Earlier this month was the 40th anniversary of Live Aid which was a two-venue benefit concert and music-based fundraising initiative held on July 13, 1985.
The Live Aid musical happening was held simultaneously at Wembley Stadium in London, England and John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
This event was organized by Irish singer-songwriter Bob Geldof, lead singer of the Boomtown Rats band, along with Scottish singer-songwriter and record producer James “Midge” Ure.
Geldof and Ure conceived the dual concert extravaganza after they co-wrote and collaborated together on a successful fund-raising charity single, “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” recorded by Band Aid in 1984.
More than 70 artists and bands performed over 16 hours of live music across the London and Philadelphia concerts. For a complete listing of performing acts and ultimate info about dual charity shows, please access this Live Aid webpage.
For this article, I will be counting down what I consider to be the ten best artists and bands performing at Live Aid.
The top ten performances that I have selected are all personal favorites that I deem to be culturally, historically, aesthetically significant, meaningful or relevant. These songs still sound good to me 40 years later.
Please note: my article is not a definitive ranking of all 70 artists that performed at the Live Aid venues in July 1985. For a more thorough accounting of this historic event, I would encourage you to search the Internet for that information.
Before I start my countdown, I will be highlighting two anthems that were performed at the end of each trans-continental shows.
At the end of the London segment, “Do They Know It’s Christmas” by Band Aid closed the U.K. concert.
And on the American side, “We Are the World” from USA for Africa was the Philadelphia finale, which ended the entire event.
Obviously, there were more outstanding musical performances at Live Aid besides those listed on my countdown. Below are some worthy artists and bands that didn’t make my top ten tabulation. Those performers are not ranked and place in a random order.
- Crosby Stills & Nash
- Elton John (with George Michael)
- Led Zeppelin
- Hall & Oates
- The Pretenders
- Simple Minds
- Bryan Adams
- The Beach Boys
- Crosby Stills Nash & Young
- REO Speedwagon
- The Four Tops
- Santana
- Sade
- Joan Baez
Without further ado, my Top 10 countdown of best Live Aid performances begin:
10. The Who
Songs Performed:
- “My Generation”
- “Pinball Wizard”
- “Love, Reign o’er Me”
- “Won’t Get Fooled Again”
My favorite of the set list: “Won’t Get Fooled Again”
British Invasion band the Who performed 4 of their biggest and most renowned songs in London. “Pinball Wizard” from the “Tommy” rock opera and “Won’t Get Fooled Again” from the “Who’s Next” album were the highlights by this influential 20th century band.
9. The Cars
Song Performed:
- “You Might Think”
- “Drive”
- “Just What I Needed”
- “Heartbeat City”
My favorite of the set list: “Just What I Needed”
New Wave and power pop rock band the Cars were at the height of their popularity in 1985 when they performed at Live Aid. Leaders of the band, Benjamin Orr and Ric Ocasek, gave a spirited performance on fan favorites like “You Might Think”, “Drive” and “Just What I Needed.”
8. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
Songs Performed:
- “American Girl”
- “The Waiting”
- “Rebels”
- “Refugee”
My favorite of the set list: “Refugee”
Along with his band the Heartbreakers, Tom Petty fired off four superb power pop rock songs with the raising of funds for famine relief in Ethiopia. “American Girl” and “The Waiting” were both superb, while Petty’s 1980 hit “Refugee” ended the exceptional set on a high note.
7. Eric Clapton & Phil Collins
Songs Performed:
- “White Room”
- “She’s Waiting”
- “Layla”
My favorite of the set list: “Layla”
Arguably, “Layla” is one of the greatest classic rock songs of all time. With “Slow Hand” Eric Clapton shredding his guitar, Phil Collins on drums and Chris Stainton playing keyboards, it was an outstanding rendition of the song written by Clapton. The opening selection of “White Room” was also memorable.
