The Most Significant Cultural Event in Popular Music Since 1945

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There have been many significant cultural events in popular music since 1945, but none quite as cultural and philanthropic as the Live Aid concerts founded by Midge Ure and Bob Geldof. There is no doubt that this has raised awareness of the situation of poverty in Ethiopia and globally, whilst also raising a significant amount of money for charities concerning the situation and giving musicians an unprecedented reach to fans. Live Aid was held on 13 July 1985 in two areas simultaneously – ‘Wembley Stadium’ in England and ‘John F. Kennedy Stadium’ in the United States of America. Thus making it a dual-venue concert. Combined, these stadiums held 172,000 people, however, due to the satellite link-ups and television broadcasts it reached an estimated global audience of 1.9 billion. Making it one of the largest broadcasts of all time – and therefore giving a previously unheard-of reach to the artists performing whilst also spreading the word of poverty for charitable reasons. Concerts inspired by the same ambition also occurred on this same date in many other countries, including Russia, Australia and Germany, and thus really proving its global significance. Viewers were constantly asked to donate money to the Live Aid cause throughout the concerts with a call-in phone number and an address that viewers could send cheques being shown every twenty minutes. Seven hours into the London concert Geldof was told that the amount raised so far had been a mere £1.2 million. Later into the evening however, a video was shown to the audiences showing starving and diseased Ethiopian children which immediately saw the rate of donation rise. (This would also be shown at the London Live 8 concert in 2005.) The following day, it was announced that between £40 and £50 million had been raised. However, it is now estimated that around £150 million has been raised for famine relief as a

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