Live 8

For the pair of benefit concerts whose twentieth anniversary Live 8 commemorated, see Live Aid.

Live 8
Live 8 logo
The Live 8 logo
GenrePop
Rock
Dates2 and 6 July 2005; 19 years ago
Location(s)London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Philadelphia, Barrie, Chiba, Johannesburg, Moscow, Cornwall, and Edinburgh
Years active2005
FoundersBob Geldof, Midge Ure
Websitewww.live8live.com
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Live 8 (French: En direct 8, German: Live 8, Italian: Vivi 8, Japanese: ライブ8 (romanised: Raibu 8), Russian: Прямой эфир 8 (romanised: Pryamoy efir 8)) was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and in South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland, from 6–8 July 2005. Both events also coincided with the 20th anniversary of Live Aid. Run in support of the aims of the UK's Make Poverty History campaign and the Global Call to Action Against Poverty, ten simultaneous concerts were held on 2 July and one on 6 July. On 7 July, the G8 leaders pledged to double 2004 levels of aid to poor nations from US$25 billion to US$50 billion by 2010. Half of the money was to go to Africa. More than 1,000 musicians performed at the concerts, which were broadcast on 182 television networks and 2,000 radio networks. Live 8 was seen by 3 million viewers in the United States according to Nielsen, with a estimated 30 million viewers worldwide.[1]

Live Aid organiser Bob Geldof announced the event on 31 May. Many former Live Aid acts offered their services to the cause. Prior to the official announcement of the event, many news sources referred to the event as Live Aid 2. However, Geldof and co-organiser Midge Ure have since explicitly said they do not think of the event as the same as Live Aid. On an episode of BBC Two music-based comedy panel show Never Mind the Buzzcocks, which aired on 2 March 2006, The Cribs frontman Ryan Jarman said he had texted Geldof to suggest that a "Live Aid 2" would be a good idea. However, after organising the event, Geldof said: "This is not Live Aid 2. These concerts are the start point for The Long Walk To Justice, the one way we can all make our voices heard in unison."[2] Many of the Live 8 backers were also involved in the largely forgotten NetAid concerts, including Executive Producer Jeff Pollack.

Organisers of Live 8 presented the "Live 8 List" to the world leaders at the Live 8 call that politicians take action to "Make Poverty History".[3] Names from the list also appeared on the giant televisions at each concert during the broadcast.

An official Live 8 DVD set was released on 7 November 2005 internationally and 8 November 2005 in the United States.

  1. ^ "Reality ruins 'Live 8' boasts". The Washington Times. 5 July 2005. According to Nielsen, fewer than 3 million watched ABC's two-hour special on the concerts, which featured Paul McCartney, Bono and the Who, among others. Meanwhile, the French channel M-6 drew 1.9 million viewers, and two Italian broadcasts of the concerts pulled in a combined 2 million. In Canada, the TV audience numbered 10 million, the Hollywood Reporter said yesterday. The audience in these TV markets — the biggest in the world — to number about 30 million.
  2. ^ "Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK, World, News, Business, Entertainment". Belfast Telegraph. Archived from the original on 18 July 2006. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
  3. ^ www.live8list.com Archived 2 June 2005 at the Wayback Machine