Live Aid was a benefit concert that was held in 1985. The event was organized to raise funds for relief of the Ethiopian famine that affected Ethiopia from 1983 to 1985. Nearly 1.2 million people died, 400,000 refugees left the country, and 2.5 million people were internally displaced because of the famine. Almost 200,000 children were orphaned.

Bob Geldof proposed Live Aid, an ambitious global charity concert that was one of the largest-scale satellite link-ups and television broadcasts of all time that amassed an estimated audience of 1.9 billion people (nearly 40% of the world population) across 150 nations around the world. The event was held simultaneously at Wembley Stadium in London, England, United Kingdom and John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.

Organized in just 10 weeks, Live Aid featured more than 75 live acts. The event witnessed the participation of some of the biggest names in the music history like Elton John, Paul McCartney, Queen, Madonna, Santana, Run DMC, Sade, Sting, Bryan Adams, the Beach Boys, Mick Jagger, David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, Duran Duran, U2, the Who, Tom Petty, Neil Young, and Eric Clapton. Led Zeppelin reunited for the first time since the death of its drummer John Bonham but their performance was overshadowed by the stellar act of Queen and Freddie Mercury who sang one hit after the other in their 20 minutes set. The event eventually raised more than $ 125 million for the charity.

But what the entire world is dealing with right now is much bigger than that. The spread of coronavirus has severely affected every single country in the world. As of now, the total number of cases has surpassed 2.5 million with more than 170,000 fatalities and the numbers are growing steadily. More than a third of the global population is on Coronavirus lockdown. More than 1.5 billion children across the globe are affected by the school closure. Millions of people have lost their job. Some of the countries are projected to go in a recession because of this. UN has said that the worst of the virus is yet to come.

The medical staff who are the heroes in the frontlines are battling every day to save the lives of people. Many of them have died in the process. A lot of people have come forward to raise funds. Almost all the summer music festivals have been canceled to limit the spread. Nothing has happened like this at such a large scale in the last 70 years. We are all in this together irrespective of geographical boundaries. If Live Aid were to ever happen in the future, now is the time because people need it. Music gives hope. Music unites people. And people need hope in these depressing times. Queen’s Brian May said in 2019 that the current generation of musicians has to step up to organize Live Aid 2 for climate change.

Obviously, the event cannot happen now, but the artists can take the initiative and when it all gets over, maybe we all can come together at the same place and sing under the same sky. Liam Gallagher has said to do a charity show for the NHS. If there are tiniest of hopes of Oasis reunion, that would be the perfect stage. John Frusciante rejoined Red Hot Chilli Peppers after 10 long years and was all set to perform with the band. Many artists who performed in the original Live Aid are still alive. We have got big names. We have certainly got more resources and better technology. It’s just about stepping up and putting it all together. Music has the power and we all are in this together. Let’s leave a legacy for the future generations so that they’d see that when humanity was in danger all the world stood together, united.

Stay safe! Godspeed!