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Live Aid (1985) (TV) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

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8.5/10   705 votes
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Down 7% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writer:
Bob Geldof (idea)
Contact:
View company contact information for Live Aid on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
13 July 1985 (USA) more
Genre:
Plot:
The broadcast of the biggest benefit concert in history. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
1 win & 2 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(16 articles)
Peaches Geldof Apologizes For Miley Cyrus Death Tweet
 (From MTV Newsroom. 23 December 2009, 11:04 AM, PST)

Spotlight: Bono's Charity Work
 (From Look to the Stars. 22 December 2009, 4:34 AM, PST)

User Reviews:
The Global Jukebox - Relive a Musical & Cultural Touchstone more (16 total)

Cast

  (in credits order)
Bob Geldof ... Himself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:

Bryan Adams ... Himself (at JFK Stadium)
Stuart Adamson ... Himself (as Big Country)
Adam Ant ... Himself
Nick Ashford ... Himself
Joan Baez ... Herself
Tom Bailey ... Himself (as Thompson Twins)
Garry Beers ... Himself
Big Country ... Themselves
Black Sabbath ... Themselves

Bono ... Himself (as U2)
The Boomtown Rats ... Themselves

David Bowie ... Himself
Andrew Bown ... Himself (as Status Quo)

Jeff Bridges ... Himself - Host
Pete Briquette ... Himself (as Boomtown Rats)
Charlie Burchill ... Himself (as Simple Minds)
Geezer Butler ... Himself (as Black Sabbath)
Tony Butler ... Himself (as Big Country)
Warren Cann ... Himself
The Cars ... Themselves
Martin Chambers ... Himself (as The Pretenders)

Chevy Chase ... Himself (at JFK Stadium)

Eric Clapton ... Himself

Dick Clark ... Himself - Host
Adam Clayton ... Himself (as U2)
Albert Collins ... Himself (with George Thorogood & the Destroyers)

Phil Collins ... Himself

Billy Connolly ... Himself

Elvis Costello ... Himself

David Crosby ... Himself (at JFK Stadium) (as Crosby Stills Nash and Young)
Crosby Stills Nash & Young ... Themselves (at JFK Stadium)
Chris Cross ... Himself (as Ultravox)
Simon Crowe ... Himself (as Boomtown Rats)
Alannah Currie ... Herself (as Thompson Twins)
Billy Currie ... Himself (as Ultravox)

Roger Daltrey ... Himself (as The Who)
John Deacon ... Himself (as Queen)
Paul Denham ... Himself (Sade's backing band)
Ronnie James Dio ... Himself (as Black Sabbath)
Dire Straits ... Themselves
Duran Duran ... Themselves

Bob Dylan ... Himself

John Entwistle ... Himself (as The Who)
Andrew Farriss ... Himself
Jon Farriss ... Himself
Tim Farriss ... Himself
Bryan Ferry ... Himself

Sally Field ... Herself
Johnnie Fingers ... Himself (as Boomtown Rats)
Mel Gaynor ... Himself (as Simple Minds)
David Gilmour ... Himself (Bryan Ferry's backing band)
Band of H.M. Coldstream Guards ... Themselves (as Regimental Band of The Coldstream Guards)
Tony Hadley ... Himself (as Spandau Ballet)
Andrew Hale ... Himself (Sade's backing band)
Daryl Hall ... Himself
Michael Hutchence ... Himself (as INXS)
Chrissie Hynde ... Herself (as The Pretenders)
John Illsley ... Himself (as Dire Straits)
INXS ... Themselves
Tony Iommi ... Himself (as Black Sabbath)

Mick Jagger ... Himself

Elton John ... Himself
Howard Jones ... Himself
John Paul Jones ... Himself (as Led Zeppelin)

Casey Kasem ... Himself - Announcer
John Keeble ... Himself (as Spandau Ballet)
Gary Kemp ... Himself (as Spandau Ballet)

Martin Kemp ... Himself (as Spandau Ballet)
Eddie Kendricks ... Himself
Jim Kerr ... Himself (as Simple Minds)
Andy Kershaw ... Himself
Nik Kershaw ... Himself
B.B. King ... Himself
Mark Knopfler ... Himself (as Dire Straits)
Patti LaBelle ... Herself
Alan Lancaster ... Himself (as Status Quo)
Simon Le Bon ... Himself (as Duran Duran)
Joe Leeway ... Himself (as Thompson Twins)

Madonna ... Herself
Stuart Matthewman ... Himself (Sade's backing band)
Brian May ... Himself (as Queen)

Paul McCartney ... Himself
Marilyn McCoo ... Herself - Hostess
Darryl McDaniels ... Himself (as Run-D.M.C.)
Robbie McIntosh ... Himself (as The Pretenders)
Freddie Mercury ... Himself (as Queen)
George Michael ... Himself (as Wham!)
Jason Mizell ... Himself (as Run-D.M.C.)
Alison Moyet ... Herself
Larry Mullen Jr. ... Himself (as U2)
Graham Nash ... Himself (at JFK Stadium) (as Crosby Stills Nash and Young)

Jack Nicholson ... Himself
Petter Nome ... Programleder (host, Norway)
Steve Norman ... Himself (as Spandau Ballet)
John Oates ... Himself (as Hall & Oates)
Ric Ocasek ... Himself (as The Cars)
Ben Orr ... Himself (as The Cars)

Ozzy Osbourne ... Himself (as Black Sabbath)
Jimmy Page ... Himself (as Led Zeppelin)
Rick Parfitt ... Himself (as Status Quo)
Teddy Pendergrass ... Himself
Robert Plant ... Himself (as Led Zeppelin)
Power Station ... Themselves
The Pretenders ... Themselves
David Quinn ... Himself (as Children to Children)

