Sir Bob Geldof, the driving force behind the monumental charity concert Live Aid, has spoken out with insider knowledge just before the event's 40th anniversary this coming July. The legendary musician was quick to dismiss the narrative that Queen's performance at the concert caused a surge in donations, a scenario depicted in the film biopic 'We Will Rock You'. The Boomtown Rats lead singer labelled the movie's account as inaccurate, asserting it was actually David Bowie's compelling set accompanied by a powerful video of famine that caused public reaction, "melting down" the phone lines.
David Bowie, who passed away in 2016 at the age of 69, had made a resolute promise not to perform unless he could broadcast the chilling images of Africans suffering from starvation, setting the stage for why the historic concerts were held in July 1985 in London and Philadelphia. Geldof, now 73, clarified: "The Queen movie has it that Queen do their piece and the world goes crazy and the phone lines collapse.", reports the Express. "That's not true. The whole world loved their set. They won the day.
"But what really happened was that David came on, he was really nervous, trembling at the side of the stage. That was weird. And he goes on and he kills it and he does Heroes. And then the pace is going nuts. And he sort of interrupts them impatiently. And he says, thank you very much. I want you to look at this. And he just points to the screen. And it's the most staggering thing.". He revealed: "Here's the youth of the world, at the height of their beauty, at the peak of their health, beautiful girls on beautiful boys' shoulders, their tops off and this blistering blue sky day. And they're smiling and just so in love with that moment and Bowie, and they look up at the screens with full expectation.
"And it's fascinating, you watch their faces crumple and the girls have got their tops off. And even though they've got bras on, you can see them cover themselves up as if they've been suddenly exposed to something that they can't quite understand. "They're just staring transfixed by what they're watching. And the girls are trying to get down. And that's the moment where the phone lines melt. Literally in some places, phone lines collapsed.".
