Rod Stewart was recently interviewed by Mark Savage from BBC, and during their conversation, he explained the real reason why he didn’t join Live Aid in 1985.
In July 1985, many leading music legends, including Queen, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, and Tina Turner, went on stage for a benefit concert for famine relief in Ethiopia and it raised millions of dollars. The show was held in both Wembley Stadium and JFK Stadium, attracting 1.5 billion television viewers. The concert lasted around 16 hours and Queen, led by Freddie Mercury, delivered one of the most unforgettable performances.
Several people have questioned Live Aid’s motives over the last 36 years, even though it was technically aiming to raise awareness for extreme poverty. According to some news, there was a lack of clarity about the amount of allocated money and where it exactly went. However, Live Aid still maintains its importance as a worldwide cultural event that grabs millions of people’s attention.
During the interview, Rod Stewart talked about why he was absent from this iconic event. It was supposed that Stewart couldn’t get the band together at that time to participate in the show, but he revealed that he also just found out about the real reason. There was, in fact, an invitation for him, but his ex-manager rejected it because Stewart didn’t appear on the CBS news coverage.
Stewart explained that:
“We actually were supposed to do it, but a few guys in the band told me that our ex-manager turned it down because I wasn’t getting the right news coverage. He only wanted me to do it if I got on the CBS News at 10 o’clock. He said, ‘If not, he’s not doing it.’
And that’s not what it was all about. It was to raise money for kids. It wasn’t about what news channel you were going to be on in America. I only just found this out. I thought it was weird that I didn’t do it.”
Live Aid aimed to raise money, and it seems like Stewart feels extremely upset for not being able to join the event, which is still memorable to many people.
