Latest news with #Geldof
Irish Daily Mirror
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Daily Mirror
Tony Blair believes Bob Geldof and Bono saved millions of lives
40 years on from Live Aid, Tony Blair believes Bob Geldof and Bono have saved millions of lives. Over the years, the outspoken rock stars have often been labelled as western do-gooders or as celebrities with white saviour complexes, but a new BBC series sets out their extraordinary behind-the-scenes influence over global leaders since the landmark concert on July 13, 1985. Blair puts it very plainly. 'What Bob and Bono and others have done over the years has resulted in, I don't know, probably millions of people living who otherwise would have died. I don't think there's any type of remote ideological argument that should stand in the way of that.' The final episode of a three-part series gives a glimpse into the machinations of how the Dubliners wangled their way into the Oval Office, had a direct line to Downing Street and got invited to a G8 summit alongside Vladimir Putin. Blair fully credits Geldof with getting him to champion African debt relief, while George W Bush recounts how Bono persuaded him to pledge $15 billion to fight AIDS in Africa following a gift of an Irish bible and an exchange on sins of omission. In the series, Live Aid at 40: When Rock N Roll Took On The World, Bush recalls his 2005 meeting with Bono and Geldof ahead of the G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland. "I didn't have a clue who Geldof was. He and Bono came in, and Bono, was at least somewhat presentable, Geldof looked like he crawled out from underneath the ground', he says with a chuckle before adding, 'But he was a good guy. He cared deeply." Blair's former advisor, Justin Forsyth, explains their contrasting styles. 'Bob was effing this and effing that, even with presidents and prime ministers and Bono had this kind of deep empathy with people and knew how to kind of appeal to their inner souls.' Bob puts it in typically blunt fashion: 'He wants to give the world a great big hug, and I want to punch its lights out.' At the beginning of the series, Geldof speaks about the kitchen table conversation with his late wife, Paula Yates, which began Live Aid, recording the Band Aid single, and explaining who Status Quo were to a bemused Prince Charles during the concert. He also admits he was mistaken about not wanting Queen to play at the global concerts, regarding them as an 'overblown operatic' act. 'Subsequently, of course, we all have to admit that we thought the songs were great, so with age, we're allowed to admit it.' Meanwhile, Lionel Richie said he wasn't sure why US superstars like Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder didn't perform. For his own part, he said: 'I made a conscious decision at the very last minute to get on the plane and go because I just felt it was necessary to do it.' In the final episode of the series, Geldof reflects on his subsequent campaign to get debt relief in Africa began when he returned to an orphanage in Ethiopia in 2003, nearly two decades after Band Aid. 'I see these children whose parents have died because of no food. It annoys me to tears of frustration. I go ballistic at this point, as ever, and 'Get me Downing Street' Blair, at a G8 summit in Évian-les-Bains at the G8 summit, took the urgent call from an aide. 'I remember shouting, 'it's happening again'', said Geldof. In a subsequent meeting, the British prime minster agreed to head a Commission for Africa after Geldof set out the case for the world's poorest countries had to be freed from crippling debt. 'I wouldn't have reacted that way at anyone, but it was him with his track record, his commitment, his knowledge, his dedication. And therefore, it made sense', said Blair. Blair's aide, Kate Garvey, recalls: 'He was driving the agenda inside government, which was incredible.' When Blair decided to raise debt relief at the G8 summit in Gleneagles, he knew it was critical to persuade Bush. 'The relationship was a very close relationship. We were in constant conversation with each other, and I thought there was a chance, because we had formed this commission that Bob (Geldof)had asked us to do.' They also had the backing of Bono, who had already formed an unlikely alliance with the Bush administration when he got access to Condoleezza Rice, National Security Advisor, who was a 'huge fan' of U2, soon after his election. Although she says in the documentary that Bush's tastes went 'toward country music'. As he's been briefed by his Deputy White House Chief of Staff, Joshua Bolten, Bush smiles as he recalls his aide asking him, 'You do know who Bono is, don't you?' He replied: 'Yeah, he married Cher'. But Bono found common ground when he brought along an 'ancient Irish bible' as a gift to the White House, as he knew Bush was a 'man of faith' 'He surprised me by giving me a Bible. I don't think this was a way to make me like him. I think is the way he really wanted to share with me a part of his being", Bush said. During their religious discussion at the start of the meeting, Bono asked him if there was a hierarchy to sin. 