A global live charity event, Live Aid, which took place on 13 July 1985 across two continents, became the setting for the renowned English drummer/singer Phil Collins to pull off the near impossible.
First, let’s set some context: Live Aid, which was organized to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia that year, had two simultaneous concerts going on in a single day—one at Wembley Stadium in London and the other at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia—which attracted a star-studded lineup of music icons to perform at the event.
However, what became the highlight moment of the event was Phil Collins pulling heaven and earth to play both venues on the same day. But how did he manage to pull it off?
British Concorde to the rescue!
It is seriously crazy considering that the two venues were on separate continents and had a five-hour time difference. As if travelling to perform at one venue wasn’t enough, to now cross into another time zone to play another gig on the same day is definitely not something that a normal person would do. But then again, the version of events that happened afterwards would clearly give you the idea that Collins is not your average Joe.
At first, Collins arrived at Wembley Stadium in London during the afternoon and delivered a powerful performance, performing chartbusters of that era like “In the Air Tonight” and “Against All Odds.” The set went on for over half an hour and featured collaborations with Sting and saxophonist Branford Marsalis. After the performance ended at around 4 pm, he rushed to take advantage of a narrow but realistic opportunity to make the transatlantic run.
What could have been a logistical nightmare turned out to be an extraordinary example of human spirit and enterprise. An advanced piece of technology known as the Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde made the improbable feat possible.
The aircraft, flying at more than twice the speed of sound, safely transported him across the Atlantic to New York in about three and a half hours, making it possible to fit two performances into the same day. However, even before making it to the final venue, there were a couple of hurdles that he had to cross.
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After finishing his performance at Wembley, he boarded a helicopter arranged by broadcaster Noel Edmonds, which carried him from Wembley to Heathrow Airport. Thereafter, he took the regularly scheduled British Airways Concorde flight to New York, even though he probably had the resources to charter a private jet.
The flight landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York with enough time for the next phase of the journey. From JFK, another helicopter carried Collins roughly 150 miles south to Philadelphia, where the second half of Live Aid was already underway. Later that evening, he appeared again on stage, playing drums for Eric Clapton, performing a short solo set, and joining the highly anticipated reunion of Led Zeppelin.
When he finally addressed the Philadelphia crowd, Collins did not make a big fuss about the mammoth journey he had just undertaken, summing up the bizarre sequence of events with a simple comment about how he had been in England that afternoon.
Reportedly, Collins received no fee for his performance at Live Aid, just like any other musician, and he paid for his own Concorde ticket. The concerts ultimately raised around $127 million for famine relief, making the day one of the most significant charity events in music history.
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