Nick Rhodes ... Himself (as Duran Duran)
Griff Rhys Jones ... Himself
Keith Richards ... Himself (as The Rolling Stones)

Lionel Richie ... Himself
Andrew Ridgeley ... Himself (as Wham!)
Tony Rivers ... Himself (background-singer with Elton John)
Garry Roberts ... Himself (as Boomtown Rats)

Nile Rodgers ... Himself
Francis Rossi ... Himself (as Status Quo)
David Ruffin ... Himself
Sade ... Herself

Carlos Santana ... Himself (as Santana)

George Segal ... Himself - Host
Joseph Simmons ... Himself (as Run-D.M.C.)
Simple Minds ... Themselves
Valerie Simpson ... Herself
Mel Smith ... Himself
Spandau Ballet ... Themselves
Rick Springfield ... Himself
Status Quo ... Themselves
Stephen Stills ... Himself (at JFK Stadium) (as Crosby Stills Nash and Young)

Sting ... Himself
Style Council ... Themselves
Andy Taylor ... Himself (as Duran Duran/Power Station)

John Taylor ... Himself (as Duran Duran/Power Station)
Roger Taylor ... Himself (as Queen)
Roger Taylor ... Himself (as Duran Duran)
The Edge ... Himself (as U2)
The Thompson Twins ... Themselves
George Thorogood ... Himself (at JFK Stadium) (as George Thorogood and the Destroyers)
Pete Townshend ... Himself (as The Who)
Tina Turner ... Herself
U2 ... Themselves

Tracey Ullman ... Herself
Ultravox ... Themselves
Midge Ure ... Himself (as Ultravox)
Tommy Vance ... Himself (Announcer)
Bill Ward ... Himself (as Black Sabbath)
Bruce Watson ... Himself (as Big Country)
Paul Weller ... Himself (as Style Council)
Wham! ... Themselves
The Who ... Themselves
Brian Wilson ... Himself (at JFK Stadium) (as The Beach Boys)

Ron Wood ... Himself
Neil Young ... Himself (at JFK Stadium) (as Crosby Stills Nash & Young)
Paul Young ... Himself
Paul Cook ... Himself (uncredited)
Benny Hill ... Policeman (uncredited)
Prince Charles ... Himself (uncredited)
Princess Diana ... Herself (uncredited)
Tony Thompson ... Himself (uncredited)
Create a character page for: ?

Directed by
Vincent Scarza 
 
Writing credits
(in alphabetical order)
Bob Geldof  idea

Produced by
David Fein .... contributing producer
Hal Uplinger .... producer
Rich Zielinski .... segment field producer
 
Film Editing by
Nick Carroll 
 
Makeup Department
Jim Gillespie .... makeup department head
 
Sound Department
Chris Downes .... assistant sound
 
Camera and Electrical Department
David A. Canning .... video communications: concert
John Jopson .... camera operator
William Louthe .... electrician
 
Other crew
Steven J. Santos .... stage manager
Rich Zielinski .... diamondvision director
 

Production CompaniesDistributors
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Runtime:
960 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Certification:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
As part of Geldof's insistence that it should be a one-off event, the TV companies responsible for the outside broadcasts in London and Philadelphia were under strict instructions to destroy all the recordings of the show. The BBC ignored this stipulation, kept its tapes and archived them but ABC dutifully destroyed its own material. This meant that when the Trust decided to release the concert on DVD, all the Wembley footage was available (including multi-tracked audio), but recordings of the Philadelphia sets had to be assembled from B-roll tapes, the BBC's own copies of the satellite-linked sections and material that had been archived by MTV. more
Quotes:
Ozzy Osbourne: I came here to play music, and I didn't really realize the full extent and magnitude of what it is all about. Now I'm here, it's the greatest event ever. more
Movie Connections:
Soundtrack:
Paranoid more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
1 out of 1 people found the following review useful.
The Global Jukebox - Relive a Musical & Cultural Touchstone, 16 June 2009
10/10
Author: moosfriend from Australia

This is a cultural, musical and historical treasure trove of some of the greatest and most influential rock/pop musicians ever. Stand out performances for me were Queen, The Who and U2, I have watched them over and over. It is hours and hours of footage, and even after you have gorged yourself on it, there is still more! And then not even all the acts and songs were captured, as Geldof had originally requested that the event not be recorded!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/3604680.stm

Live Aid was not only a great and memorable musical event, but a major technical achievement of its time. Remember this is in an era before the internet, mobile phones, when even sending and receiving an international fax was hit and miss. According to Wikipedia, an estimated 1.5 billion viewers, across 100 countries, watched the live broadcast.

It is also arguably the single biggest charity and cultural change event ever in terms of not only it scale, but its impact.

Bob Geldof always said, as acknowledged in the very name 'Band Aid', that the record and the ensuing concerts were a stop-gap - emergency relief. The point of the event was to raise money, yes, but also to put the issue of extreme poverty on the political agenda.

Bearing in mind that these kinds of immense social changes can take decades, it can be safely said that Live Aid did do just that by sowing some seeds of change.

The story of Live Aid and what it is about in its broadest sense has stayed with many people. It is bigger than its critics.

Fans of LIVE AID can also join a group on Facebook http://groups.to/liveaid

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Message Boards

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Recent Posts (updated daily)User
No way was Queen the best performance... starmarker
ultravox alexactor
Mick Jagger and Bette Midler? ACA13
Concorde over Wembley madmacks61
Grace Slick chriswilke85
Sound quality flozone
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