6. David Bowie
Songs Performed:
- “TVC 15”
- “Rebel Rebel”
- “Modern Love”
- “Heroes”
My favorite of the set list: “Modern Love”
David Bowie and his band played 4 up-tempo songs during his set. “Modern Love” was a rousing number with outstanding saxophone playing while the lyrics of “Heroes” fit nicely with the message and purpose of the benefit concert: “Oh, we can be heroes, just for one day.”
5. Mick Jagger & Tina Turner
Songs Performed:
- “Lonely at the Top”
- “Just Another Night”
- “Miss You”
- “State of Shock” (w/ Tina Turner)
- “It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll (But I Like It)” (with Tina Turner)
My favorite of the set list: “It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll (But I Like It)” (with Tina Turner)
Mick Jaggar sang 3 songs before Tina Turner joined him on stage as the pair performed “State of Shock” and “It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It).”
During this racy two-song duet, Jagger stripped off his shirt for a mid-song costume change and then dramatically ripped off Turner’s skirt. The singer’s fun and flirty chemistry electrified the audience in London.
4. Paul McCartney
Song Performed: “Let It Be” (w/ David Bowie, Bob Geldof, Alison Moyet and Pete Townshend)
The beginning of “Let It Be” was sparse: Just Sir Paul playing a piano and singing solo. McCartney didn’t want any other vocalists or instruments to accompany his performance.
At some point during McCartney’s performance, his microphone stopped working. The crowd started singing the chorus of “Let It Be” and then fellow artists Bowie, Geldof, Moyet and Townshend joined McCartney on the stage for a powerful ending of this classic Beatles ode.
3. U2
Songs Performed:
- “Sunday Bloody Sunday”
- “Bad”
My favorite of the set list: “Sunday Bloody Sunday”
U2 was an up-and-coming band in 1985 and their appearance helped the Irish band achieve a new level of stardom after their two-song set.
Kicking off the performance was the anti-war anthem “Sunday Bloody Sunday” with front man Bono giving a fiery, passionate vocal delivery. Following the U2 signature song was a 12-minute rendition of “Bad” that was a crowd favorite in London.
2. Dire Straits & Sting
Songs Performed:
- “Money for Nothing” (with Sting)
- “Sultans of Swing”
My favorite of the set list: “Money for Nothing”
British band Dire Straits (DS) performed only two songs and both selections were superb. “Sultans of Swing” is my favorite DS song of all-time: I love the guitar riffs and vocals by Mark Knopfler on this signature song by the British band.
My absolute top performance of the day by DS was “Money for Nothing.” Joining the band on stage was Sting and his singing of “I want my MTV” reverberated throughout Wembley Stadium as DS rocked the house with their #1 summer of 1985 smash hit.
- Queen
Songs Performed:
- “Bohemian Rhapsody”
- “Radio Ga Ga”
- “Hammer to Fall”
- “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”
- “We Will Rock You”
- “We Are the Champions”
My favorite of the set list: “Bohemian Rhapsody”
Many music historians proclaim that Queen’s Wembley Stadium set is the greatest live rock musical performance of all-time. The 21-minute set was actually one continuous medley of popular short snippets of some of the British band’s most beloved songs.
This was Freddie Mercury’s shining moment, along with guitarist Brian May, bassist Jon Deacon and Roger Taylor on drums. Queen’s musical presentation is my #1 best performance during Live Aid in 1985.
That wraps up my countdown of what I consider to be the best performances at Live Aid 1985.
I realize that my listing of songs in this category was written from my point of view and is subjective. My countdown of top performances is based completely upon my personal humble opinions.
If you were creating a similar listing of outstanding Live Aid performances during 1985, your tabulation may be totally different from my selections. There are no right or wrong answers. I welcome your thoughts.
Here is hoping that you will listen to and/or watch YouTube videos of Live Aid performances after you have read this music blog message.
I still have fond memories of music that was performed at Live Aid in July 1985. And much of the music played 40 years ago still sounds great 40 years later. Rock on!
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