The Groundbreaker

Bob Geldof

Bob Geldof mobilized pop music to become a stage for both political activism and public philanthropy. His Live Aid concert in 1985 raised over $100 million in famine relief for Africa and paved the road for more major concert series such as Live 8 which Geldof orchestrated in 2005 to pressure members of the G8 Conference and Summit to relieve the debt of poor nations, increase aid to poor countries, and negotiate fair trade rules.