'He gave me the best answer anyone ever gave. He said, 'the sin of omission'', recalled Bono. This was taken as meaning it was wrong not to do anything. Bono wanted the US administration to take action on the AIDS pandemic, which was seeing 6000 Africans a day die of a preventable, treatable HIV disease. 'I'm being informed that there's a pandemic destroying an entire generation of people on the continent of Africa at the time that I'm the president, which I consider the most generous nation in the world, and we're doing nothing about it. It struck my heart', said Bush. Around a year later, in his State of the Union address, Bush pledged an incredible $15 billion over the following five years to 'turn the tide against AIDS in the most afflicted nations of Africa and the Caribbean.' 'Bono got George Bush to give $15 billion to black people who don't vote, who have AIDS', said Bobby Shriver, co-founder of DATA, Debt, AIDS, Trade in Africa, along with Bono. Bono said PEPFAR, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, is the largest health intervention in the history of health interventions. 'It has saved 26 million lives'. In the programme, the lack of diversity of the rock acts in the charity concerts is debated with Harvey Goldsmith, the concert promoter behind Live Aid and Live8 concerts: 'There's always a criticism about not being enough black acts. I didn't care whether they were black, brown, green or yellow, if they were a big act and they were great and they wanted to play great', he says. But Bono does think it could have been more inclusive of the African continent. 'We did our best to make it more involving of African acts and failed, we f**ked up', he said, referring to the Live8 gigs. He later says, "Getting this stuff right is really hard because you are essentially raising an alarm." At the start of the G8 summit, a few days after the Live 8 concerts, aides recall how Blair rushed back to London from Scotland when he was told of the July 7th bombings in London. When the exhausted British leader arrived back towards the end of the summit, Blair's advisor, Justin Forsyth, says he had little patience with German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who was holding up agreement on Africa. 'He went down into the bar with all the leaders there, and their wives. I remember him, not to exaggerate, but he had Schroeder up against the wall, saying, you know, 'we've got to do this deal, aren't we, (Gerhard)?' And at that moment, I think Schroeder gave in, and we got across the line with the Germans.' The G8 leaders agreed to immediately cancel $40 billion of debt owed by 18 of the world's poorest countries, and promised to increase aid to developing nations by $50 billion a year by 2010. Blair remembers it as the 'most extraordinary weekend' during his time as prime minister. 'To be frank, even President Putin played his part in that', he says, adding, 'It was probably one of the last moments of truly global solidarity that I can remember.' He remembers being fed up with criticism from NGOs that it hadn't gone far enough. 'They ask you to do something, you do it, and they still criticise, and Bob and Bono just weren't like that at all.' Kumi Naidoo, one of the critics, had mixed feelings. 'I think there were very many good people with good intentions that were involved both with Live Aid and Live8. 'I think that there was not enough sensitivity to understanding that it's not right for a bunch of predominantly white male folks to get together and say, 'we got to frame a continent like this'.' At the end of the documentary, the U2 frontman fears the 40th anniversary of Live Aid will have a very different resonance for global aid. 'The 20th anniversary was just a convergence of good fortune and good actors on the world stage. But what's happening now in politics means this anniversary could be a funeral for the last 40 years.' Live Aid at 40: When Rock N Roll Took On The World will be shown on Sunday, July 6th, with the first episode starting at 21.00 on BBC Two, and it will also be on BBC iPlayer. The Irish Mirror's Crime Writers Michael O'Toole and Paul Healy are writing a new weekly newsletter called Crime Ireland. Click here to sign up and get it delivered to your inbox every week
Irish Independent
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Irish Independent
Letters: Social and affordable housing is the only way forward for Ireland
