Undoubtedly the most famous charity rock concert of the 1980s, Live Aid was an event that spanned two continents. In London's Wembley Stadium, featured artists included the Boomtown Rats, whose lead singer Bob Geldoff, helped spearhead the whole event, as well as rock music legends, such as David Bowie, The Who, Elton John and Paul McCartney. In Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium, acts as diverse as the Four Tops, Judas Priest, Run DMC and Bob Dylan performed. The July 13, 1985 concerts raised millions of dollars and were attended by more than 100,000 people.
Following up on the success of Live Aid, organizers of Farm Aid gathered artists to help raise money to support family-owned farms across America. Those organizers included John Mellencamp, Willie Nelson and Neil Young, Tom Petty, Loretta Lynn and Bob Dylan. Farm Aid concerts have become annual events and the organization continues to support family farms and the fight against antibiotics used in farm animals.
Organized to help Amnesty International in 1982, the Secret Policeman's Other Ball was unusual as it featured rock stars like Geldof, Bono, Sting and many others, as well as comedy sketches dominated by the cast of Monty Python. Other comedians, including Billy Connolly and Rowan Atkinson participated; the concert was filmed at the Drury Lane Theatre in London and released as a feature film.
With unemployment skyrocketing in Ireland in the mid-1980s, rock artists, such as U2, the Pogues and Van Morrison, gathered in May 1986 for an all-day, Live Aid-like concert to highlight the problem of unemployment to hopefully stimulate job growth in the country. Money raised at the concert was to be placed in the Self Aid Trust, though the concert failed, only raising about IEP500,000 and unemployment continued to be a major problem in Ireland for years to come.