Key figures: Bob Geldof (organiser), Midge Ure (organiser)
Summary
Live 8 was a series of benefit concerts held on July 2, 2005, organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to mark the twentieth anniversary of Live Aid and to press the leaders of the Group of Eight (G8) nations to act against poverty in Africa. Ten free concerts were staged simultaneously in cities across the industrialised world — London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Philadelphia, Barrie (Canada), Chiba (Japan), Moscow, the Eden Project in Cornwall, and Johannesburg — with a further concert held in Edinburgh on July 6.
The concerts were deliberately timed to precede the G8 summit at the Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland, held July 6–8, 2005, and formed part of the wider Make Poverty History campaign. Rather than raising funds directly, Live 8 aimed to mobilise public pressure for debt cancellation, increased aid, and fairer trade terms for the world’s poorest nations.
The London concert at Hyde Park drew a vast lineup, opening with Paul McCartney and U2 and featuring a reunion of Pink Floyd’s classic lineup alongside performers such as Coldplay, Madonna, R.E.M., Elton John, and The Who. More than 1,000 musicians performed across the events, which were carried by 182 television networks and some 2,000 radio networks to an estimated global audience numbering in the billions.
Significance
Live 8 stands as one of the largest coordinated media events in history and a landmark in celebrity-driven political advocacy. Days after the concerts, the G8 leaders at Gleneagles agreed to cancel the debts of the world’s poorest countries and to roughly double aid to Africa, outcomes campaigners credited in part to the public attention Live 8 generated. The event also revived debate over the effectiveness and politics of celebrity activism and the relationship between mass entertainment and international development policy.