Why does World Rock Day exist?

If you are reading this, surely you are a rock music lover, but perhaps you did not know until now that there is a world rock day and you want to know why it is so. Well, if you are one of those who do not stop jumping and screaming when they listen to their favorite rock group or you have Freddie Mercury tattooed in one arm, surely the story of why this day exists and not another interests you.

37 years ago, on July 13, 1985, the Live Aid mega benefit concert at Wembley Stadium Londonheld simultaneously with another concert, this one at the John F. Kennedy in Philadelphiato raise funds for the benefit of Africa, being broadcast on television in more than 72 countries.

While in the English capital they played Bryan Ferry, David Bowie, Dire Straits, Elton John, Elvis Costello, Paul McCartney, Paul Young, Queen, Sade, Status Quo, Sting, The Boomtown Rats, The Who and U2, among many others, in Philadelphia they did Bob Dylan, Bryan Adams, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Crosby, Duran Duran, Eric Clapton, Hall & Oates, Led Zeppelin, Madonna, Mick Jagger, Neil Young & The International Harvesters, REO Speedwagon, Rick Springfield and Run ‐DMC But there was a person who performed at both concerts, Phil collins. How did he do it? Well, to achieve this he had to fly in the Concorde, a plane capable of crossing the Atlantic Ocean in three hours.

How did the idea of ​​carrying out the ‘Live Aid’ come about?

In the mid-1980s, the people who lived in the horn of Africa They were in a situation of brutal famine, with Ethiopia and Somalia being the most affected countries. Almost a million people lost their lives in Ethiopia alone between the years 1984 and 1985.

Irish actor and musician Bob Geldof, singer of The Boomtown Rats, a band that had already gone out of style in England, was very shocked to learn of the situation and to see the harsh images of famines in Africa, since he himself experienced it first hand when he went to visit Ethiopia.

All this struck a chord with him, so he decided to act and carry out an aid plan and created the foundation ‘Band Aid Trust’ in 1985 to, along with other musicians, perform the first festival in order to raise funds for the tragedy that an Ethiopia was experiencing beset by the greatest famine in its history. He began to shape this idea, which ended up becoming a mega-concert called ‘Live Aid’. A few months earlier this serious problem would have also motivated the recording of ‘We Are the World’song by Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie.

The concert lasted about 16 hours, was broadcast in more than 72 countries and became one of the most followed events in history: It was seen on television by 1.5 billion viewers worldwide and grossed over $100 million. All proceeds went to the famine relief fund. Africa. Due to the great importance of this event, both from a charitable point of view and from a musical point of view, it was decided that this day would begin to be the World Rock Day.