All such initiatives to date have contained significant benefits for developers, landlords and landowners, and all have failed to make even a dent in the crisis. The excessive faith in financial incentives is a serious mistake, usually made by diehard, free-market ideologues, and we can see the long shadow of their handiwork in our failures in the provision of all social goods. When asked to explain this latest initiative, the minister's reply was the usual 'supply is the problem'. The solution is to offer even more incentives to private entities operating in the sector. But surely under-supply is a symptom of the real problem: government policy that outsources the provision of all housing to the market. The expectation that the 'market' would partner with the Government to help close the yawning gap between supply and demand is, at best, delusional. First-year students of economics know that the market thrives when demand outstrips supply. It is beyond naive to believe that those who are gaining significantly from the current imbalance would contribute in any meaningful way to changing things. So long as the Governments insists on treating the symptom, the problem will not only persist but worsen. The real solution is for the Government to focus all its resources on the provision of social and affordable housing. Jim O'Sullivan, Rathedmond, Co Sligo US is now sliding towards a dictatorship, but not enough is said about it As I viewed the video footage of US Democratic senator Alex Padilla being forced to the ground and handcuffed by security guards at a news conference, I was appalled. It happened after the senator tried to ask US homeland secretary Kristi Noem about the Trump administration policy in targeting immigrants. ADVERTISEMENT California governor Gavin Newsom is correct in describing the incident as 'outrageous, dictatorial and shameful'. This is scary stuff. It's beyond the pale that a sitting US senator should be treated in such an abominable fashion. I am aware this was a news conference, but in this instance I believe the senator had every right to call for an end to the violence on the streets of Los Angeles. The reality here is that if people around the world decide to stay silent, the US won't survive. It appears to me America is on the edge of dictatorship. This is why powerful voices across institutions, from politics to academia and religion, must speak out. John O'Brien, Clonmel, Co Tipperary Compassion is not a sign of weakness, and Geldof was right to call out Musk I found myself unexpectedly cheering Bob Geldof's tirade against Elon Musk and others who seem to regard empathy as some sort of evolutionary glitch ('Geldof brands Musk a sociopathic loser in tirade against UK and American leaders' – June 13). It's a relief to see someone remind our leaders – at full volume – that compassion isn't weakness. When he calls Musk a 'ketamine-crazed fool' from a London stage and still raises nearly a million pounds for the world's poorest people, it's hard not to clap along. Enda Cullen, Tullysaran Road, Armagh 'Soccer-style' shootouts in hurling miss the point of the real beautiful game The Munster Hurling Championship has always been a gem in the sporting calendar. I have attended finals going back to the early 1970s. I fully understand that in the event of a draw it is unfair to ask amateurs with club commitments to group together for a replay. But hurling has many alternatives to a penalty shootout. Frankly, a coin toss would be better. The penalty system emanates from soccer, and hurling in no way replicates the scoring system. There are other options, such as sudden death, as we see in hockey. Or we could have a diverse system that would replicate true hurling skills. We could have a one-point penalty, followed by one-point frees from various angles and distances – including sideline cuts. The shootout could keep going from greater distances. It would offer the greatest range of skills. Gerard Walsh, Ontario, Canada Iran needs regime change, but Israeli bombs are not the way to bring this about Once again Benjamin Netanyahu has shown he will do what he wants, whenever he wants, regardless of consequences. Having lived and worked in Iran, I fully agree that a change of government is needed in the interests of the Iranian people. There are ways to achieve this, but not by Israel bombing the country. However, seemingly having a 'free hand' to deal with the Palestine issue, Netanyahu clearly feels he can turn his attention elsewhere in pursuit of his 'objectives' while the free world continues to stand by. Michael Moriarty, Rochestown, Co Cork I'll keep this one short, as I have height of respect for relationships and tall tales Reading Tanya Sweeney's article about women who insist on dating tall men (June 12) reminded me of the woman who ended her relationship with a much taller man who had cheated on her. On reflection, she consoled herself with the belief that it was better to have loved and lost than never to have loved a tall. Tom Gilsenan, Beaumont, Dublin 9 We should all cherish our amazing seas, while at the same time keeping safe Kathy Donaghy's article ('My brush with death shows importance of staying safe when taking to the water', June 7) reminded me of how macho and brave I thought I was as I enjoyed swimming in the sea my younger days. I congratulate Kathy on her excellent piece. It has taken me many years to learn that while we should relish 'the fantastic benefits and joy of the water', as she puts it, the sea must be given the respect it deserves, no matter how beautiful it is. The importance of staying safe when taking to the water can never be overstated.
