Jack Sonni

The Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute was a popular-music concert staged on June 11, 1988 at Wembley Stadium, London and broadcast to 67 countries and an audience of 600 million. It was also referred to as Freedomfest, Free Nelson Mandela Concert and Mandela Day. In the US, the Fox television network heavily censored the political aspects of the concert.

In 1985, Dire Straits embarked on a world tour of unprecedented proportions. Promoting their hit album Brothers in Arms, the tour included a thirteen-night residence at Wembley Arena (featuring Eric Clapton helping out) and a brief jaunt at Live Aid (featuring Sting), before winding up in Australia in the Spring of 86. They ended with a 21-night stand at Sydney's Entertainment Center, packing the place every night, and wrapping it all up with one final show on April 26th. Featuring the one-off calypso version of "So Far Away" and an impromtu version of the Australian folk anthem "Walktzing Matilda" (with the whole stadium providing the vocals), it is truly a show for the ages. This show represents a band at their very finest, a band that has perfected the art of transitioning from structured verse/chorus parts to solos and back, bringing the audience along on an emotional and gorgeous journey for each and every song.

Live Aid was held on 13 July 1985, held simultaneously in Wembley Stadium in London, England, and the John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, United States. It was one of the largest-scale satellite link-ups and television broadcasts of all time: an estimated global audience of 1.9 billion, across 150 nations, watched the live broadcast. It's twelve noon in London, seven AM in Philadelphia, and around the world it's time for: Live Aid...

Registration of the concert on 10th July 1985, at Wembley Stadium, London, UK