Judas Priest, Rick Springfield, John Oates and Bob Geldof reflect on 40 years of Live Aid

By MARIA SHERMAN NEW YORK AP Forty years ago the legendary Live Aid concerts aimed to do a lot of good helping to raise over million for famine relief in Ethiopia and inspiring worldwide awareness for a cause it might otherwise have ignored Related Articles After years of marriage The Bangles Vicki Peterson and John Cowsill make sweet music Burna Boy s No Sign of Weakness fulfills his rock star dreams Pearl Jam drummer Matt Cameron says he s leaving the band after nearly years Sean Diddy Combs gets standing ovation from inmates after court triumph his lawyer says New Wave summer hits Boston shores Simulcast from Philadelphia and London on July Live Aid was the largest part ambitious global television event of its time hours of live music in two different continents featuring Queen The Who a Led Zeppelin reunion and more A lot has changed in the years since Live Aid to now is the same distance as the Second World War from Live Aid notes Rick Springfield laughingly That s how long ago it was Artists who performed at Live Aid Springfield organizer Bob Geldof Hall and Oates John Oates and Judas Priest s Rob Halford reflected on the event and its impact in interviews with The Associated Press ahead of the th anniversary on Sunday Here s what they had to say Reflections on an unprecedented event At John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia Springfield performed between Run-DMC and REO Speedwagon just a taste of the diversity of performers featured on the transnational lineup Run-DMC I remember thinking What is this Three guys talking over a record athlete What is that Little did I know that it was about to change the whole challenge he says chortling He remembers playing an electric set no Jessie s Girl because back then it was just my first hit It hadn t gone on to become this cultural thing Hall and Oates John Oates had a different experience His band also played in Philly their hometown and in his band was one of the biggest on the planet They played near the end of the night joined by the Temptations Eddie Kendricks and David Ruffin and remained on stage to back the Rolling Stones dynamic frontman Mick Jagger The British rockstar had a trick up his sleeve He didn t tell us that he was bringing Tina Turner out Oates says We had rehearsed a certain amount of songs with him But then when he brought her out it just jacked up the level of power like you can t believe FILE John Oates from left G E Smith and Daryl Hall perform at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia for the Live Aid famine relief concert on July AP Photo Amy Sancetta File FILE George Michael from left concert promoter Harvey Goldsmith Bono Paul McCartney Bob Geldof and Freddie Mercury appear during the London Live Aid Famine Relief Concert in London on July AP Photo Joe Schaber File FILE Led Zeppelin bandmates singer Robert Plant left and guitarist Jimmy Page perform for the Live Aid famine relief concert at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia on July AP Photo Amy Sancetta File FILE Princess Diana left and Prince Charles attend the Live Aid concert as they acknowledge the crowd with event organizer Bob Geldof right at London s Wembley Stadium on July AP Photo Joe Schaber File Show Caption of FILE John Oates from left G E Smith and Daryl Hall perform at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia for the Live Aid famine relief concert on July AP Photo Amy Sancetta File Expand Judas Priest singer Rob Halford counts Mike and Tina of program as one of his Philly Live Aid highlights Led Zeppelin too But bulk exciting of all for the heavy metal frontman Meeting folk hero Joan Baez The band had previously covered her classic Diamonds and Rust I thought Oh my God she s gonna come and kick me in the ass for wrecking her beautiful song he recalls She gives me a quick hug and goes The reason I m here is because my son mentioned to me if you see Rob Halford from Judas Priest at the Live Aid Show in Philadelphia will you tell him from me that I prefer Judas Priest s version to my mom s version It was a display of such kindness From Live Aid to Live and beyond Twenty years after Live Aid Geldof organized Live an even larger undertaking in the new internet era with concerts happening simultaneously and across the globe If the trend were to continue there should be another event taking place this year Notably there isn t Geldof says that s because there couldn t be a Live Aid-type event in He cites social media as a cause In his view algorithmic fracturing has made it impossible to create monolithic musical and activistic moments Instead he views the current media landscape as bolstering an echo chamber of your own prejudices For something like Live Aid to work You need rock n roll as a creature of a social economic and technological movement he says And I think the rock n roll age is over It did determine how young people articulated change and the desire for it That isn t the development anymore Springfield agrees I think we are too divided he says He believes the world wouldn t be able to agree on a single cause to help or even which musicians to back You could never do a thing with the size of Live Aid unless it was selected kind of universal thing of Let s bring everybody together Never say never but I highly doubt it says Oates The landscape of music and entertainment in general has changed so drastically He points to We Are The World the charity single for African famine relief that included the voices of Michael Jackson Willie Nelson Bob Dylan Ray Charles Diana Ross Stevie Wonder Smokey Robinson Paul Simon and countless more as an example The idea of that happening with the stars of in the modern day all in one place I can t even imagine that And plus who would they be How various songs are issued every day Hope for he Live Aid s legacy to continue Halford echoes the other s sentiments There s an undeniable extremism in the world right now he says that would make a Live Aid event challenging to pull off in But he doesn t think it s impossible He uses January s Fire Aid the LA wildfire benefit concert featuring Billie Eilish Stevie Wonder and a Nirvana reunion as a modern example There will inevitably be empathy from people and in the right hands maybe another event like Live Aid could take place It was a tremendously beautiful humanitarian example that provided us opportunity to do something ourselves to help