Six Biggest Benefit Concerts of the Last 35 Years

Over the years, there have been many large-scale benefit concerts held to raise awareness for various causes. From 1971, when George Harrison organized the Concert for Bangladesh in an effort to raise money and awareness for refugees in that area, to today with events like One Love Manchester, these global events have been effective at getting people to support those in need.

‘Give a Home’ is the latest of these large-scale concerts. Organized by Amnesty International and Sofar Sounds, the event will find indie artists playing intimate house gigs in more than 60 countries to raise awareness of the refugee crisis. Some of the artists already associated with the event include The National, Local Natives, Frightened Rabbit, Hot Chip, Billy Bragg and more. Some of the events will be live streamed on Facebook Live and VICE.

Vinyl Bay 777, Long Island’s music outlet, is taking a look back at some of the biggest benefit shows that have taken place in the last 40 years. From raising money in the face of tragedy to raising awareness for injustice in the world, here are six events that have brought people together with music on a global scale.

1.       One Love Manchester: The most recent of the big benefit events was One Love Manchester. Organized by Ariana Grande in under two weeks following the bombing of her show at an arena in Manchester, England on May 22 where 22 people were killed and 100 more were injured, the one-night event raised approximately $13 Million for the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund. The show boasted big-name performers, including Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, Coldplay and Oasis’ Liam Gallagher, among many others, and was both broadcast live on television and streamed all over the world.

2.       America: A Tribute to Heroes / The Concert for New York City: Grande wasn’t the only celebrity to raise money to help those who were affected by an act of terror. Back in 2001 following the 9/11 attacks, the people of New York came together to show support for victims and their families. Two shows were organized and broadcast live; America: ‘A Tribute to Heroes’ and ‘The Concert for New York City.’ ‘America’ was a joint effort instigated by the four big broadcast networks to raise money for victims who were lost that day. A month later, ‘The Concert for New York City’ was held at Madison Square Garden to raise money for the Robin Hood Foundation, money which went to the families of police officers, firefighters and other first-responders who lost their lives trying to save others. The show was organized by Beatle Paul McCartney and featured musical performances and short films from New York based directors.

3.       12-12-12: The Concert for Sandy Relief: In 2012, the North Eastern United States, Mid-Atlantic and Caribbean were hit with one of the worst storms in its history. Many people lost their homes due to flooding, causing more than $60 million in damage. The 12-12-12 concert took place at Madison Square Garden and was organized by the same people as The Concert for New York. Through the Robin Hood Relief Fund and ticket sales, the event raised more than $30 million for the victims.

4.       Live Aid: One of the first and largest-scale benefit concerts of its time, Live Aid was created by Boomtown Rats frontman Bob Geldof and Midge Ure in 1985 as a way to raise awareness of the famine in Ethiopia. The concert had two main hubs, one in London and one in Philadelphia, where live performances took place and both were broadcast live around the globe on television commercial-free.

5.       Live 8: A sort of sequel to Live Aid, Live 8 took place nearly 20 years later with the purpose of bring awareness to global poverty. The event attempted to push the hand of the G8 summit, which was happening only weeks later, to do something about the perceived crisis. This time there were 10 concerts happening simultaneously all over the world, with television networks broadcasting highlights from each show.

6.       Live Earth: Another global benefit show was organized just two years later, this time as a way to raise awareness about climate change. Spearheaded by former vice president Al Gore and producer Kevin Wall, Live Earth took “global” a step further with performances being broadcast via satellite from eleven shows across all seven continents, including Antarctica. It was the first real attempt at getting people to realize that global warming is a problem and was instrumental at getting countries to start changing their ways in an effort to reduce their carbon footprints.

These six events are proof that large-scale concerts can be an effective tool in raising awareness. Music has the power to bring people together, regardless of who they are or where they are. Whether they support those affected by tragedy or injustice, benefit shows make people stand up and take notice and remind people that we are all one. ‘Give a Home’ will continue that global unity ideal, taking the concept to a new level by bringing it straight to the people.

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