Live 8 concert plans announced

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May 31, 2005

A poster for Live 8

In a press conference held at 13:00 UTC on Tuesday, Bob Geldof, Elton John, and Harvey Goldsmith announced Live 8, a set of simultaneous free concerts to be held in Philadelphia, London, Paris, Rome, and Berlin on July 2, 2005, to raise awareness of Make Poverty History, a campaign to get the richest nations to cancel debt and increase aid to developing countries. The concerts are scheduled to occur just before the G8 Summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, from July 6 to July 8.

"20 years ago, at the time of the original Live Aid concert, I was a self-obsessed drug addict.", began Elton John. "I've grown up since". He then described the aim of the concerts to raise awareness in the richest countries of the world of the plights of the poorest, and how his work on global AIDS awareness had impressed upon him the lack of awareness and ignorance that exists. "The Prime Minister of South Africa thinks that AIDS is something that is caused by poverty. I wish!"

Bob Geldof thanked the corporations who had already come forward to sponsor the event, including the BBC and AOL. In mentioning AOL he said that "20 years ago, almost nobody had a mobile 'phone", hinting at the possibility of AOL broadcasting the concerts to mobile telephones. Geldof also thanked The Prince's Trust, which had already booked Hyde Park for July 2, for stepping aside in favour of Live 8.