Perth Now
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Bob Geldof blasts 'sociopathic loser' Elon Musk in fiery rant at Live Aid musical
Bob Geldof has branded Elon Musk a "prime w*****" for disregarding empathy. The 73-year-old musician and Live Aid pioneer spoke to the audience after the opening night of Just For One Day: The Live Aid Musical on London's West End at the Shaftesbury Theatre, and he took aim at the billionaire. In a video shared by he said: "A couple of weeks ago, that prime w***** Elon Musk said something seriously wrong. He said, 'The great weakness of Western civilisation is empathy'. "The great weakness? ... You sociopathic loser. Empathy is the glue of civilisation. Empathy is the glue of humanity. "It's how we do things together. It's how we sit here together and clap because we actually understand that this is the stuff that works." During a recent interview with Joe Rogan in February, Musk insisted while "you should care about other people", empathy was being "weaponised". He added: "The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy, the empathy exploit." The musical - which started at The Old Vic in January 2024 before moving to the US and now returning to London - retells the events leading up to the Live Aid benefit concert in 1985, which raised money for the famine in Ethiopia. Geldof - who also called out United States President Donald Trump, his vice president JD Vance, and British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer - used his passionate speech to encourage people to help those in need. He continued: "We need to be helped, we need to help the NHS, we need to re-arm because there's a thug currently invading our continent, but really? "All that intellect, that's all you can do? Snatch it from those people? It can't work like that. It doesn't have to work like that. "It began working like that in 1985, and we took it all the way 20 years later to Live 8. That really tipped the balance in the favour of those we wanted to help." While he acknowledge that the West End show is high quality entertainment with a stellar cast and live band, Geldof also wants it to inspire someone to continue the spirit of Live Aid. He said: "If there's somebody here who can take this idea and run with it in some other way that we're not capable, they can only do is. "This is insane - by doing this every night of the week, these people [on stage] are giving 10 percent of everything this makes. The rest is usually taken up in costs. "So far, these people here behind me have raised almost a million quid." He revealed that the money they've raised is already going to a good cause. He added: "The money these people have raised has already, in the place that was the epicenter of the famine in 1984, they've already built hospitals and schools and stuff like that with the money by doing their job tonight. "That's what they've achieved."
Irish Independent
01-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
‘They are c***s' - Bob Geldof hits out against Elon Musk and cuts to US aid at St Anne's Park gig
Geldof said the Trump administration 'declared a war on the weakest, poorest, most vulnerable people on our planet. They are c***s'. He was speaking at the Rewind Festival at St Anne's Park with The Boomtown Rats. During the gig, Geldof invited onstage his long-time friend, Midge Ure, co-writer of the Band Aid hit, Do They Know It's Christmas? Geldof and Ure organised Live Aid in 1984 to raise funds for famine relief in Ethiopia and raised hundreds of millions of dollars. "We only wrote one song together, but it turned out to be the biggest selling record in British history,' Geldof told the crowd. Geldof then hit out against Elon Musk, who left the Trump administration and his role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) this week, a brand new agency that was tasked with overhauling US government spending. 'A couple of Irish singers have been going around the world this week, Bruce in London, Bono in LA and us here, and all of us have said the same thing, that the strongest nation in the world, the most powerful man on the planet, and the richest ever human being in the history of the world, on the first of February 2025 declared a war on the weakest, poorest, most vulnerable people on our planet. They are c***s. "When that f******g hedge-trimming, catatonic f*****g ketamine fuelled Musk decided that he would cut US aid, food, medicine, since that moment he was wielding his hedge-trimmer 300,000 of the poorest people in the world have died because of that f**k.' President Donald Trump ordered a spending freeze on the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in January, and has been operating at sharply reduced capacity since. It was reported that food rations that could supply 3.5 million people for a month are mouldering in warehouses around the world because of the US aid cuts and risk becoming unusable. Food rations that could supply 3.5 million people for a month are mouldering in warehouses around the world because of U.S. aid cuts and risk becoming unusable, according to five people familiar with the situation. The food stocks have been stuck inside four U.S. government warehouses since the Trump administration's decision in January to cut global aid programmes, according to three people who previously worked at the U.S. Agency for International Development and two sources from other aid organisations. ADVERTISEMENT Some stocks that are due to expire as early as July are likely to be destroyed, either by incineration, using them as animal feed or disposing of them in other ways, two of the sources said. The warehouses, which are run by USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), contain between 60,000 to 66,000 metric tonnes of food, sourced from American farmers and manufacturers, the five people said. An undated inventory list for the warehouses - which are located in Djibouti, South Africa, Dubai and Houston - stated that they contained more than 66,000 tonnes of commodities, including high-energy biscuits, vegetable oil and fortified grains. Meanwhile, two weeks ago singer Bruce Springsteen told the crowd at his Manchester gig that Trump was running a 'corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration.' Trump responded by calling the Boss a 'dried-out prune of a rocker'. Also speaking this month, U2 frontman Bono, who has long campaigned for debt relief, aid and better trade for Africa, said Trump and Musk, the world's richest man, are squandering the potential of millions of people by making huge cuts to US foreign aid spending, "with glee it would appear". It was unwise policy as well as "the definition of the absence of love," he said.
