The idea of charity super-group Band Aid was born in 1984 when Boomtown Rats frontman Bob Geldof was watching a BBC report on famine in Ethiopia. Horrified by images of people dying due to hunger and starvation, Geldof, along with fellow musician Midge Ure, decided to act, and the pair enlisted some of the era's biggest superstars to help.
Later that year, the charity single Do They Know It's Christmas?, featuring a raft of musicians including Bono, Duran Duran, George Michael and Sting, became a global phenomenon, raising millions for the African country. But this was not enough for Geldof and Ure, and they set about organising the most famous super-concert of all time, Live Aid.
On July 13, 1985, 72,000 people packed London’s Wembley Arena to witness stars including Sting, David Bowie, U2, Queen and Elton John perform in an epic event which is now etched in history.
Across the pond, an estimated 99,000 packed the John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia to take part in a simultaneous event, which - combined with the London concert - lasted a total of 16 hours. The Rolling Stones, Madonna, Run DMC, Bryan Adams and Led Zeppelin were among those who performed, while Phil Collins famously jetted over the Atlantic via Concorde to perform, just hours after taking to the stage during the UK concert.
A widely ambitious international satellite television venture meant that the concerts were broadcast in around 60 countries, to an astonishing two billion viewers worldwide.
Live Aid was a massive success, with reports stating that it raised between Dh200 and 250 million for Ethiopia, while the legacy of the concerts still live on to this day.
