the name Band Aid and featuring Bono, George Michael, Duran Duran, Sting, and many others. The initiative even inspired the stage musical 'Just for One Day,' currently playing in London's West End. Live Aid took shape in a matter of weeks after Geldof saw a harrowing BBC news report about the famine. On July 13, 1985, nearly 2 billion viewers around the world tuned in as the concerts unfolded simultaneously at Wembley Stadium and JFK Stadium, a staggering logistical feat driven by a singular urgency. 'Naivety is a wonderful thing,' Ure told the Chronicle earlier this year. 'It emboldens you. Nothing's impossible when you're in your 20s. It enables you to think beyond the realms of possibility. I think if we tried to do it today, it would fall flat on its face.' In Philadelphia, legendary Bay Area concert promoter Bill Graham oversaw the U.S. production — arguably the crowning achievement of his career. 'The most awesome change I always see in life is what happens to you when you make it, who you become,' Graham said in a 1985 interview with the Chronicle. To mark the 40th anniversary, CNN is streaming a four-part docuseries, 'Live Aid: When Rock 'n' Roll Took Over the World.' The series blends rare archival footage with new interviews from key figures including Bono, Sting and Geldof. A BBC companion series, 'Live Aid at 40: When Rock 'n' Roll Took on the World,' takes a similarly expansive and, at times, critical view, highlighting the contradictions and compromises behind the scenes. 'Queen were completely, utterly brilliant,' Geldof told the New York Times last week. 'But the telephone lines collapsed after David Bowie performed.' Both documentaries do not shy away from Live Aid's moral ambiguities. Each examines how money was distributed, the motivations of its celebrity participants and the blurry boundary between activism and performance. Yet the day remains unparalleled in cultural memory — a moment when rock music, however flawed, dared to take on the world. It also reminds us how much has changed. '(Elon) Musk said that the great weakness of Western civilization is empathy,' Geldof said. 'You fool. Empathy is the glue of humanity. It is the basis of civilization.'
Washington Post
14-07-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
Kenvue CEO Mongon stepping down as company continues with strategic review
Kenvue says that Thibaut Mongon is stepping down as its CEO as the maker of Listerine and Band-Aid brands continues with a strategic review of the company. Kenvue used to be a part of Johnson & Johnson . J&J announced in late 2021 that it was splitting its consumer health division from the pharmaceutical and medical device divisions in a bid to make each more nimble.
Irish Times
13-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
The unsung Irishman behind Live Aid. Not Bono, not Bob, but Paddy
Those who watched Michael Buerk's report on BBC television news on October 23rd 1984, can rarely have heard such a devastating piece of journalistic reportage: 'Dawn, and as the sun breaks through the piercing chill of night, it lights up a biblical famine, now, in the 20th century. This place, say workers here, is the closest thing to hell on Earth.' That place was a remote part of northern Ethiopia and the powerful opening sentences were accompanied by harrowing images of starving and crying children. The seven-minute report was subsequently shown by 425 TV stations worldwide, bringing the crisis to global attention. In the four months after the report was broadcast Oxfam alone received a total of £12.5 million in donations. READ MORE The emotional expression of Buerk's words have gone down in the annals of broadcast journalism. His report brought about the setting up of Band Aid and Live Aid, both of which have been a catalyst for raising millions for famine relief. The story of the musicians coming together is well documented, but not many are aware that Buerk was briefed by a Co Down man, Paddy Coulter, who at the time was on a visit to Oxfam programmes in South Africa. As the charity's head of communication, he took the opportunity to contact the reporter. He advised him on the drought that threatened to cause a catastrophic famine in Ethiopia, and facilitated his trip to the country. John Hobson Coulter, who was born in 1946, grew up in Ballynahinch in mid-Down, the son of Eileen, a teacher, and Percival, a cattle dealer and butcher. He was the elder of twins and educated at Methodist College, Belfast. In 1964 he went to Oxford to read classics at Queen's College, and like countless Irishmen before him who have settled in England, became known as 'Paddy'. The Band Aid charity song, Do They Know It's Christmas?, was released in December 1984, entering the UK singles chart at number one remaining there for five weeks becoming the Christmas number one. Bob Geldof, who had been moved by Buerk's television report, and Ultravox's Midge Ure joined with some of the best-known performers to record the song which continued to resonate for decades. The record led to the build-up 40 years ago to two simultaneous benefit concerts on July 13th, 1985 at Wembley Stadium and at the John F. Kennedy stadium in Philadelphia as part of a marathon transatlantic telethon. The stellar line-up of musicians in London included Paul McCartney, Phil Collins, David Bowie, Sting, Sade, and Queen, while The Who reformed for the event. In Ireland some banks opened their branches specially for the occasion to allow people to pledge money while RTÉ covered the Live Aid show by involving television and radio personalities as well as others in the public eye. Geldof is on record as saying that he was particularly proud of the Irish donations and the country's generous response. By 11pm on the night of the concert, more than £1 million had been raised in Ireland alone, surpassing all expectations. The BBC has now made three hour-long documentaries about Band Aid, Live Aid, and its successor, Live 8 in 2005 which challenged leaders of the world's richest countries to address poverty in Africa. A jukebox musical, Just for One Day, is running at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London, retelling from a modern-day perspective how the story evolved. A percentage of all ticket sales is being donated to the Band Aid Charitable Trust. As for Paddy Coulter, he became director of the International Broadcasting Trust in London where he lobbied news organisations on a variety of issues. He produced more than 100 programmes on development and the environment, winning a United Nations Correspondents Association gold award in 1996 for a TV series Under the Blue Flag. He also served as chairman of the international press freedom organisation Article 19. From 2001 to 2007 Coulter was the Director of Studies for the Reuters Institute journalism programme based at Green Templeton College, Oxford. He mentored mid-career journalists from all over the world, helping inspire, reshape and transform their lives, and was noted for his insight and passion. An accomplished journalist, he stimulated interest in the reporting of many events, including human rights causes and was a force for life with friends and connections in many countries. He died last November with warm tributes in obituaries paid to his tireless work and achievements. Although Coulter never claimed the credit for Live Aid, he was instrumental in triggering the process that paved the way for it. He had an appetite for activism and his passionate role in speaking to journalists helped raise awareness of impoverishment, inequality and injustice in many countries. Had he not contacted Michael Buerk to convince him of the crucial need to report on the Ethiopian famine, the attention of the world may have been focused elsewhere, and what was dubbed as 'the greatest show on Earth' might never have happened.
