Live 8

Live 8 was a series of concerts that took place in July 2005, in the G8 nations and South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 Conference and Summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire, Scotland from July 6-8, 2005; they also coincided with the 20th anniversary of Live Aid. Running parallel with the UK's Make Poverty History campaign, the shows planned to pressure world leaders to drop the debt of the world's poorest nations, increase and improve aid, and negotiate fairer trade rules in the interest of poorer countries. Ten simultaneous concerts were held on 2 July and one on 6 July. On 7 July the G8 leaders pledged to increase aid to Africa by US$25 billion by the year 2010.

Key events

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• 31 May 2005: Official announcement of Live 8 concerts by Bob Geldof. Geldof calls for a coinciding march on Edinburgh to protest poverty, "What's better - two days of work? Two days of geometry? Or participating in something you will remember all your life," he says.
• 3 June 2005: British Chancellor Gordon Brown announces that VAT will be waived on the cost of the London concert. He estimates that this will save the organisers £500,000. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4605811.stm He also supported Geldof's call for a peaceful protest rally in Scotland.
• 6 June 2005: Text lottery launched in the UK for tickets for the London concert. 1.5 million text messages are received in the first day.
• 7 June 2005: Midge Ure announces a concert to be held in Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh, Scotland on 6 July as the climax to the proposed rally.
• 11 June 2005: G8 finance ministers agree to cancel the debt owed by 18 of the poorest countries.
• 14 June 2005: eBay announces that they will block the selling-on of tickets after Geldof calls on the public to rally against the internet auction site.
• 15 June 2005: It is announced that Peter Gabriel will organize a sixth simultaneous Live 8 concert dubbed "Africa Calling" featuring all African artists, to counter criticisms that most performers announced to date are white. The event is to be held in Cornwall, southwest England, on 2 July. Senegalese musician Youssou N'Dour will host the event, which will also feature performances by African performers Maryam Mursal, Salif Keita and Thomas Mapfumo. http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050615/ap_en_mu/live_8_africa_1
• 16 June 2005: Geldof announces three more concerts for 2 July, to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, Makuhari, Japan, and Toronto/Barrie, Canada.
• 17 June 2005: The LIVE 8 List, a petition to the G8 leaders, is launched.
• 21 June 2005: "Live 8 Canada" announced. Acts include Bryan Adams, Barenaked Ladies, and more. The event will be hosted by comedians Dan Aykroyd and Tom Green
• 21 June 2005: Damon Albarn, who recently criticised Live 8 for the lack of African artists, is now reportedly happy about Live 8 now that they have addressed his criticism. He told a reporter: "I have said certain things in relation to the density of African performers... In some way that's been addressed and that's really good... Live 8 will make a difference - it's already created a debate that we're all involved in." http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/news/chartnews/050622_live8.shtml. Albarn was originally a part of the Live 8 line-up, but withdrew after complaining of the event being too "Anglo-Saxon"
• 22 June 2005: In the United States, MTV, MTV2, mtvU, and VH1 all confirm that they will broadcast Live 8 starting at Noon ET. Country Music Television and VH1 Classic will show highlights on July 3 in favor of their viewer's genres.
• 23 June 2005: All 35,000 tickets for Canadian show are taken within 20 minutes of being made available online http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1119529983382_36?s_name=&no_ads=.
• 24 June 2005: Live 8 Japan and South Africa announced. Acts in Japan concert include Björk, Good Charlotte, while acts in Johannesburg concert include African stars such as 4Peace Ensemble and Oumou Sangare
• 27 June 2005: Live 8 Russia, in Moscow's Red Square, announced. Acts include Pet Shop Boys and Bravo
• 28 June 2005: ABC say they will broadcast a two-hour highlights event at 8pm ET on 2 July in prime time.
• 2 July 2005: AOL Music begins broadcasting streams from each city live and on-demand at Aolmusic.comhttp://music.channel.aol.com/live_8_concert/home.
• 2 July 2005: The march against poverty in Edinburgh starts and continues mostly peacefully, with an estimate of 200,000 people involved with the march. Main concerts start.
• 3 July 2005: Sail 8 flops.
• 6 July 2005: Edinburgh 50,000 - The Final Push concert in Edinburgh takes place.
• 8 July 2005: The G8 summit ends. Leaders pledge to increase aid to developing countries by US$50 billion overall by 2010, including an increase of US$25 billion in aid for Africa.
• 8 July 2005: Live 8 organizer Bob Geldof thanks the G8 for meeting the Live 8 goal.
• 25 October 2005: Official Live 8 Africa Calling at the Eden Project DVD released.
• 7 November 2005: Official Live 8 DVD scheduled to be released internationally.
• 8 November 2005: Official Live 8 DVD scheduled to be released in North America.