10 Artists Who Refused to Play Live Aid

Conceived by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise funds for and awareness of the Ethiopian famine, Live Aid also served as the most spectacular musical feast in living memory. Queen, U2, and Phil Collins were just a few of the acts who cemented their place in pop history during the double header at London’s Wembley Stadium and Philadelphia’s John F. Kennedy Stadium on July 13, 1985. But not every major act of the era got the chance to perform in front of a global audience of nearly 2 billion people.

Some—like Depeche Mode and Foreigner—simply weren’t invited. Bananarama still hadn’t made the transition from the studio to the stage. And then there were those chart regulars who were asked to join the highest profile gig ever staged and, for various reasons, responded, “No thanks.” Here’s a look at 10 who voluntarily missed out on “the day rock and roll changed the world.”

1. Michael Jackson
2. Prince
3. Bruce Springsteen
4. Rod Stewart
5. Pink Floyd
6. Stevie Wonder
7. Culture Club
8. Def Leppard
9. Eurythmics
10. Huey Lewis and the News

Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson was undeniably the star most notable for their absence. Not only was he the reigning King of Pop, he’d also co-penned USA for Africa’s “We Are The World,” the all-star charity anthem that brought the Philadelphia concert to a close. “I know, what could be more major than Live Aid,” Jackson’s press agent Norman Winter acknowledged at the time before disclosing that his client was “just about living in the studio” working on a new project. “Michael couldn’t turn his back on his responsibility to the people he’s working with,” he added.

Prince

The non-attendance of Jackson’s superstar rival Prince was less surprising—the musical maverick had even refused to contribute to USA for Africa (“He wanted to look cool, and he felt like the song for ‘We Are the World’ was horrible,” ex-guitarist Wendy Melvoin later claimed). Although he did offer his own composition (“4 The Tears In Your Eyes”) for Live Aid’s parent album, he still couldn’t bring himself to perform it in person, instead sending a pre-taped video recording which ensured the event had at least a hint of purple.

Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen graced “We Are the World” with his presence. But, burned out by the demands of his Born in the U.S.A. tour, and unwilling to forego a honeymoon with first wife Julianne Phillips, the Boss decided against taking to the Live Aid stage. He did, however, help to build it, donating sets from his recent run of shows instead. Unfortunately, no one appeared to have informed MTV VJ Martha Quinn, who spent much of the day hyping a Springsteen performance that never happened. The man himself undoubtedly wishes it had, later admitting, “I simply did not realize how big the whole thing was going to be."

Rod Stewart

For more than 35 years, the accepted narrative about Rod Stewart’s no-show was that he simply didn’t have the time to put a band together. Of course, the fact that he’d just completed a global tour with his band three months previously suggested something fishy. In 2021, the legendary rocker revealed the real reason: his manager’s incredibly misplaced priorities. Stewart’s manager, without the singer’s knowledge, told organizers that if they couldn’t guarantee prime-time news coverage (specifically CBS’s 10 p.m. bulletin), they’d have to make do without. The hitmaker himself only discovered the truth decades later, acknowledging to the BBC, “I thought it was weird that I didn’t do it.”

Pink Floyd

Getting Pink Floyd to put their troubles aside for Live Aid would have been a tall order: Roger Waters left the prog-rock band in 1985 and within a year had taken Nick Mason and Dave Gilmour to the High Court in a bid to prevent them from using the Pink Floyd name. Still, you can’t blame the organizers of Live Aid for trying. Waters refused to reunite with his former bandmates, and the organizers weren’t interested in a performance by his new band. Waters did show his support backstage, though, and more than 20 years later, the classic line-up managed to bury the hatchet long enough to play Live 8.

Stevie Wonder

Live Aid was not exactly a diverse event: The vast majority of the artists at both legs were white. According to organizer Harvey Goldsmith, that wasn’t for lack of trying: They approached “every major Black act both here in the UK and in the U.S.,” he said, but didn’t have any success. This deterred Stevie Wonder from attending the event: Goldsmith said Wonder initially agreed, but when he saw the rest of the line-up, he had a change of heart, reportedly insisting, “I am not going to be the token Black [person] on the show.”

Culture Club

Geldof and Ure may have brought it to fruition, but the original idea for Live Aid came from Boy George following a star-studded singalong of “Do They Know It’s Christmas” during Culture Club's 1984 Wembley Arena residency. However, neither he nor his bandmates took part in the show. In the first of his memoirs, 1995’s Take It Like a Man, the ’80s pop icon claimed that “I didn’t think we could cut it in front of 2 billion people, and I disliked the rock pomposity of it all.” However, during a 2020 appearance on Louis Theroux’s podcast Grounded, George confessed that his hedonistic lifestyle was to blame. “I was otherwise engaged chemically. I mean, I think it was a stroke of luck that we didn’t do it because I wasn’t in a fit state to do it.” By the year after Live Aid, his substance abuse issues had become far more public news.

Def Leppard

Def Leppard had a more valid reason for turning down Live Aid than any other no-show: Their drummer had just lost his left arm. In December 1984, Rick Allen had been in a serious car crash; his arm was left severed in the seat while he was catapulted out through the sunroof. Although doctors managed to reattach the arm, a subsequent infection resulted in amputation. “No way were we gonna do it with a different drummer, you know, so we had to pass on it,” Joe Elliott later explained about the invitation they received. By the summer of 1986, Allen was back behind a custom-made kit.

Eurythmics

Annie Lennox also had a genuine sick note to excuse her Live Aid absence. The self-proclaimed diva couldn’t sing after developing throat nodules during a 62-date trek with Eurythmics, meaning her musical partner in crime Dave Stewart missed out too. “My voice was shot,” Lennox admitted to BBC Radio Scotland more than 20 years later. “So we said, ‘I’d love to do it Bob but I just can’t.’ ” Luckily, Lennox was in fine form when she was offered the opportunity to play Live 8.

Huey Lewis and the News

Huey Lewis may have happily stood in for no-show Prince during the recording of “We Are The World,” and he and the News were initially been scheduled to play Philadelphia. But they ultimately pulled out just weeks before due to concerns about how the money raised would actually be used. “There are questions as to whether the food is actually getting to the starving people or not,” he said. “We felt, having done the USA for Africa thing, that we should wait and watch that. The jury’s still out. The prudent thing to do is to see how that money translates into food for people before we do another one.” Harry Belafonte, who helped organize the event, was particularly unimpressed with the group’s skepticism, telling the press, “If he is such a hotshot with his mouth, let him get on a plane and go sit in a camp.”

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