Daily Mail
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
80s pop icon looks unrecognisable as he's pictured at Wembley stadium - but can you guess who it is?
An 80s pop icon looked unrecognisable as he headed back to Wembley Stadium for Live Aid: The Musical's cast recording on Thursday, 40 years after the iconic concert. The musician was a key organiser of the original two-venue benefit, held on July 13 1985, which intended to raise relief funds for the Ethiopian famine that claimed approximately 300,000 to 1.2 million lives. Almost 40 years after 72,000 fans converged on the venue for an epic string of performances from some of the biggest stars of the decade, this singer posed for photos on its hallowed turf. Hailing from the outskirts of Greater Glasgow, the musician journeyed around several groups in the 70s and early 80s but found real success as the second lead singer of a revived band in 1979. They had a major hit with Vienna in 1981, which went on to become the fifth highest selling single in the UK that year. He juggled his key roles in three big bands, before co-writing and producing Do They Know It's Christmas for Band Aid in 1984 and bagging a solo number one single with If I Was a year later. Can you guess who the new wave icon is? It is none other than Ultravox, Thin Lizzy and Visage star Midge Ure. Echoing that legendary summer's day in 1985, the sun beat down on Wembley as he and fellow Live Aid organiser Bob Geldof recalled fond memories of the fundraising event. Launched at London's Old Vic in 2024, jukebox musical Just For One Day: The Live Aid Musical details the events leading up to the two concerts, while featuring a series of fictionalised dramatic sub-plots. Following a recent two month run at Toronto's Mirvish Theatre, it will open at London's Shaftesbury Theatre from May 15 for a further eight weeks, in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of Live Aid. Watched by an estimated 1.9billion people across the world, the two concerts raised an astonishing £150m in total for famine relief. Just seven-months after the release of Band Aid charity single Do They Know It's Christmas?, Geldof and Ure brought together some of the biggest artists of the 1980s for two huge concerts at Wembley Stadium and Philadelphia's John F. Kennedy Stadium. David Bowie, Sir Paul McCartney, Status Quo, Sir Elton John and Queen led a lengthy roster of performers in London, while Black Sabbath, Joan Baez, Run D.M.C and The Beach Boys joined a host of stars in Philadelphia. Ahead of the anniversary, BBC Two and BBC iPlayer have announced plans to broadcast Live Aid at 40, revealing the behind-the-scenes story of the 1985 concert that brought the idea of charity to a new generation. Geldof (pictured, left) wore a Breton shirt and jeans for his visit to the stadium, while Ure (right) sported a thick roll-neck sweater, despite the weather pushing thirty degrees The event proved the pinnacle of Midge's lofty career, which kicked off with a 1976 number one single, Forever And Ever, while playing in the band Slik. He then had a brief stint in new wave group Rich Kids before forming Visage in 1978 with Rusty Egan and lead vocalist Steve Strange. The band enjoyed a string of hits, including Fade To Grey, and successful albums Visage and The Anvil before tensions caused them to go their separate ways. He then joined Thin Lizzy in 1979 before regrouping Ultravox later that year as its singer, songwriter and guitarist. As Vienna topped the charts in 1981, Midge was also juggling his roles in Visage and Thin Lizzy. They went on to land four top 10 albums and a top three single in Dancing With Tears In My Eyes, before their greatest hits record was released and certified triple platinum. Once he focussed on his solo career, Midge had a number one single with If I Was in 1985 and a number two album in the same year with The Gift. After overseeing Live 8 in 2005, Midge was awarded an OBE. He married his first wife, TV presenter Annabel Giles, in 1985 and they had one daughter Molly Lorenne before divorcing in 1989. In 2003, he tied the knot with his second wife, actress Sheridan Forbes. The duo live in Bath and have three daughters. Last year, Midge paid tribute to his friend and Ultravox bandmate Chris Cross: 'We worked together, we played together, made music and directed videos together. 'We were instant friends as well as Ultravox comrades. Even after years apart we managed to pick up where we left off like the years in between never existed. You were the glue that held the band together. 'You were the logic in the madness and the madness in our lives. It was great to know and grow with you. You are loved and missed old friend.'
