Bob Geldof shares how he convinced Queen's Freddie Mercury to do Live Aid
A new musical about Live Aid, Just For One Day, recently opened in Toronto
The Irish musician and activist Bob Geldof is perhaps best known as one of the organizers of Live Aid, the massive two-venue benefit concert that raised millions for famine relief in Ethiopia in 1985.
Some of the biggest artists and bands of all time came together for that concert, including Paul McCartney, Queen, Madonna, Elton John and David Bowie. But how exactly did Geldof convince them all to give up their time for free on the same day?
Ahead of the Toronto opening of Just For One Day, a new jukebox musical about Live Aid, Geldof joined Q's Tom Power to reflect on the concert's legacy. He says Queen performed the best set of the event, but he almost didn't book them.
"It is one of the great rock performances of all time," Geldof says. "I mean, you've got to put it in context: what time of the day were they on? There were on about six. So they weren't a headliner at that stage. I think their star had risen and fallen is the truth. I was asked to call them and get them to do it. Frankly, I didn't care because if you want one word to explain why punk happened: Queen."
After being pushed by promoter Harvey Goldsmith, Geldof reluctantly agreed to get in touch with the band to ask them to participate.
"I was exhausted," he says. "I was really sick of calling people and begging. I put the moral armlock on The Who — Roger hated Pete and vice versa at the time. I had to really, really, really, really ask Pete. I had to write to him to get in contact with Roger and come back together and stuff like that. So I was tired of all this and I knew that Queen had just finished a world tour."
In an attempt to gauge the band's interest, Geldof first spoke with Spike Edney, Queen's touring musical director and keyboard player, whom he had worked with previously in his band, The Boomtown Rats.
"Spike said, 'I honestly don't think they'll do it, Bob. It hasn't been amazing. Everyone's tired and I think Fred's going to go off and make a solo album.' And that largely is a signal that a band's had it, you know, when the singer goes off."
Geldof then turned to his friend, Queen's Roger Taylor, who directed him to Queen's manager, Jim Beach. Both of them told Geldof that Live Aid just wasn't really Queen's thing, but Beach said he could try talking to Freddie Mercury. A couple days later, the phone rang. "'Bobsy!" Geldof recalls Mercury saying to him. "'So what's all this about, darling?'"
While the call wasn't that successful at first, and Geldof still didn't really care if he booked Queen or not, something popped into his head that managed to change Mercury's mind.
"I said, 'Listen, Fred, honestly, if there was ever a stage built for you, this is it,'" Geldof recalls. "And he said, 'Well, what do you mean?' And I said, 'Well, darling, the world!' And there was this pause and he said, 'I think I know where you're coming from.'"
Queen electrified the audience with a short but momentous 20-minute set that only included the big hits: Bohemian Rhapsody, Radio Ga Ga, Hammer to Fall, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, We Will Rock You and We Are The Champions.
"As the play makes clear, [I was panicked] that people were too in love with the whole day," Geldof says. "I just thought, 'No one's remembered what this is.' So I was running up to the gantries at the top of Wembley Stadium, which are a long way up, and I ran into the BBC studios to say 'get a grip,' essentially. But on the way up, I heard this astonishing sound, whether it was Freddie doing 'Ay-Oh' or whether it was, you know, Radio Gaga. They were astonishing."
The full interview with Bob Geldof is available on our YouTube channel and on our podcast, Q with Tom Power. He also discusses CBC's connection to Live Aid, his thoughts on U.S. President Donald Trump's foreign aid freeze, and his response to criticisms accusing him of white saviourism. Listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts.
Interview with Bob Geldof produced by Ben Edwards.
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